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| Photo by George Ponder |
| Immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron: As you search the edges of glades and marshes look to the tall grass. You never know what you might find peeking out. |
Living in North Alabama as I do, the Gulf Coast is a convenient vacation spot—only a four-hour drive from my neck of the woods. Typically, I grab the golf bag for our vacations and spend time on the golf course while the wife and kids play in the sand. This year, I decided to leave the golf bag at home and carry the camera bag instead.
For the past two years, the Fort Morgan peninsula has been our destination spot on the Gulf Coast . The peninsula lies on the eastern entrance to Mobile Bay and is the home of the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. The opportunity to explore this refuge with a camera was too great to pass up.
The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 and consists of approximately 7,000 acres of coastal lands that range from beach dunes to pine-oak woodlands. The refuge runs along the coasts of both the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay and is home to more than 540 species of animals ranging from herons to egrets to alligators to deer. Birds are the most visible habitant of the refuge and offer tremendous photographic opportunities. I spent my mornings roaming the refuge during our weeklong vacation and barely scratched the surface of what this habitat has to offer.
On my first day walking the fringes of the refuge, it felt as if at every turn a bird would appear. I had to consciously pace myself to avoid filling all my camera's memory cards on the first day. I was also amazed at the differing personalities of the birds. I would come across some birds that didn't blink an eye about my presence while others flew off squawking as soon as they noticed my presence. Others seemed to come out of the shadows and pose while others kept to the safety of concealment.
Patience and a little stealth proved to be a requirement for my exploration. You also need to have a long lens. While a 300mm lens would do, a 400mm lens or greater is better suited for reaching the wildlife that are more skittish. I carried the Sigma 50–500mm for most of my exploration except for when I chased sunsets (then my Tokina 12–24mm came in handy). The Tamron 200—500mm would be another good choice in lenses.
I found that this type of photography is different than other wildlife photography I've shot. In shooting the eagles in North Alabama, a monopod or tripod was necessary because you remained stationary most of the time covering the nest. While I could have set up in one area and waited for the wildlife to come to me, I found that exploring the refuge was more revealing and rewarding. Many of the birds are territorial in that they don't wander far from their nest and tend to remain in one area; you'd never see them if you stayed in one place. I found that a monopod was a little cumbersome for the walks and chose to use my Sigma unsupported. I've had this lens for sometime now and have gotten use to the weight, so losing the monopod wasn't an issue. The sun provided enough light to easily allow for shutter speeds of 1/1000 or greater, which eliminated any handshake issues.
I would find myself forgetting I had a camera in my hands at time, as I looked around in amazement. I developed a new respect for pelicans on this trip. One morning I was walking along the shores of Mobile Bay and the pelicans were feeding—hundreds of them. If you have never seen pelicans feed in open water, it is a sight. They would soar to several hundred feet to find schools of fish below, nosedive into the water, get a mouth full of food, and return to flight.
The average wingspan of a pelican is 5–6 feet, and they weigh 8–10 pounds. Needless to say, pelicans aren't small birds. I was stunned at the impact these birds made on the water and the ease at which they returned to flight. Many sounded like canons as they impacted the water.
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