Uncropped Wood Stork (Mycteria_americana) 20110731

Description:

We had not seen any Wood Storks on our lake this summer. Some colonies had very poor nesting success,for a second year in a row, probably due to very low water levels that permits land predators such as Raccoons to ravage their nest sites. Perhaps the recent rains have caused water levels to now rise too high to concentrate the fish in their usual feeding areas, as this morning, an adult showed up on our patio. It was with a Great Egret, which quickly flew away after I opened the patio door. The stork then walked right up to me, so close that I could only get parts of its anatomy into my fixed 300mm + 1.4x (420mm) telephoto lens. Mary Lou quickly brought me the point-an-shoot Canon 1100 IS, so I was able to get some full-body shots from only about 6 feet. The stork lounged in the shade for over an hour before walking off. Visit blog.rosyfinch.com