Nature’s Gift is something I am extremely grateful for. There are days I will take myself out for a walk just to clear my head and re-orient my thoughts. I recently had to do that. My head was not in a good place and I could have worried myself silly but I thought rather get out and walk and clear my thoughts. Nature does wonders for me in that way.

I also took my big boy lens out to play.

I don’t often get to photography the Grebe when I am walking. This tiny birds are so fast that they have ducked before I can even focus, and they swim under water forever and you don’t know where they are going to pop up. This little one was bathing so I managed to catch a series of images.

The winter has really done a number on the greenery at the wetlands but sometimes that starkness has a relatable effect. Turtles enjoy sunning themselves and in winter you can typically find them on a log. The downside of being in the wetlands is the turtles tend to become gator food.

Iguana are not terribly popular in the wetlands but I personally think that they are just incredible lizards. Another surprise for many people is that they are not aware how well iguana can swim. This iguana was sunning in a tree when it clearly decided that there were too many people looking at it. It carefully worked its way out of the tree into the water and then swam across to an island far enough away that people could not get to close to it. Note that the iguana’s coloring is orange which is typically its mating colors.

Nature isn’t just about birds it can be about reflections and in this case I really loved the reflections of the reeds in the water. The unsuspecting Grebe was a bonus. I say unsuspecting because this little Grebe was unaware that a predator was heading it’s way.

Gators are found in the wetland, which is why I am walking on a boardwalk. This one was pretty big and made its way towards the Grebe. Fortunately for that little bird, it moved on quickly. This image is of the gator swimming towards me.

And this image the gator had swum underneath the boardwalk and I got it just as it came out the other side.

I find leaves fascinating and the rich color of the boardwalk and the really narrow depth of field makes this type of image my favorite to shoot. It’s always fun to watch people when I am taking this kind of shot because they will hang around until I am finished and sort of look around to see what I am taking a photo of. When they find out it is a leaf they walk off.

I am not a big fan of spiders quite honestly, but I am super impressed with the natures fine architects, the spider being one of them. They build these incredible webs. Not that I am a big fan of walking into them, it is a merry kind of crazy dance to get that web off me as quickly as possible.

Another leaf shot and again I love the beautiful tones and creaminess that this low to the boardwalk shot creates.

I did go looking for dragonfly but did not really find any until this guy. I thought with it being nesting season there would be an abundance of dragon fly but apparently these guys have got wise. Wait until the babies are grown before we head out that way again.

A real treat is to see a yellow headed night heron. They are shy birds that tend to hide in the branches and I saw a couple early in my walk but as I was finishing up I spotted this one down on the ground.

Last but not least is the beautiful and annoying grackle. Beautiful because the color in their feathers is just stunning. Annoying because they are noisy and tend to come en-mass. One evening there were so many that they covered our back garden. Those were in the days that I had birdseed out. They stopped over before heading into the national park to do their sunset appearance.

Nature always makes me look to creation, and to a God that I trust in. It helps me to appreciate this planet so much more than humans do. Yet even amongst nature there is this tier of predator to victim scenario.

Nature also helps me to just clear my mind. To let go of the hurts and to just refocus and reprioritize what is the next best step for me. I haven’t done it enough lately but I really need to get back out and walking again.

This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Katherine of Cobert Photography up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page.

Until next time, stay well.