It’s hard to choose favorite photos, so this post is packed with all kinds of poses. Enjoy!

With nesting material

The next day, I spent a little more time with them – this time at sunset. It started with some distant views, but one of the birds came in close for some really great shots just as the sun was going down. The birds were hunting for snails throughout the marsh, often coming to the marsh that I was standing next to.

The birds successfully grabbed dinner more than a few times too!

The male eventually came up very close for an even better photo session.

Patience certainly paid off here!

They were doing a mating dance! I snapped a few photos of them, then quickly ran across the field to get in a better position. It was tough since houses surrounded this little field, but I managed to get a bunch of good ones. The whole thing went on for only about a minute, but I think I got some keepers out of it.

Here is the Sandhill crane dance…

And then, just like that… they went off to another spot.

I did not find the Owl, but this moment certainly made up for it!

We were able to get plenty of photo ops with them. Lighting was still tough, but the birds were very cooperative so there were plenty of chances to get decent shots.

Unfortunately, some required a bit of post-work to brighten the shadows.

The birds would pass right by as I waited low to the ground.

Me photographing one of the foraging birds

And the resulting image (in bad light)

The birds really showed off this time by. Disappointingly, some of them were following around people who were feeding the ducks. The birds also seemed to think that we had food to give them but scurried away when we refused to feed them.

Thankfully, one of my best photos, a head shot of the bird, was taken while it was foraging naturally within the reeds.

I enjoyed watching these birds move along the edge of the water with their very large feet.

I even had the chance to photograph one walking over lily pads – a photo op that I really wanted but missed last year!

I would certainly say that I got better photos of them this year. Of course, I am always looking something for even better.

Pied-billed Grebe surrounded by rain drops

Most of the birds just continued with their normal routines, feeding in the marsh.

American Coots

This Purple Gallinule came out for a quick view

Common Gallinule with its tail up

Others waited outside of the water for the rain to stop.

Little Blue Heron on the bank

Great Egret waiting on concrete

Soaked Anhinga drying on the rocks

Anhinga waiting for the rain to stop

Drying its wings before jumping down

The rain started to calm down not long after we began the drive, but was still falling enough to get our gear wet if we left the car, so many shots were taken from a higher angle.

Glossy Ibis as the rains calm down

Tri-colored Heron hunting nearby the Ibis

White Ibis drying off

It did eventually stop, however, the skies remained overcast for the rest of the drive. That certainly did not stop us from getting low to photograph birds for the remainder of the drive.

Blue-winged Teal in overcast light

Anhinga with a nice catch

Snowy Egret resting in the water

I was able to get some great photo ops with some birds that I could not get close enough to last year. I took tons of photos of this Osprey and Red-shouldered Hawk, which may end up getting blog posts of their own in the future.

An Osprey with a huge Catfish

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk who gave us quite a show

The Cattle Egrets were tough to photograph unless you stayed in the car

Not all of them were fully cooperative though.

I would rather this photo of the Belted Kingfisher include the tip of his beak

I even saw a life bird on the drive – the Fulvous Whistling Duck. Our first looks at them were all in flight until a single duck flew in, landed nearby, and interrupted our photo session with the Red-shouldered Hawk.

This Fulvous-Whistling Duck came in close for a decent photo op

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks also made a few appearances

I even photographed a new sub-species life bird, the Eastern Towhee with white eyes. The ones I am used to seeing have red eyes. The white-eyed ones are found in the Southeast and Florida.

White eyed Eastern Towhee

Some young birds made an appearance, too.

Young Pied-billed Grebes

We also photographed two American Bitterns out in the open – one was found toward the beginning of the drive and the other at the end.

American Bittern just after the rain calmed down

American Bittern photographed toward the end of the day

And, of course, there were Alligators. I photographed this one below the Osprey.

This Alligator stole my attention for only a moment

I highly recommend this wildlife drive for anyone who finds themselves birding around Lake Apopka. The different habitats bring all kinds of great birds!

