Our first visit was September 22, 2010. A cool, sunny day with little wind. It took us a few minutes to find the trail head, but we finally were there, armed with camera and field glasses.
Around the first corner, the bay was full of MALLARDS - this batch all appeared to be resting.
Further down the path, we heard noise in the reeds between the path and the bay. It took us quite awhile, but he finally appeared - our first ever MARSH WREN. Noisy but secretive, and very quick!
Further down the path, we could see a majestic GREAT BLUE HERON - I must've taken 100 photos of this beautiful bird, but this was my favorite.
Just past the heron we found a Y in the path - we chose to continue west, and were delighted by the discovery of a full grown juvenile GREEN HERON in some marshy reeds. In fact, he had his head straight up and was trying to disguise himself as a reed. I don't know which of us was the more startled, but when he flew off, he was kind enough to stop on a branch across the pond - posing for several photos.
When we reached the path to the beach, we turned around and walked back, choosing to take the little side path we'd seen before. In that marshy area, we found one of my favorite birds, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. While not showing off its distinctive call, it did pose on the branches for a few photos.
Couldn't have asked for a nicer day or nicer selection of birds to see. The trail is only about a mile long, the trail head is behind the gift shops.
Marsh Wrens are a challenge to photographer for the reasons you stated.
ReplyDeleteYes, the next photo I took of him is mostly a blur of wings. I was very happy to have a shot that was recognizable!
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