We finally got our yard mowed over the weekend. I cannot tell you how nice it is that I no longer have to hide my face in shame when I am in my front yard. Though with this weather (lots of heat and lots of rain), it will not be long until the grass is shin-high again.
Anyway, Saturday evening, my husband walked out the front door and saw about 12 of these birds. I am not sure what kind of birds they are but it isn’t the first time that they’ve visited us, I’ve come home from work a number of times to find dozens of them dining casually in my front yard. Florida has a number of fowl, and the area in which I live is no exception. In my yard, I’ve seen owls, hawks, and yes, once I saw a buzzard/vulture in my back yard – which really freaked me out. Plus we have the usual yard birds such as Cardinals, Blue Jays, and even a Woodpecker (unfortunately we have many diseased trees in our yard). But these things, I want to say that they are some kind of water fowl, with the long legs and long thin beaks. I like them though, unlike the geese that honk noisily as they fly over the house, these birds are silent, they just appear, feed and quietly disappear – my dogs don’t even notice them. Plus, they are eating whatever bugs I have in my yard, and that’s perfectly fine with me!
They are pretty skittish and very aware of all movement and noise. Whenever I tried to sneak a little closer to them to take a picture, the entire group (gaggle? flock?) moved in the opposite direction, and let me tell you they are fast little things. I had to go back inside to change to my zoom lens just so I could get this shot of them.
Nikon D7200
ISO 2000
250 mm
f/6.3
1/2000 seconds
Sweet Red's Rantings 