Animals Around the Pond

 

The pond that was in the back of the resort held some very interesting inhabitants.  Mostly birds, but some entertaining reptiles call the Pond home, too!

 

 

I captured many images of egrets, but this is my favorite.  There are many egrets here - flying overhead, milling around along the side of the road - in short, everywhere!  This one is special because it looks so at home here in its lush home.

 

 

I'm not certain what this little guy's official name is, but Jeff refers to this guy as a Camp Robber.  He kept sort of hopping, following us, and then looking at me curiously, as if he wanted to ask me something.......maybe for food?

 

I tend to refer to this beauty as (of course) Polly.  She looks fairly friendly, and will actually eat out of your hand.  However, if something startles her (or is it him?), he will grab hold of the hand that feeds her.  She did it to me the last time we visited here, and it certainly did HURT!  She didn't break any skin, but I did have a nasty bruise.

 

 

Isn't this guy a beauty?  I love the look of him as he sits on this floating log.  I'm told he's a variation of kingfisher, and I love his sort of muted colors he's displaying here.

 

 

Here's another kingfisher with an unlikely buddy!  The turtles seem to like the same areas as the kingfishers and I was able to capture this image of them making eye contact and perhaps reaching some kind of understanding.  About what?  I have no idea!

 

 

You need to click on this image to enlarge it to see the fun little game that the turtles seem to play on a log in the Pond.  First, one would sun himself on the log, only to the joined by a second.  However, then a third turtle climbs aboard and upsets the delicate balance.  They then go thru a slow motion tumble into the Pond.  And, then......it starts over again!

 

 

I really love the dreaminess of this image.  The reflections of the trees in the Pond create a sort of watercolor effect.  The one piece of reality in this image is the black bird.  I'm not certain what he is, but he has a sort of red crown.  You can't see it in this image, and it's not all that important in the overall scheme of things.  He just adds to a magical moment.

 

Enjoy!