Dealing with drought

Great Egret

I stopped in the Green Island Wetlands on my way back from Indianapolis yesterday. It looks kind of sad right now. The water level is at the lowest I have ever seen it. Parts of the marsh land is almost dry, at least on the surface. Even in a state like this it is still feeding ground for birds and other animals. There were lots of young Killdeer searching for food. I don't know if any of them came out of the eggs I took a picture of a while ago (click here to see it), but it is nice to see that a new generation is growing up.

Always good for a photo is the Great Egret. They are not as shy as the Great Blue Herons that are competing for the food in the same territory. It is not so difficult to focus on the egret because of the good contrast they provide. With a big bird, like the Great Egret, I still try to put one of the autofocus sensors on its eye. This is not always possible with smaller or dark birds. In this matter I try to use the chest, which is usual on the same focal plane as the eye. Sometimes easier said than done... ;-)  Have a nice weekend!