Timing is Everything!

Sometimes in photography, a shot is missed by mere seconds.  Either the picture is missed due to inattention and you are too late or you are too anxious and snap the photograph too soon.  In that case, some fantastic action is missed while waiting for the camera.  Perhaps if I would upgrade to a newer model camera this would not be a problem but I insist on sticking with something familiar!  Mark and I hunted for some time to find the exact same model as my old one (even though it is no longer made!).  He did purchase the new camera for me and I am like a kid in a candy shop!  I am one happy camper with my new..albeit outdated..camera!

Today, being still a tad ill, Michael walked with me to the pier.  I sat while he caught minnows to feed my bird friends and also baited up the crab traps.  While I was being lazy, I snapped picture after picture of the pelicans and seagulls!  There was a myriad of the water-loving birds diving around the pier. What interested me most was a large, greyish bird that was sitting on my brother's pier post.  From the distance, I could not distinguish the type of bird!  I was quite sure that it was a gull of some sort but with its overall dark colors, it did not strike a cord in the old "bird reference" part of my brain.  The solution?  Take numerous pictures and then check the bird books.  After returning to the Little Bayou House, I believe that my mystery bird is none other than a juvenile Herring Gull.  This would explain its beefiness!  This was one chunky bird compared to the terns!

Another picture proved rather interesting!  The timing was perfect..not that I really had a lot to do with it!  Among the fifty or so Brown Pelicans that were diving for menhaden were a slew of assorted gulls and terns.  I was fully trying to take pictures of the pelicans as they were diving and then rising from the water in takeoff.   It was a pleasant surprise to see that I captured three birds in the picture!  All were almost in unison like some choreographed water ballet!  What a picture! Albeit quite by accident! As an added plus, the dreariness of the day made the picture almost in black and white!  Again..quite by accident!

It felt good to be out a bit today.  We stayed on the pier until a rain shower chased us inside and, so, my picture taking came to a close but not without at least a few interesting shots of the Bayou!  Yep, I sure love living here!