This may be the only even remotely cooperative grebe I have ever encountered. They have this irritating habit of diving just as you get ready to shoot.
One second they are there, and then ... only a slowly widening ripple ring marks the spot.
I delete a lot of ripple shots.
These shots were taken on a chilly day in December and the turtles were enjoying some late day sunbathing. I did not see the first gator.
Like a lot of waterfowl oriented NWR's, St. Marks has a number of shallow impoundments that are drained and filled for the management of migratory ducks and other waterbirds. This makes for nice walking opportunities since the dikes that form the ponds are kept mown and provide ready access to the pond banks.
This clever overflow section allowed this impoundment to drain into a nearby saltmarsh creek when it was over full pool stage.
The St. Marks Light is a quaint historical site inside the refuge. You can walk around it, but not enter it.
You can learn more about this refuge by going here.
9 comments:
I love the Bear....are you glad basketball season is over! :)
Cindy,
Oh yeahhhhhhh!
Bear is looking like a mature dog these days. How old is he now? He's a beauty. Love that grebe too.
Robin,
He's only 2. That is our grey sand around his muzzle. He was snorfling a gopher hole just before the picture.
I'm glad you liked the park. (I'm one of the owners, you know.)
Very nice post! Love the new header too!
NICE bare Bear head head. 8-}
And I really like your lighthouse angle. Looks like you visited on a good weather day.
Those grebes are SO frustrating. I really love the way they can just sink straight down, though. So cool.
So, which is worse... grebe or kingfisher?
St. Marks Refuge is one of the constants in my life from my earliest memories. My mother lived in Newport as a child, and remembers bumping down the road in the school bus to collect the lighthouse keeper's kids. There are a couple of days a year when you can actually go inside the lighthouse, though I've never actually managed it. Apparently the lines are pretty long.
Pablo,
And you are taking very good care of it!
3C,
Thanks! I figured we needed a little Bear up there.
Sophie,
KINGFISHERS!!!!
Sayre,
I wondered if they did that, just wasn't sure.
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