One of our small natural areas is a place called Ollies Pond.  It is a nice pond in a residential area which attracts a lot of wading and water birds.  I was passing by on my way back from the boatyard when I decided to stop of and see what might be going on.  The parking lot wasn’t the best place to be.  The sun was coming from the other side of the pond and everything was backlit with harsh sunlight.  I did walk a little way with the D90 and 70-300mm VR.  I found a nice dragonfly on watch and a Cloudless Sulfur mudding.

The harsh light wasn’t the best for them but it did show off the 70-300mm VR at close focus range.  A crop of another shot of the dragonfly shows a lot of detail for a non-macro lens.

While shooting those, the birds became a little more active and I was overflown by a mixed flock of White and Glossy Ibis.

But, that was enough of bad light, I could see that there was some decent activity on the other side of the pond where the light would be better.  Since it was just a quick stop, I drove around to a more favorable position.  I took the header picture of a Great Blue Heron from that side and then found a little area that was just crammed with a wide variety of waders and water birds.  There were Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, White and Glossy Ibis, Tri-color Herons, Hooded Mergansers and a couple of other types of ducks.  Here is a set of quick shots from that spot.

Not a bad day at all.  Just click the images for a larger view.