Anhinga drying its wings

Common Loon at Manasquan Inlet

In Europe they are known as Divers. The name “diver” makes a lot of sense when you normally see this bird – they swim low on the surface of the water then quickly dive under to catch fish, crabs and other small animals. The name “loon” refers to the bird’s poor ability to walk on land, something that you hopefully will not see!

Common Loon at Barnegat

Two different species can be commonly found along the New Jersey coast, The large Common Loon and the smaller Red-throated Loon.

Common Loon

The more-dainty Red-throated Loon

You can easily see the differences in the photos – the Red-throated Loon has a smaller, up-turned bill and more white around the throat and up the cheeks. Both species come in a variety of plumages themselves. I did not get a good variety of cooperative Red-throated Loons during this trip, but I did photograph many individual Common Loons.

It’s always fun to try to get them as they are diving. Last week, I finally caught one kissing the water. Of course, I am always looking for that better shot…

Kissing the water

About to go for the dive

Mid-dive

When they emerge from the water, they may or may not come up with a lucky catch. I am still trying to capture the perfect moment of a Loon and its meal. For now, I have a few mediocre photos of lunch.

Common Loon with a fairly large crab

Down goes the crab

Red-throated Loon downing a large fish

Common Loon Eating shellfish

A small meal for this Common Loon

In a couple of weeks, the Common Loons will be more in breeding plumage. I was able to photograph this in previous years and hope to see them transitioning again this year.

Common Loon transitioning to breeding plumage in 2014

Unfortunately, Red-throated Loons do not make the same transition while in the area and molt after migration. It’s still great to see them every winter!

Red-throated Loon at Manasquan

Common Loon at Manasquan

Herring Gull posing on the jetty

Great black-backed Gull at the edge of the jetty

They are one of the few birds that allow you to get headshots of at 400mm.

Great black-backed Gull up close

Herring Gull portrait

They can be loud and obnoxious, which is not always a bad thing when you capture that behavior.

Herring Gull calling

They are often found eating dead fish on the jetty…

Great black-backed Gull with fish

…or running around with crabs in their beaks.

Herring Gull with crab

Herring Gull with crab

During our last visit to Barnegat, we stumbled upon a Great Black-backed Gull who was eating a very interesting meal.

Great black-backed Gull with Atlantic Stingray

It was eating an Atlantic Stingray!

You never know what you will run into on this jetty, even with the more common birds.

Common Merganser after a dive

During my first photo op, I only had one subject who was busily fishing close enough to my side of the shore. This was in the morning, so I did not have a ton of time to photograph it.

I returned the next evening and had an entire cooperative flock who swam right by me and perched on some rocks. The lighting was perfect!

I was able to slowly creep closer to them behind the vegetation and get some nice views of them resting, preening and stretching.

I was very happy with the results! I left as soon as I lost the sunlight and the birds remained on the rocks behind me.

The birds were very comfortable – even when more and more photographers and admirers approached, they stayed in place.

A hen and a drake share a rock

Two drakes on a rock

Things got pretty crowded once the tide started coming in and the birds were a bit rowdy.

Most of them flew up to higher ground and started to settle down.

It was the perfect opportunity to just keep taking photos! Here are more – it’s hard to pick out my favorites so I will just share a lot of them. Enjoy!

Dark-eyed Junco

As usual, the birds pose nicely on the branches that are attached to my feeder poles.

Downy Woodpecker (male)

Tufted Titmouse

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Hairy Woodpecker (male)

House Finch (male)

Black-capped Chickadee

I recently set up a fallen branch on top of my deck rails in hopes that it will provide a good perch for photo ops. It certainly has not disappointed me so far!

Tufted Titmouse

Dark-eyed Junco

White-breasted Nuthatch

Dark-eyed Junco

White-breasted Nuthatch

I ended up sprinkling millet on the branch during a snow storm and the Juncos immediately enjoyed the treat.

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

I also propped up my old Christmas tree, as I have done since I moved to Pennsylvania. I added millet to the branches of this tree during that same snow storm. With this spread, I get up to a half dozen Juncos roaming around the little five foot tree at the same time.

At least the bad weather brings the birds! I’ll enjoy it while I can, from the comfort of my home.

Dark-eyed Junco