Wildlife Photo Challenge Day 7A – On Golden Pond

This is day seven of my photo challenge requested by my friend Don Bromberg. A bunch of wildlife photographers from all over the planet are participating and it will be easy for you to participate too.

Participation… Choose 7 of your favorite photos and share one each day for 7 days on your timeline to your friends and the world. I challenge ALL my photographic friends to this challenge.

As you may be able to tell, Viera Wetlands (Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands), is one of our favorite spots to capture wildlife in their natural habitat. One of the real reasons I prefer shooting there is that there is no boardwalk to draw humans who act like elephants making the boardwalk shake like a heard of elephants headed to the watering hole. The place is usually quite and except for alligators crossing your path just a few feet away is extremely peaceful and safe.

This shot was actually taken in Viera’s Click ponds across the road during Sandhill Crane season. One evening as dusk took over the purple sunset sky Jo, my wife and birding companion, counted 1200 SHCs landing on the perfectly prepared wetland pool. We counted 100 Spoonies and hundred’s of other birds that evening. Our practice for Viera is to be there at sunset to see the birds roosting so I know what to expect to see in the morning when the sun rises.

This scene is real, the background texture was made as I was shooting a from a high position down on the SHC so that the water became the background. The texture was natural grasses reaching through the water to take in some daytime sun radiation to fire up plant growth. This one SHC was an early bird to the roost that evening and was beautiful standing in the wet grass.