Even though much of Florida is on the water, either the ocean or one of our many rivers, my area is not. I miss the water for any number of reasons, but one of them is some of the incredible wildlife you find near water. My Mom lives in Crystal River, which as the name implies, has a river nearby. Even though her house is just an hour’s drive from mine, we have quite a few differences in our area wildlife. That’s one of the reasons that whenever I go down there I try to make some outdoor time. On one of my visits we went to lunch at a place out on the river and sat in their outside seating. Any restaurant with outdoor seating attracts birds. Which birds depends on the location. At this location it was this female boat tailed grackle (Quiscalus major).

There were several signs asking people not to feed the birds, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing leftovers from plates after patrons left and before the bus people got there. Between snacks from plates she was also hunting insects in the grass near the seating area. I had been watching her all through our meal, so after we finished eating I grabbed my camera and shot a few photos. The midday sun that day was very bright and it wasn’t ideal for photography, but I really couldn’t resist. In the series I shot were these two. In the first image she was watching the grass intently waiting for the chance to grab some unsuspecting insect. In the second, she had caught it and seemed quite proud of herself. It seemed almost as though she was looking right at the camera when I took the shot.