We took a long weekend trip to Palm Beach county for a bit of sightseeing and to visit friends.  I had planned to visit the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge but, it was closed as were many other federal sites.  It turned out to be not much of a loss though.  I discovered three other interesting areas funded by local government.  These were the Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach, the Wakodahatchee Wetlands and the Hypoluxo Scrub Park.

The Hypoluxo Scrub park was just the right distance for my morning walk with the Nikon V1.  The other two just a short drive from our hotel.  All three offer circular boardwalks or paths which means you can find a decent sun angle morning or evening.  These shots were taken at the Green Cay Nature Center.  There wasn’t a lot of traffic in the evening when I went the second time.  As I walked on the short trail I noticed a Tricolor Heron – Egretta tricolor on the boardwalk rail.  Like the Yellow-crowned I found in Ponce Park, Punta Gorda, I decided to try to get as close as possible for a portrait.  The first here was my insurance shot with the Nikon D300 / Nikkor 70-300mm VR combination at full 300mm extension.  Over a period of a few minutes I managed to get closer for this nice portrait at 145mm.  In the first, the heron fluffed up to look like a big bad bird.  This was a warning that I had gotten close enough.  It took a while of looking like I was hunting in the reeds to get it to feel comfortable enough to share its space.

I also found a Pie-billed Grebe – Podilymbus podiceps feeding on another leg of the boardwalk.  They catch fish ‘flying’ underwater like a cormorant.  I have always liked these birds as subjects.  They are really cute and fast.  In the second picture you can see the bird beginning a dive.  I got subject blur at 1/200th of a second while the water droplets on the back were undisturbed.

And the final bird for this post was a Killdeer – Charadrius vociferus near the exhibit building.  Their big eyes always make them look a little sad.

As usual you can click on an image for a larger view