I wanted to share a couple of photos of a flamingo that has been hanging around Florida Bay. Last week I saw a flock of 31 in one of the more remote parts of the park, but this loner likes to hang around the slightly more accessible area during low tide. I was out photographing from the kayak the other day when I saw the flamingo in the distance. Being low tide, I wasn't going to be able to make it all the way out to the bird for at least a couple of hours. All of a sudden while clicking away, the bird took off and starting flying right towards us! It flew overhead so close that the whole body didn't fit in the frame at only 300mm! It landed not far in front of us and remained there until we had our share of shots and paddled away. It was certainly one of my more interesting encounters out there.


Here are some of the Black-necked Stilt photos. There are all sizes of young on the mudflats, from unhatched to almost full sized.


These are from the day before, when the nest was unattended.


Some young stilts

Watch out little ones, it's a big world out there

That's it for the long-legged birds. I'll try to get some other bird photos up soon. Summer birding in Florida can be a treat if you know where to go.
-Don
http://www.RainforestDon.com