Turtles

I'm fond of them but I don’t usually notice them.

Instinctively I’ll stop the car and run into the road to save a poor, misguided Eastern Box turtle from harm. Look at that turtle lady go! Yep, that's me.

There are times when I give them my undivided attention. Painted Turtles rest on a log, lollygagging, doing nothing much except examining moss, until they catch a whiff of my perfume – blip-blip blip blip-blip-blip in succession like dominos they drop into the murky water. I’ve learned that you need to work your camera quickly for Painted Turtles because when photos are concerned, they’re no different from most birds.

Why are they all facing in the same direction?

Their eyesight must be superb because this Snapper saw me moving closer at least fifty yards away. Slide’n dive. How rude. I was on my way to introduce myself.

Life is full of surprises. Oh, I’d rather not be surprised but I’ll admit that most of them are usually pleasant.

Have you ever reviewed your photos at the end of the day to see there were things going on in a particular photo that you didn’t notice? Dragonfly surprise! Cameras with zoom rock.

Here is a series of photos taken within minutes of each other. I had no idea there was a turtle sharing the bark.

My answer to your question is, “Yes, I’m tired of and bored with my Great Blue Heron photos.” I need to kick them up a notch, somehow. Great Blue Herons don’t do much besides stand perfectly still so to find one striking a pose isn’t remotely possible. Maybe if I inflate a raft and attach a blind to it I can paddle my way to the big bird and sit for a while… It would not be difficult to do, although I would attract local news media and possibly get arrested. Someone must dare me.

I count four. What a nice surprise to see them in an otherwise dull Mallard duck photo.

The Hooded Mergansers have arrived and I have been trying to get near them without a bit of luck. For the past few weeks it has been overcast, gray, and actually dark quite often in Charlotte but I’ll show these photos anyway because a few of them contain a pair of turtles. I laughed out loud because, again, I was unaware.

Cute Mallard, cute duck feet. (no turtle)

Male Hoodie – not a good shot, by any means, but colorful, at least. (no turtle)

And there goes his girl. I stood in the rain and waited for the couple to come together. They did, far, far, away...

After reviewing the last few photos, the miniature paddle boat/canoe/raft/blind idea is sounding real good to me. Hmmm.