Chicks and Gators at St. Augustine
On May 20th, I took a trip to St. Augustine to visit the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other birding hot spots in the area. I previously posted pictures of the Least Terns and Wilson’s Plover from a beach excursion at Anastasia State Park but have been remiss in posting the Alligator Farm photos. At the Alligator Farm I was pleased to find Tricolored Heron, Great Egret, and Roseate Spoonbill chicks. I thought the turnout of photographers was also fairly light for a Saturday in the middle of nesting season with only 8 to 10 photographers at the red door at 8am.
I chose to use my 200-500mm f/5.6 lens. While I normally prefer primes, the zoom lens tends to be a good fit for this location. Many birds nest right up to the boardwalk, so it’s good to bring something with short focusing distance.
Tricolored Heron juvenile. Tricolored Herons nest only a few feet from the boardwalk. At this distance you can achieve incredible detail in your photos. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 500mm, ISO 250, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec.
Tricolored Heron adult. Perched near the nest, this Tricolored Heron was taking a brief break from the youngsters while staying close to keep an eye on things. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 200mm, ISO 250, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec.
The Roseate Spoonbill chicks that I observed were pretty hungry and would aggressively feed from its parent the moment the parent returned to the nest. The chicks would wildly swing their heads back and forth and I thought it might be fun to try some motion blurs to capture that movement. I slowed my shutter speed to 1/50 sec and stopped down the aperture to f9. I focused on the adult’s eyes. As with most motion blur photos, most were too blurry to use but the one below seems to be OK, although I would have liked the adult’s eye to have been sharper.
Roseate Spoonbill chick feeding from its parent. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 200mm, ISO 400, f/9, 1/50 sec.
While working on motion blurs with the Roseate Spoonbills, I caught sight out of the corner of my eye a Great Egret chick on the ground and running towards a tree. It had fallen out of its nest and was trying to get back to it. Too young to fly, it was stranded and surrounded by dozens of alligators. It didn’t stand a chance. When presented with an easy meal, slow and lethargic alligators suddenly become very fast. One swiftly raced to the tree and grabbed the poor little egret. And that was that.
Alligator eating a Great Egret chick that had fallen from its nest. I was working on motion blurs with the Roseate Spoonbills and swung my camera around to capture the moment. Unfortunately I didn’t react fast enough to adjust my camera settings. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 200mm, ISO 1000, f/9, 1/100 sec.
On all of my visits to the Alligator Farm one of the most exciting and terrifying events happens around 9am when all of the alligators begin their mating rituals at the same time. While in the water they arch their bodies, lifting their heads and tails out of the water. They then begin to bellow, causing vibrations throughout the area. They violently slap the water with their tails. When all the alligators do this at once the whole boardwalk vibrates, and if you are standing on a section of boardwalk directly above a bellowing alligator, it is absolutely thrilling and terrifying even though you know you are safe.
The “water dance” of a bellowing alligator. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 330mm, ISO 5600, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec.
Great Egret chicks are some of the most popular birds to photograph at the Alligator Farm because they look both incredibly cute and awkward. When not feeding, they often stand next to each other napping. They tuck their beaks into their white fluffy down and it provides for a great close-up photo opportunity.
Close-up of Great Egret chicks napping. Nikon Z9 with a monopod-mounted 200-500 f/5.6 lens at 500mm, ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec.
I will make one more visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm this season and that will be a wrap. Later this month there will still be lots of chicks everywhere, and there will be Royal Tern chicks at a nearby beach that I’ll visit as well.
