Merritt Island NWR (8 photos)

ksproul · Mar 25, 2007

My wife and I spent Saturday at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (near Kennedy Space Center here in Florida), and I thought I'd share some of the better photos from the day, including one of the very first shots taken with my new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens (#2). Comments and criticism are welcome. Thanks!

Kris

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danir · Mar 26, 2007

I like these.

Dani

LaFoto · Mar 26, 2007

Awww, you get to see those lovely spoonbills out there in the wild!
I have only ever seen them (and photographed them, of course, :wink:

) in a bird park...
I really like Photo 7, all that action and the lovely colour of those feathers, with the light shining through them even!

And I like the alligator photo (hoping I got that right, I never really know, though I read up on what is an alligator and what is a crocodile while in Florida 12 years ago). Very well focused, lots of detail. He looks like he is giving you his friendliest smile, though I am not sure I'd trust alligators on their "smile" alone ... or at all

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ksproul · Mar 26, 2007

Thanks for the comments!

Yes, #4 is an alligator. It's a rather young, small one, and I believe that's why it's lighter colored. The older ones tend to be darker overall. This gator was the only one we saw all day that wasn't hanging out in the water, I believe. This one was actually standing right on the side of the road (the dirt road through the refuge), and I snapped the photo out the car window.

I also really enjoyed seeing the spoonbills. I don't think I've ever seen any in the wild before, but we saw probably 3-4 of them in the refuge.

We also saw a bald eagle in the far distance, but it was way too far away for a photo.