I wanted to interrupt my series of strong colors from my back catalog for a more recent picture. Two weeks ago, we risked it all (not really, since we already had COVID--but you never know) and took the RV down to Cortez, near Bradenton, Florida for a week of sun and fun. My buddy Bill and I took a side trip for a day to the Everglades. A side trip to that side trip was a visit a birding platform near the Big Cypress National Preservation Area in an area called Ten Thousand Island National Wildlife Reserve. At dusk, thousands of various water birds fly in for the evening which puts on quite a show. Saw this grouping of what I thought were 5 Snowy Egrets about 500 yards away across the small lake where these birds all gather. As I took the shot I saw it was only 3 Snowy Egrets but with their reflections, it looked like more. I knew I had a cool looking shot when I pressed the trigger. Back at home, the shot looked very painterly when I started to edit it and whenever that happens, I whip out the software that gives me some filters to play with to turn the picture into more of a painting. After trying lots of versions, I like this one best. Got hundreds of shots over the week showing 27 different bird species, a whole bunch of them new to my catalog. This got me inspired again to work on my bird book for my accidental birding year, which is one of the things that COVID brought on. Anyway, more on that later. For now, this is a new favorite.
