I started at the quiet little pond on Lanier Road in Brunswick. I haven't been there in quite a while and I was given a pleasant treat. As I pulled up a saw a Snowy Egret, a Great Egret, a group of Hooded Mergansers, a Little Blue Heron, a Great Blue Heron and that frisky little Kingfisher I have been trying to photograph for months. Well, the little Kingfisher must have been in a good mood, 'cause I finally captured a good shot. They are so quick and so shy. Here are the Hooded Mergansers, male and female, and the Kingfisher.
I was certainly off to a good start. I headed back toward Jekyll Island, I hadn't been there for a while, when I spotted this young Osprey having breakfast atop the telephone pole. He didn't mind giving me a photo op.
After saying goodbye to the Osprey I headed over to Ski Rixen Pond which is where Tidelands Nature Center is located and the Jekyll Island Boat Ramp. While slowly cruising thru the area I spotted a couple Snowy Egrets, a Great Egret and one of my favorite wading birds, The Little Blue Heron which I also managed to get several good photos. Check them out.
This was certainly my idea of starting the New Year off right. Then low and behold my electronic leash, (cell phone), started to ring. It was time to call it a morning, but I was anxious to check out the pictures I had taken anyway.
Once I got home hubby said we were going to go for a ride, maybe see what else I could find to photograph. Well we headed toward Camden County and started to hit some dirt roads. We came across some more Hooded Mergansers and a few wading birds but it was looking kind of slow until we hit Lampadoshia Road. As I was driving and chatting away, my eagle eye husband spotted a hawk sitting beside the road. I stopped the truck and turned off the engine. I was really expecting him to fly away. But, it didn't, I slowly got out of the truck with my camera in hand and started taking pictures. I probably wasn't more than 12 feet away. I couldn't believe my luck. After firing off several shots I decided to move closer slowly all the while snapping pictures. I could not believe my eyes, I was not no more than six feet away from this stunning creature. A Red Tailed Hawk. I have tried for months and months to photograph the Red Tailed Hawk on the Jekyll Island Causeway, but that Hawk is very smart, as soon as I take my foot of the gas pedal he flies away. Actually I think he just likes toying with me playing cat and mouse. But, now I was directly in front of this stunning raptor. The closer I got the more concerned I got, thinking this amazing bird must be injured, I asked my husband to call DNR. In the meantime a car pulled up with a guy named Joey and his friend, they were amazed to see this bird and me standing within only 3 feet of it. I was actually sitting on the ground beside the bird, it was awesome!!! While on the phone with DNR the Hawk starting moving around a bit and actually flew to another low hanging branch. I couldn't see any obvious injuries and the DNR Officer said as long as he was moving and using his wings that he would most liking be fine. He suspected that the Raptor has taken a glancing blow from a passing car and was a bit dazed. This Red Tailed Hawk will never realize the joy I got from photographing it and how incredible it was to be this close to one of God's amazing creatures. Here are several shot I took of the Red Tailed Hawk.
This Red Tailed Hawk was very lucky to not have been seriously injured. Well, I hope your year started off as good as mine did. Remember to slow down and appreciate all the Beauty that Surrounds Us.
