Reptile! (and birds, insects, and mammals)

[wfooshee]

I know these posts are usually an image or two rather than a series, but I'm showing off a location, not just a picture, so I'm posting several shots I've collected from here.

There is a local state park here, St. Andrew State Park, along the channel connecting our bay with the Gulf of Mexico, and wildlife with a tolerance for humans is in abundance. Lots of good shooting!

So I'm walking along this trail around a pond in the park, looking for fun stuff to shoot, when I come across this in a clearing by the water:



I stayed where I was, with my eye on a bench I was pretty sure could get to before he could, when he just decided to mosey on back into the water (oddly enough, called Gator Lake.)


Here's a shot that almost has the full length of head to tail


What I was actually out there to get was things like:

Other critters








Trash thief


I apparently didn't notice that the focus sensor in use was upper center, so this one could have been better, but . .


Gator and blue heron eyeing each other.
Gator: I wonder if I'm that hungry right now?
Heron: Come any closer and I'll put your eyes out!


Gator leaving with a hitchhiker


and hiding in the reeds. I'm surprised this shot worked as well as it did, as it was DARK in there


The heron let me walk right up for the picture


Pelican in flight


Monarchs coming through on the fall migration








Lots of dragonflies in the park, too, pretty much year round.










Another new trick I've learned is hovering dragonflies. They zip around and flick all about so there's no chance whatsoever of catching a good picture in flight.

Except.

They will sometimes fly in circles, with a hovering pause around a specific point in the circle. If you're quick enough with the manual focus, you can catch them in the hover.

I might spend 30 or 45 minutes shooting, and toss 90% of the shots for out-of-focus or out-of-frame, but once in a while . . . .