UT Southwestern Medical Center Rookery, June 2018

I'm headed down to the Gulf Coast in a couple of weeks to shoot shorebirds.  This will be my third time making the trip, and I've always come back with shots I've really liked.  To help me make the most of my time there, I decided to head down to the UTSW Rookery today to get a little practice with their resident birds.

I actually saw seven different species there -- probably the most ever for me in one visit.  Most of them, because they're not stupid, stuck to the shade.  But the Great Egrets helped me out.

I'm never sure exactly what stage any of the young birds are going to be in.  I've been there too early in the season, and I've been there too late.  June seems like it's a smidge late, since I saw relatively few babies.

When I left, I wasn't sure if I had anything really good.  Even after I went through all the shots and chose my selects I wasn't especially pleased.  But once I got into the processing, I was pleasantly surprised.

After I got a few portrait pics, I started to look more for behavior and interactions between pairs of birds.

This particular pair of juveniles was pretty active.  I wonder if they're nearly independent already, given their size.

These two adults looked like they were behind the curve and just getting started on building nests.  I wonder how viable eggs would even be now that it's so hot out.

I wish I'd focused a little more on trying to get some flight shots, but I'm still glad I got what I did.  I feel a little better prepared now for what I'll hopefully see in a couple of weeks!