During our two weeks in Florida last month, I had opportunity to photograph many birds. Today, I'm featuring the Anhinga, also known by several other names, including Snakebird, because of its habit of swimming with only its neck and head above water, looking very much like a snake.
Unlike ducks, the Anhinga feathers are not waterproofed. As a result, feathers can become waterlogged, making the bird barely buoyant. However, this allows it to dive easily and search for underwater prey, such as fish and amphibians. But it also means that the birds have to spend a lot of time drying out those waterlogged wings and feathers.
One afternoon, we saw an Anhinga swimming to shore with a rather large fish it had just speared. The following series of photos record the resulting action. (These photos aren't the best. I was too excited to worry about camera settings.)
Struggling to get its catch to shore.
Gulp!
Going down.
Ahhhh!
Beautiful series photos, Linda!
ReplyDeleteHI Linda What a wonderful series of shots of this birds adn it was grat to see the fish going down, down, DOWN! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteWow and wow, those are great photos. You did a great job of getting them in all the excitement.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a treat to see the sequence of dinner photos. ;) I knew next to nothing about this bird before reading your post. Thank you for sharing.
p.s. I can't stop gawking at that bird!
What a unique set of photos, the one amplifies the Snake version when it first gets the fish.It is -3 right now so FL sounds real nice.
ReplyDeletegreat series of shots!
ReplyDeletejust awesome! great shots of the anhinga, then even better to witness and record his catch and (yuck) gulp! :)
ReplyDeleteGood shots of the anhinga eating.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.
I think you did a great job with the action sequence. These are marvelous photos.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! I've never seen one with its catch, only drying their wings. These are awesome!!!! Enlarging the photos is worth the extra clicks. I think you did a fantastic job. Bravo!!
ReplyDeletegorgeous bird. for some reason i feel like the head - looks like a snake shape ... so that does scare me a bit. i know - i know ... i am working on it ... ( :
ReplyDeleteOH MY...great photo piece.....
ReplyDeleteThat's a great photo sequence! Lucky you for happening along at the right moment!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Those action shots are great.
ReplyDeleteFantastic series!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous fotos, congratulations for shots,
ReplyDeleteYou captured a great series of shots. Really well done! It certainly does look snakelike in the water. The only birds I've seen dry their wings like that are cormorants.
ReplyDeleteAmazing takes. Your a born gifted photographer like the others. Your camera must be a beauty the way your camera zooms in. Plus you travel to amazing places. That helps.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your photos like Tex girl and my other friend Montana girl in blogs.
Incredible photos. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your evening.
ReplyDeleteGreat series, Linda, you're a good observer and captured the feeding well enough.
ReplyDeleteThe Anhinga is very interesting bird. It's true that when it swims with just the neck and head above water, one couldn't guess what's hidden under the surface. :)