It was time to go to Sarasota to bring back a couple of pictures that had been on display at the Senior Friendship Center as part of the Sarasota Camera Club contest.  On the way back we made another stop at the Venice Rookery.  After all the discussion of the ‘destruction’ as the Brazilian Pepper was removed, I managed to find a bright spot.

The rookery has always been considered a morning shoot because of the sun direction and the inability to see from the far shore due to the shrubbery.  This isn’t true now.  You get a view of the rookery island from all directions.  With a bit of care watching the background you can get shots all around the pond in the direction of the island.  Here is a worst case though.

This was taken with the 10.5mm fisheye just for fun.

Still, there was courting and breeding activity on the island. 

Walking around the pond, the oaks have been planted and are being tended.  Just another  ten years or so and they’ll be in great shape.  Most of the shore is now large mulch from the deforestation project.  It isn’t all bad though.  The snags in the water on the far side of the pond are now easily accessible for photography and are being used as perches by the anhinga and cormorants.   This makes them very accessible for photography and makes the rookery a good place for an afternoon shoot as well.

Whenever I’m at the rookery, I take the time to have a look to see what is happening on the other side of the road.  Since the Brazilian Pepper has been removed, there seems to be more feeding activity on that side.  Today I found a Great Egret who had managed to get hold of a small Florida Softshell Turtle and a small Alligator.

so, it’s still a great place to go shooting for a while and will only get better as time goes by.