Brazos Bend - Now Includes Abandoned Gear

[MarkBarbieri]

I went to a relatively nearby state park to shoot gators this morning. It was an interesting outing. I think I'm going to check with my insurance agent to see if I'm covered for theft-by-gator.

Early in the morning, we spotted a rather large gator near a trail that cuts through a lake. The rest of the group posted up not too far from the relaxed looking gator and started setting up. I decided to go for a different angle and set up further back where I could get a good side view of the gator.

I quickly set up my tripod, popped my 70-200 (which already had my 1.4x teleconverter attached) on the tripod, and started attaching the camera to the lens. For some reason, the gator started getting huffy. My first concern was for the small group standing closer to him, but he decided to turn in my direction. At this point, he's about 20 or 30 feet away from me, but he's not moving. He's just angled more my way and make really, really deep rumbly sounds. I really wish I had my camera on my lens now because the water is vibrating in a really nifty pattern because of his rumbling noises.

I don't use my teleconverter very often and I was very distracted by the large toothy creature nearby, so I was struggling to get the camera mounted. I had left the lens in portrait orientation on the tripod and forgot, so I kept trying to mount the camera at the wrong angle. I finally got it on when the gator decided to take a closer look. I left my tripod, my camera, my 70-200, my 1.4x, and my camera bag with just about all my gear (which I had set on the ground for the lens change) and rather quickly walked away.

The gator quickly swam over to where I was set up, lumbered out of the water and walked right up to my gear. I thought for sure he was going to munch it, drag it into the water, knock my tripod over, or do something else exciting with it. Fortunately for me, he decided to keep going and wandered into the other side of the lake and swam away.

One of my friends got some shots of the incident. I'll see if I can post a link when he uploads them. He said that he was having a hard time shooting because he was laughing so hard. When the gator decided to "go for me", my other friend said "@#$%, Mark's still got the car keys in his pocket." For some reason, he thought that was funny. Now they're calling me "Gator Bate" and asking that I come along on future outings.

Anyway, here are a some of my shots from the morning.

Big White Birds (I think they're snowy egrets, but I'm not a bird guy).
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288954166_p3HwD-L.jpg


Medium Sized Grey Bird
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288955706_QTTyD-L.jpg


Curved Beak White Bird (Ibis?)
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288956035_i4wvz-L.jpg

Ducks (They told me they were wood, but I know I saw them moving)
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288958004_ZR6Cc-L.jpg

Friend that was worried about the gator swallowing my keys
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288958910_2HNoj-L.jpg

Some other bird
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288959316_XE92e-L.jpg

Dragonfly
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288959861_SGVMZ-L.jpg

Colorful Bird
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288960968_pPAmX-L.jpg

Gator
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288963587_EEDbg-L.jpg

Pile of Baby Gators
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288965622_92qb6-L.jpg

Little Bug With Lots of Legs
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288966970_5L39Y-L.jpg

Chimpers
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/288957506_c8tgz-L.jpg

[AndrewWG]

Alright Mark, first off I have to say GREAT pics! Those are so nice and crisp. Great work. However, since you have taught me so much about photography, I figured I would try to help you with the bird identification.

The first bird is a Great Egret. The difference )other than larger size) from the Snowy Egret is the yellow bill versus the black bill of a Snowy. The Snowy also has yellow feet but they aren't seen in your pic. They are underwater so it's the bill that gives it away.

The second bird is a yellow crowned night heron.

The third bird is in fact an Ibis of some sort. I believe an adult White Ibis.

The ducks are ducks. Wood or not, they are ducks. Thats all I have on that one.

The brown and white Ibis is an immature White Ibis. They are brown when young then they turn mostly all white like the adult above.

The next bird is an adult green heron.

Next time when you go, you can tell that guy with the big honkin lens what he is taking pictures of. I usually assume that they know, but most often, they don't.

Again, great pics. Wish I could visit there and take some! I love bird photography.

[MarkBarbieri]

Thanks for the bird info. I'll never be a bird expert. To me, they all look best when they are deep fried.

The guy with Nikon 600mm is a bird nerd. He knew all the different birds. I just couldn't remember all the stuff he told me. He spent much of the morning hunting for a purple something or other. He finally found one near the end, but it was outside of my range.

[AndrewWG]

Thanks for the bird info. I'll never be a bird expert. To me, they all look best when they are deep fried.

The guy with Nikon 600mm is a bird nerd. He knew all the different birds. I just couldn't remember all the stuff he told me. He spent much of the morning hunting for a purple something or other. He finally found one near the end, but it was outside of my range.

Not real sure what a deep fried Egret would taste like! Hmm... I think it would give someone jail time though.

He was probably looking for a purple gallinule. That one gets the hardcore birders all hot and bothered. :)

[JR6ooo4]

I have heard that when one is around predators it is best to hang out near the chimps. THey make a ton of noise as an alarm when danger is near. as would I

thanks for sharing the pics and story.

mikeeee

[Master Mason]

hmmm alagator... tastes like chicken

[Spectro is #1]

Amazing photos Mark! :thumbsup2

[MarkBarbieri]

Not real sure what a deep fried Egret would taste like! Hmm... I think it would give someone jail time though.

He was probably looking for a purple gallinule. That one gets the hardcore birders all hot and bothered. :)

It's illegal to eat an egret? I wonder why. Those things are all over the place around here. I guess, though, if people started munching on them they'd disappear pretty fast.

I wonder what pigeons taste like? If they were tasty, we could definitely solve two problems at one time.

