nature – Page 3 – Worthy Mouse Clicks

Turtles, Green Heron, Egret

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Sept. 1, 2024

Spoonbills from 2023 just off the Anacostaia River Trail

I was hoping the Roseate Spoonbills would come back to DC this year, but so far they haven’t.

Their appearance last year is what got me interested in birding. It took me about 10 bike rides to finally find them close enough to the shore for my kit lens to be able to capture a good image. On prior occasions they were either too far away and/or the lighting was not right. And there was one time I happened upon them with my camera, but no battery. That was a sad occurrence. On the day of this particular photo, it was very early in the morning and the light was perfect. Plus, they were only about 20 yards away. Then they came even closer. It was amazing and I got some cool video footage, but the footage was a little overexposed. It is posted further below.

But since then, I have found many other spectacular subjects to photograph. I like the shore birds the best. They tend to be big and they don’t move as much or as quickly as the smaller birds, making them much easier to photograph.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Catches a crayfish

Photos: https://adobe.ly/4fgbt9p

https://vimeo.com/987159292

Night Heron eats crayfish from Anacostia River Trail enthusiast on Vimeo.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

I saw a very cool shore bird today who was not at all camera shy, so I made a little video which can be viewed here:

Some still images can be found at the link below. The deer were scampering around just a few yards behind the Heron.

A few yards the other way, I saw a Green Heron sharing a branch with a duck. He must be very friendly because my neighbor captured a photo with him sharing a branch with a Little Blue Heron.

Still Images:

https://adobe.ly/3yqANZB

All of this great wildlife is just a few miles from my house in Washington, DC., at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, which can be easily accessed from the Anacostia River Trail. Both the trail and the gardens are among my favorite places in DC. Another great thing is that if you access the gardens from the trail, you can visit before the park opens or after it closes. Bring a picnic and you will likely have the whole place to yourself, surrounded by birds, turtles, deer, and the river beavers – all captured on my Vimeo channel:

https://vimeo.com/user151033887 (copy and paste this link, if the hyperlink is not working)