Against all my internal warnings I opted to head out to do some Black Friday shopping earlier in the morning. I put full blame on Linda. She was the catalyst for this insanity and she only made part of the overall excursion. It all started at 10:30pm Thanksgiving night when we gathered around the table for our annual perusal of the ads to see what the hot deals were this year and more importantly, compile wish lists for others. At midnight Linda puts the option on the table that if we headed to Target we could get a big jump on gifts for our relatives based on a positive assessment of their ad. We had just come from a trip to see the family earlier in the evening and I got a 6.5 mile run on the treadmill after that .. so sure, why not. By the time we got back it was 2:30am (we hit BB while we were at it). Home Depot opened their doors at 5:00am meaning there was really only 2 hours before I would have to leave the house to get there. Not really tired yet I opted to do that and hit Menards as well – mainly to buy gifts for Linda to give me for Xmas. Those adventures could probably be a post all by themselves (and they likely will), but let’s just say I rocked it, getting essentially everything on my list! Once again Linda owes me (anyone keeping track .. besides myself). The best part of it, I used the 2 hour wait to crank out the last set of pictures for the November quota. My drive is still being restored thanks to the crash but had these images lying around from the UB 2013 prep (link here).
On this last post for November, I introduce you to the Brown Pelican.
These first two shots were in the running for the UB competition but I am pretty sure I opted against entering them in favor of what I thought were better candidates. The courting Willets on the shoreline that were entered that year were from the same shoot. My brother Ron and I were down in Fort Myers, Florida to drive my parents back from their Winter stay. A couple of birding references indicated there was a lagoon nearby that was fantastic for bird shooting. Just meant hauling the 80-200 glass down there to see what they had to offer. It did not disappoint. There will be a multi-post series on the results from that trip as soon as my drive gets restored, but consider this a teaser. Admittedly, we had our doubts while trying to locate the lagoon since it a) isn’t marked and b) is tucked behind hotels lining the shoreline. Sure enough, when we followed the source’s directions we ended up standing on a lagoon teeming with wildlife. Ospreys, crabs, Herons, Gulls and Egrets were abundant – all hanging out around or hunting for fish in the lagoon. My Father rightfully warned us about the potential presence of alligators but we never encountered one (bummer).
Hit the jump and read more about this intriguing bird.
