It’s winter, and in the South that means mostly bearable temperatures, no mosquitoes, and lots of visitors who come to wait out really cold weather in a more tempered climate. For reptiles the cooler weather means that they become sluggish, which can be dangerous if they live near humans who kill any snake, no questions asked. This one lived because I moved it away from the street and to a place where it could hide.
It was my lucky day when I stood on the bank of a nearby lake and this immature Bald Eagle came by. It circled above the lake for a short time, looked around, and left. What more can anyone want than to be in the right place at the right time?
And then there was this sunset. Just a normal evening, just when I happened to take my camera along on my dog walk. On nights like these I realize how fast the earth turns. A couple of minutes later, and the image would have been much less dramatic.
I love Pelicans. Graceful in the air, dorky-looking on land… and quite aggressive when hungry! This one spotted a Cormorant with a fish, and the chase was on!
Although it looked dramatic and potentially dangerous for the Cormorant, it appears that the smaller bird came out ahead on this one. It dove down and reappeared elsewhere, fish in beak, and was able to swallow its dinner. It was a thrill to watch!
Another lucky encounter, this time on a pretty cold day. Temperatures had been below freezing for a few days, it was early in the morning, and this little guy was clearly hungry. The dogs and I walked a different path than usual, and here was the squirrel, eating breakfast! It was fun to watch, but a second after I took the picture, our new friend decided to run off to a less obvious perch.
Does this fall into the category of this blog entry? Decide for yourselves 🙂 I think so!
Orley's Travels 