H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

During my recent vacation to Florida, while I was taking pictures of birds in a swampy area with a medium size pond also has a short boardwalk and some resting benches, there I met two older ladies that had been watching me moving around with my long lens camera trying to take better shots. They told me they are residents in Florida for many years but are originally from New Jersey, they were a couple of pleasantly nice and very talkative ladies, so we struck a conversation about birds and how they always love to drive to hot spots for birds and to simply observe them in their habitat. During our conversation we saw a small group of Boat-tailed Grackles perched onto the boardwalk’s hand railing so I took a few shots of them and showed the pictures to my new friends, the ladies were delighted to see how beautiful they looked on the camera screen. Both women commented that these grackles are among their favorite birds.

They asked me several questions about birds they have seen in the past, among those questions was this one: Why the grackle’s plumage is iridescence and changes colors. After a brief answer, they were satisfied and happy to have met me, soon enough they were letting me know about several hot spots in the area. That’s how I get my information that helps me find birds.

Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101