Mom and Chick

I got up at the crack of 8 to head south for 40 miles to Venice, Florida. That's where the Venice rookery is. I pulled in at 9:05.

It seems as if the "pros" get there at 8 a.m., and are gone by 10. They figure that is the best lighting. Being an amateur...I stayed for 4 hours...leaving at 1:05. My back warned me to quit, and I refuse to divulge how many pictures I took. I'll just say scads.

I love and hate to visit this place. It really is magical with the sounds and the sights. But...I need a Big Daddy. I NEED MORE LENS! But...you live with what you got.

I put WAY too many pictures on my FLICKR PAGE. I couldn't believe it when I watched the ending of this encounter. I always thought when the baby heron was practically choking the mother...beak to beak.....that it was eating regurgitated food. Throw-up.

After 15-20 minutes of the baby pecking at Mom...she coughed up the whole fish!!! And...it wasn't a small fish. I also couldn't believe that baby could eat it...but...after adding a little tarter sauce...swallowed it whole.

I think I counted 8 different species on my Flickr page...9 if you count the photographers. If you get lens envy like I get...PLEASE DON'T LOOK! Let's just say they were sticking way out there in front...both the men and the women.

Always a fun morning. I'm debating whether to go up to Tampa tomorrow to watch the PGA (golf).

Cough it into large to see the eye of the baby.