Last week I posted a short story about the time I spent at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, near Batavia. But that was just a taste of what I saw on my trip!
I left my house at 2am on Monday, hoping to get to the refuge before dawn to be ready for the morning shoot. I came close but it was beginning to get light out, so I picked the best spot I could and set up for the morning shoot. I was hunkered down in the cattails hoping that I had some openings to get a few clear shots. I knew there were birds in the shallows, I just didn’t know how many!
Reservations needed! Click to enlarge
It was like a big block party for wading birds! At one point I counted around forty birds in this one pool. I had never seen this many birds in one spot before! I don’t know why they were all in this particular pool but I was too busy shooting to question it. The sun was just coming up which made for difficult shooting conditions. One bird would be in bright sunlight and the bird next to it would be in deep shade. But that is just something you need to deal with. I was just having a ball!
Eventually the Sun rose high in the sky and the birds began to scatter so I knew it was time to go explore other areas of the refuge. Which is very hard to do in one trip because the refuge encompasses 11,000 acres, of which 8,000 acres are wetlands!
My next stop was the Sour Springs Road area, where I found acres of wildflowers and some beautiful butterflies.
Poser….
It was a little late for wildflowers but the Dame’s Rocket was plentiful and the wild Iris were absolutely beautiful!
What you can see when you sit still for a bit….
I did not see too many deer this trip but this is the time that the fawns are being born so Mom tries to find a secluded area to safeguard her little ones. By the end of this month you will see plenty of young ones! And I did have a visit one evening from a Raccoon. He walked within 10 yards of me looking for dinner.
He was not happy that I interrupted his dinner plans!!
The one bird that I was really hoping to photograph pretty much eluded me on this trip. The Black Crowned Night Heron is a fairly reclusive wading bird. I came close to getting a good shot on the last night there. I had one moving towards me until a Dad and his son came by on their bicycles. Can’t be mad about that because that kid will grow up enjoying and protecting these spaces we all enjoy! And it just gives me an incentive to come back.
I did manage to get an acceptable image of the Night Heron fleeing from the bikers though.
I have many more images from this trip in a gallery folder. Just go over to the Gallery button and look for the folder marked ‘INWR’. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy taking them!!! This refuge is an incredible place to explore. For more info about the refuge: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/iroquois/