Enough Is Enough!!
Studying and observing our world of nature is quite interesting and sometimes even shocking! I remember the first time, on a birding expedition, I saw baby Anhingas in the nest looking a bit scary in their pink skin-covered hairless heads. The skin on their long throats leading out to the sharp bills appeared to be so thin that as they stood in the nest with the mouths open, the wind whistled through giving a vibration look to their mouth and throat area. Since they have no sweat glands, they manage the body heat with the rapid vibration of the upper throat and thin floor of the mouth (“gular flutter”). Very interesting. All of a sudden a parent flew to the nest and the fight for the food began. There was such a loud clatter and clacking sound and such extreme movement in the nest it truly appeared the juveniles AND the parent were fighting, indeed. I zoomed in with my camera and could not believe my eyes! One of the juveniles had it’s entire head down the throat of the parent Anhinga accessing the food which the parent was regurgitating. Sound enticing? I think not!! The other juvenile was not giving up the fight with its head right up there, sharply pointed bill and all. The second juvenile was not without as its head disappeared down the parent’s throat as soon as there was access. I feared one of their sharp bills would rupture the parent’s throat. But, alas, they were “wonderfully made” as well by our Creator. I mean, breast feeding is one thing, but this methodology made me so thankful to be a human. As soon as dinner was over, the parent flew away for a respite in a nearby tree....
Read MoreA Sight to Behold
One of my favorite past times is birding in wetlands. Waterfowl are especially interesting to me. I enjoy their beauty and the way God programmed them to live, raise families and survive in nature. Early in my birding years, the first Anhinga I encountered literally brought me to tears. I was walking around a lake on Hilton Head Head Island, SC, in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve. Chasing after a rather elusive Pileated Woodpecker, I was patient hoping for the perfect photography opportunity. I captured numerous “less than perfect” shots of the woodpecker and decided to walk to the shell ring area left nearly 4,000 years ago by Native Indians who traveled to our east coast. This shell ring is amazing, but that’s another entire post for later. As I walked down the trail beside a lake, I glanced over at the water and the view literally took my breath away. There sitting on a piece of an old tree sticking out of the water was a majestic looking Anhinga with its wings spread all the way out showing a gorgeous pattern of white stripes on it’s wings…very Native American looking design to me. Once I cleared my eyes of tears, I began focusing in on the bird praising God as I zoomed and focused. Such beauty, I thought. Thank you, Lord! The bird remained in that perfect position as I was amazed at the time he was giving me to photograph. His reflection in the water was just lovely! I had no idea what kind of bird this was but I DID know that I felt blessed to be viewing it. Once I identified and researched the bird’s identity, I learned that they have no oil glands in their feathers so following diving and feeding in the water, they stand fanning out their wings to allow their feather to dry. Just a little nugget of information but such detail that our Creator went to in their life design. 🙂 Fast forward a few years and I see these interesting birds all the time now in low-country SC, Georgia and Florida. I remember this first experience every single time I photograph these birds years later. Joy...
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