On March 31,  I made a day trip with the Kingwood Photo Club to the Audobon Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary in High Island, Texas. The sanctuary is a nesting place for thousands of birds during the breeding season, and we found a variety of stunning birds busy in their roosts.  I've not done much bird photography in the past,  and while i have a great camera for it (the Nikon Z8), my longest telephoto  (100-400mm) is normally not ideal for bird photography.  At this location, however, we were very close to the birds and they paid the photographers little attention.

The image above features a Snowy Egret, displaying breeding plumage, with an intense gaze into the shallow waters of the surrounding marsh. Below,  a Roseate Spoonbill dips from its perch to look for food.  The orange tail feathers and bright red shoulders are part of its breeding plumage. 

A great egret guards recently-hatched chicks in the next.  The young birds will fly in about 3 weeks, and be fully independent in just over 2 months.

The roseate spoonbills seemed to be a little behind the egrets in breeding and hatching their young.  I captured these two engaging in a courting ritual.  Perhaps this is where the term "spooning" comes from.

I caught this female grackle taking off from a limb on my side of the marsh.  While a much smaller bird, its proximity to the camera allowed me to capture a frame-filling image in incredible detail. 
I heartily recommend a visit to the sanctuary to those along the Texas Gulf Coast and beyond who are interested in bird watching or photography.  It was an incredible experience,  and I'll be going back for sure!

Thanks for reading my blog post and your interest in my photography.

Scott