Wakodahatchee

The first day of out holiday to US we were in Florida and went to visit Wakodahatchee wetland park.

We were already at the Wakodahatchee Wetland (Delray Beach) just after 10am. We toured the Boardwalk and saw e.g. four alligators enjoying the sunshine, great blue heron, egret, wood stork and double crested cormorant, and tricolored heron and a turtle. The birds were reportedly preparing for mating and nesting, the woodstocks were very active making the nest but otherwise it was a pretty lazy day for the animals.

We ran into a few people who said they go to the wetlands every day for a walk. I can say I was not the only one thre with a camera. Here are some of the shots that I got.

Here is some background info about the he park, it was created on 50 acres (20 ha) of unused utility land and transformed into a recreation wetlands open to the public with a three-quarter mile boardwalk that crosses between open water pond areas, emergent marsh areas, shallow shelves, and islands with shrubs and snags to foster nesting and roosting.

Over 150 species of birds have been spotted inside the park, including wood stork, pied-billed grebe, snowy egrets, and black-bellied whistling ducks. The park is also home to turtles, alligators, rabbits, frogs, and raccoons.

Each day, the Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility pumps approximately two million gallons of highly treated wastewater into the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, which in turn acts as a percolation pond, returning billions of gallons of fresh water back into the water table.

Lens Artists Challenge #225: Wildlife Close to Home

Ann from Slow Shutter Speed A photographic journey hosts this weeks Lens Artists Challenge #225: Wildlife Close to Home. Wrote; Stop. Look. Listen. Doing those three things will help you discover the abundance of wildlife you have nearby. You have wildlife in your yard, nearby park, local pond or lake and just about anywhere around you.

My contribution this week are these images. Animal Photography is not my forte, I don’t have the patience or the equipment to get the best shots, but I occasionally get a shot.

Birds big and small that I have been able to capture. this type of photography is not my forte.

Capturing this Seal was just a happy break, I was at a right place at right time.

View from the rocks

Yesterday was a lovely and sunny day between gray days. I took myself out to take some photos. I drove to Porkkala, and park area near us. The nature an scenery there is so delightful that I go there several times yearly.

Porkkalanniemi

Swans

We visited Kopparnäs-Störsvik and we were treated to undeveloped coastline as far as the eye can see and rocky outcrops rising high above sea level. The area was perfect for enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest and seaside. Watching the swans – they were eating most of the time 🙂

Piedras Blancas Light Station

The light house was closed, but we stopped to take a photos first from further away and then at the gate. I have a liking to light houses so they are always a photo opportunity to me, I don’t know if you’ve noticed that 🙂

Piedras Blancas Light Station

Sunset at Goa

Chapora River sunset

I have to say this is one of the most memorable sunset I’ve witnessed. Chapora River sunset in India.

January 9

Wakodahatchee Wetland (14 of 154)

My specialty has never been photographing birds, but these birds were big enough for me to capture.

January 7

Color splash continues, here are some colorful and affectionate Rainbow Lorikeet’s

January 6

One more day of grayness at home, it is wonderful to look at the colorful parrots we saw on our last trip to Florida.

Nesting of the swan

As we walked around the island, we came across this swan nesting her eggs. We made sure we did not go too close as they might leave the nest if you go too near the nest.

The female swan nests alone. The male is guarding the nest or is eating somewhere further away. The female  rarely leaves the eggs during this month’s nesting time. So it’s virtually not eating of for four weeks. Even when the female leaves for a small distance to get something from the edible from the bottom of the sea it covers its eggs so they do not cool too much.

WPC – PHOTO CHALLENGE- Surprise

This weeks theme is Surprise At WPC PHOTO CHALLENGE  – birds, caught in the act 🙂

Mustio castle-15Mustio castle-14

MM 2-44: Monochrome Madness

This is my first entry to Monochome Madness this year, I love doing them but I have been slow in getting into the groove of blogging after my holiday. I have this in color, but love the shape of this tree so I decided to try it in Monochrome.

Chapora River (54)-3

Peek into a birds nest

We were sure this nest would not make it as it is behind our log pile. I took photos of the eggs previously, now this is what we found