April 29, 2012

Brown Pelicans

Here are some shots of the Brown Pelican, taken at the Alligator Adventure once again. This guy is not a resident of the AA, but was having a rest on a fence near the very back of the park. Pelicans have to be one of my favourite birds! Sorry if the pictures look like the same shot, but there was something about each of these that I liked, his eye, his pose, etc! The 5th picture is not the best, but I wanted to include his wing span...it should have been shot horizontal, but I didn't have time to switch angles or he would have been done stretching! The last photo is my favourite and shows he was watching us as much as I was watching him!

I do have more photos of pelicans taken at a different spot that I'll include in a few weeks. Next week I will include some other bird shots from the Alligator Adventure, then that will be it for that folder (I think!)

On Another Note: Happy Anniversary to SMaracle Photography Blog...It's been going for 4 years as of yesterday! Hard to believe it's been that long...seems like yesterday when I started it! Time sure flies!

Have a GREAT week!






April 22, 2012

The Sarus Crane

This week I'm highlighting some shots of a bird called the "Sarus Crane". These were taken at the Alligator Adventure yet again. You'd think I'd be running out of photos from there, but nope! I'll have a couple more posts with birds and pelicans to come---all taken at the Alligator Adventure.

Anyway, for those inquiring minds out there, here's what Wiki has to say about the Sarus Crane:

The Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) is a large non-migratory crane found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m (5.9 ft), they are conspicuous and iconic species of open wetlands.
The Sarus Crane is easily distinguished from other cranes in the region by the overall grey colour and the contrasting red head and upper neck. They forage on marshes and shallow wetlands for roots, tubers, insects, crustaceans and small vertebrate prey. Like other cranes, they form long-lasting pair-bonds and maintain territories within which they perform territorial and courtship displays that include loud trumpeting, leaps and dance-like movements.
In India they are considered symbols of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death. The main breeding season is during the rainy season, when the pair builds an enormous nest "island", a circular platform of reeds and grasses nearly two metres in diameter and high enough to stay above the shallow water surrounding it. Sarus Crane numbers have declined greatly in the last century and it has been estimated that the current population is a tenth or less (perhaps 2.5%) of the numbers that existed in the 1850s. The stronghold of the species is India, where it is traditionally revered and lives in agricultural lands in close proximity to humans. Elsewhere, the species has been extirpated in many parts of its former range.

Enjoy!




April 14, 2012

More Adventures with the Alligators!

This week I'm including more pictures from the Alligator Adventure Park---yep, their main attraction-alligators..here are some of my favourite shots!

1st -juvenile alligator watching the audience at the reptile show
2nd- a little bigger alligator keeping a close eye on the visitors (I focused on his eyes only)
3rd-a whole bunch of alligators laying in the sun...looks like the back patio at our resort!
4th-a small alligator swimming VERY slowly
5th-another small alligator soaking up the rays
6th-a scenic view of the first section of the park
7th-another alligator soaking up some sun
8th- a palm tree that I wanted to shoot, so I included the alligator too








April 8, 2012

Alligator Adventure

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you all have a great weekend with family and friends! We had our first family get together yesterday with Kevin's family! The food was very good and lots of laughs too! We have our second one today with my family! Looking forward to it too!

Well, today for your viewing pleasure are photos from the Alligator Adventure in Myrtle Beach...I'm slowly going through the bazillion shots I took--I got through the first couple of days...The next few weeks will be dedicated to photos from the Alligator Adventure, where I took about 800 shots..mind you I only really like about 100 of those!

These shots were taken when we first got there..they have turtles in a little pond at the entrance, so I included a couple of the turtles who were sunning themselves.

After that, are six shots of the Juvenile American Alligators, all found in the same enclosure--- the keeper said they grow about 1 foot per year, so these guys are all approx 3-4 years old.









April 2, 2012

South of the Border...

On our way to Myrtle Beach, we stopped for a break/lunch at a place called South of the Border, which just happens to be south of the NC/SC border! It is a rest stop/roadside attraction that includes restaurants, rides, gift shops and this Reptile Lagoon, that we visited. It was pretty cool and I shot a few snakes as well as the alligators below (I'm calling them all alligators, but I'm not certain that they are all considered alligators). Anyway, for all my readers who are not too fond of snakes, I'll warn you now, that I'll be posting them sometime soon, so you can be prepared! :-)

The 2nd and 3rd photo includes alligators that were just fed...you might be able to see some chicken in their mouth! There was a fellow who was hand-feeding them, believe it or not! Mind you, these guys are fairly small as well.

I really liked the eye intensity of the last three!

Anyway, that's all for today. Sorry I'm late posting again--my daughter was using my laptop for HOMEWORK of all things yesterday, so I was relegated to using my netbook, which doesn't have Photoshop on it!

Enjoy and have a GREAT week!