David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Great Blue Heron with its morning catch. Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I’m not sure how it will swallow the fish… Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec).
Pair of Great Blue Heron’s Doing the Sun Dance on Boxer Day. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens + 1.4 TC (ISO 200, 420 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec).
Great Blue Heron Doing the Chicken Dance. Black Point Wildlife Road, Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1800, 400 mm, f/4, 1/320 sec).
Before starting my drive back to New Jersey, I spent the morning on Merritt Island. First for sunrise at Playalinda Beach at Canaveral National Seashore, then for a drive through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge — both along Bio Lab Road and Black Point Wildlife Drive. The previous day there was heavy fog in the morning so I didn’t go to Playalinda beach. This beach is favored by surf fishermen.
Rather that using the big telephoto lenses, all of the images on this day were taken with a Nikon D700 camera with a 28-300 mm VR lens, a Leica X2 camera, or a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 18.5 mm f/1.8 lens. All hand-held, no tripod.
After arriving at my hotel in Cocoa Beach I drove to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. It took about 40 minutes to get to the headquarters to buy a new America the Beautiful pass. They were going to give it to me for the senior rate of $10, but to be ethical I paid the full price. I then went for one round through the 7 mile, one-way Black Point Wildlife drive before sundown. They close the road at sunset. The following are some images I took along the road.
