Like most of us who make a living taking photos, I don't usually do it just for fun. But after working for the 8th straight weekend last weekend, I finally caught up with my production and decided around 4 pm today to go for a walk with Rowdy and I grabbed my camera as we were walking out the door.
The camera had my 135mm F2.0L with Canon 1.4X TC so I decided to go for a walk on the Nature Trail close to where I live. I usually walk Rowdy off-lead there so it was perfect for my purposes. As we started the walk, I spied a thistle and, upon closer look, saw it had a bee working on it. I, of course, took a few shots. Here's one.
Further along the trail, I spotted a clump of flowers that looked remarkably like Crocus but I haven't seen them in Florida since we moved down here in 1989. Of course, I shot them.
And then I saw this one, lone Daisy in a filed of blue/purple flowers and thought it looked lonely.
While I was taking all these shots of flower, Rowdy was trotting along the trail and finding all kinds of scents and stuff. He stopped when he spotted a bird he couldn't identify. I couldn't either but I snapped a few shots of it.
Then we came upon a flock of millions of Ibis. OK, maybe thousands. Well . . . at least a dozen
. Anyway, as we approached, they took flight and I attempted to capture them.
We managed to get a little closer before Rowdy spooked them again -- and I could tell this was getting to be a really fun exercise for the Rowdster.
We continued this process of chase, flight, shoot, land and chase again for over 2 miles. One of us was exhausted. And it wasn't either the birds or the dog
. I managed to get one BIF of an Ibis but, honestly, this isn't my skill set. Still, I was happy to get what I got.
And, when we finally decided to head back, the Ibis all landed in a nearby naked Cypress which I now call the "Ibis Tree". It was actually very cool.
Rowdy had a blast; I had fun; and the birds got some exercise. What more can you ask?
Jim