The geese are in the middle of staking out territory and some have already begun to nest. Here's a goose who has made a rookie mistake. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her nest will be underwater in a few weeks. Note the posture, lying flat so as to avoid being seen:



This momma has chosen a nest site more wisely:



A gander displaying some protective motions:



And here he is after chasing off another gander:



The snakes are coming out of hibernation, too. Here's the first garter snake I've seen swimming:



Up on dry land, warming his/her body:



I've found a new challenge that puts birds-in-flight shots in the easy category - bats-in-flight. The best I could do with approx. 30 attempts:



He did finally land, though, and posed for a few shots:



All taken with the FA*300.

I love this time of year!

[borno]

Great shots Tom I really love the snake in the water, it is my favorite

[Sailor]

Great shots Tom I really love the snake in the water, it is my favorite

Mine too. An amazing shot, Tom!

Jer

[camperguy01]

Great shots Tom!

They're all great but I really like the bat in flight shot. Not too often that you see them fly during daylight.

Great job!

The funny/great thing about the snake in water is the fact the ripples appear to accentuate the snake's scales; actually perhaps "mimic" would be a better analogy. Very cool!

[bbpa103]

Tom, very nice series. Snake in the water gets my vote too. Ken.

[Buddha Jones]

Great shots indeed. I dont know how many people have actually seen bats in flight, but I have, and I can vough first hand for the near impossibility of it. They are like larger faster butterflies. From the ones that I have seen, no rhyme or reason to their flight patterns, just crazy. That is my favorite shot.

[SCGushue]

Tom,

I think that the garter snake in the water is a show stopper. The pattern of the pebbles beneath the sparkling waters is almost a metaphor for reptiles in and of itself. Solid!

Stephen

[J.Scott]

Nice shots Tom. The bat images are great! I know that with persistence you'll have a prize winner here very soon. I have seen several bats around town, mostly clinging to brick walls during the day. One was spotted while I waiting my turn at a drive-thru bank machine and the other, again at a drive thru, but coffee this time. They squash their bodies tight to the brick and mortar trying to stay warm, I guess. But in flight they are wickedly fast and seldom go in a straight line. Good luck!

As for 'dumb' birds, I have a pair of Mallards that are hanging about in the empty lot behind my house and spying up a big puddle as a suitable home. Hopefully they will find a more suitable place to set up a nest. As we still have a lot of ice on the lakes I guess they will vacate the premises as soon as it melts.

[KrisK10D]

Good stuff... love the swiming snake as well

I get big bats in the pomegranit tree next door all the time. They're annoying, noisy and are worse than birds when my washing's out (if ya know what I mean )

[roentarre]

The snake shot in the water is awesome! The water ripple or reflections do look impressive as well.

Amazing in deed.

[Falcons]

I sincerely hope that you do continue to visit this site and post your stunning photos; they certainly set a benchmark.

[gawan]

Great shots, Tom, I specially love the swimming garter snake, even the water surface looks kinda "snaky" there!

[ToXiQ]

whow Tom, I find the snake shot's incredible. And the bats ofcource.

regards Walter

[Rener]

Fantastic shots Tom, the 4th one, a gander chasing another one, I thought a K100D cannot do this kind of shots. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Rene