Sunny, breezy and cool (low 60’s)
In spite of a forecast that included a 65% chance of rain this morning, the sun came out and we had a very nice morning for the Nature Photography workshop that I ran for the county. We had 10 eager participants show up at Deep Creek Preserve, a land acquisition of Volusia County’s efforts to keep that part of Florida which is still undeveloped "wild". The Preserve is presently undertaking a project to help restore the Long-leaf pine to this part of Florida.
After 1 ½ hours of classroom activity, we headed out on the Eco-buggy with program coordinator Bonnie at the wheel. Bonnie runs a lot of wonderful outings for the county and works hard to keep locals and “snowbirds” alike interested and concerned about the natural environment. Unfortunately, the breezy conditions kept the birds down to a minimum and with the exception of some cooperative Brown-headed nuthatches, a few Eastern meadowlarks, and the omnipresent Turkey vultures, we had few other options for avian subjects on which to practice out newly acquired skills and concepts. Be that as it may, we all had a great time just getting out and “playing” with the cameras on more stationary targets such as reindeer moss, wild flowers, gopher tortoise burrows and a pair of cattle in an adjacent ranch which decided to become a bit amorous during our visit. While I did hear lot of camera shutters clicking during that time, I will opt to make today’s photo of the day the more wholesome nuthatches . The nuthatch is one of only a handful of birds that is almost exclusively found in the US. It’s habitat is the pine forests of the Southeast. Regarding the cattle and their antics, I don’t want this site coming under attack due to questionable material! So, nuthatch it is……
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| Brown-headed nuthatch |
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