[WVDisGeek]

Mark, I have a story of an even crazier gator encounter. While my grandparents were living in Louisiana, we went with them to the Sabine Wildlife Preserve. While walking through the preserve, we came accross a gator sunning himself (or herself, not really sure how to tell) on a raised path through the bayou. My brilliant father wanted to get a picture of said gator. At the time all we had was a Polaroid. So yes, my otherwise intelligent father walks up about 8 ft. from said gator and attempts to take his (or her) picture. Needless to say said gator is not amused, whips around and begins hissing in a most unfriendly manner. Father regains some intelligence and runs faster than I have ever seen him move, before or since, back to the rest of us. :rotfl2:
Moral of the story, gators are not photogenic and do not appreciate what we are trying to do! They do taste like chicken though, so all is not lost! Just try not to disturb them, unless you have a few armed and humgry cajuns with you!:laughing:

[MarkBarbieri]

I was later told that rumbling noises aren't bad. That's just the gator talking to other gators. Hissing is not what you want to here. That means they're mad and putting you on warning that they are about to charge.

Years ago, the pamphlet at Brazos Bend warned that if a gator chases you, "You should run quickly. Do not stumble or fall."

I actually ate some gator meet in Lafayette once. I think it was at Prejean's. I suppose the flavor was something like chicken, but the texture was very different. A former company I worked for had an office in Lafayette. I really miss the people there. They were a wonderful group.

[WVDisGeek]

Just realized I forgot to congratulate you on the pictures you took!
They were really sharp! Please chalk it up to the early hour, no offense intended!

My grandparents lived in Lake Charles for 20+ years as transplanted yankees.

The area down there was really beautiful.

[MarkBarbieri]

Here's a shot of my gear being visited.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/2461481975_9837a61d84.jpg

[jann1033]

Years ago, the pamphlet at Brazos Bend warned that if a gator chases you, "You should run quickly. Do not stumble or fall."
this made me actually laugh out loud and i've only had one cup of coffee so far:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: , glad you and your equipment escaped intact and great bird photos. gotta look up the purple what ever now in case i ever see it:rotfl:

[oliviansmom17]

One of my friends got some shots of the incident. I'll see if I can post a link when he uploads them. He said that he was having a hard time shooting because he was laughing so hard. When the gator decided to "go for me", my other friend said "@#$%, Mark's still got the car keys in his pocket." For some reason, he thought that was funny. Now they're calling me "Gator Bate" and asking that I come along on future outings.

Can you feel the love??

And I love the titles for your pics- simple & straightforward. No time for fancy schmancy bird names...things to do...places to go...gators to bait...

[Gdad]

Great story and great pictures Mark- fine work as usual.

BTW- unrelated comment- I see people do that a lot but there is no way I would trust my tripod/collar/ballhead/quick release/etc. enough to sling it over my shoulder like your friend. (Especially with that $lens$ hanging off of it.) :scared1:

[newtodis]

Your pictures are amazing! We have a gator that lives in the lagoon behind our house that DS3 has named Jeff. DS talks to him ("good morning Jeff would you like-whatever DS is having-for breakfast?", "hi Jeff, have a great day!"-yes my son's strange! :) ). We actually came home the other day to Jeff crossing the road from one lagoon to another! I stayed in the car with my children (seems logical right!) while some other moron got out of his car and walked right toward Jeff! :eek: I was thinking of the nicest way to explain that Jeff was hungry and that's why we don't walk up to Jeff as he ate the idiot who walked up to him. :rotfl2: Poor Jeff sees this guy and takes off-I mean faster than my toddler who moves pretty quickly-back into the water. I managed to get a couple of pictures as I usually carry my point and shoot in my purse just in case. When I get home, I'll have to try and post some for you.

Also, I'm told that now is mating season :lovestruc for the gators so they're out moving more and more aggressive than they normally are so be careful!

[sk8belle]

I don't know, Mark. He looks pretty well fed to me, what with his previous meal hanging out of his mouth still. You probably would have been safe. ;)

[MICKEY88]

great pics.

I'm shocked that you would leave your gear behind,

for future reference, if you're going to sacrifice your gear to a wild animal, why not hang on to it, and shove it down the critters throat to save your own butt :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

[MICKEY88]

[QUOTE=MarkBarbieri;24905666]I was later told that rumbling noises aren't bad. That's just the gator talking to other gators. QUOTE]

HMmm what if the gator was telling his friends that dinner was served...:lmao:

[JR6ooo4]

Ya he obviuosly already has a photog in his belly. You were safe...

Mikeeee

[AZ JazzyJ]

Pretty funny...

I remember in college I needed another biology credit. I got out the course catalog and found a class called "Field Biology". I read through the description that basically said this class was a series of field trips to study nature. Well I remember in elementary school how much fun we had when we got to go on field trips so I figured it would be the perfect class. What student wouldn't want a whole semester of going on field trips? I registered and went to the first class. We sat in a lab and the professor described the various trips we would be making. I thought I had found the perfect class. At the end he told us a little bit about himself and ended with the phrase, "my specialty is ornithology". Being a hick freshman I just nodded thinking about the canoing trip he had described and the rafting I would be doing. The next class we met and climbed onto a bus and were driven 60 miles to an area that looked like a river bottom right after a flood. We traipsed around for several hours counting the population of Great Blue Harens nesting. That whole semester we went on excursion after excursion looking at birds. It wasn't until the end of the semester that I realized that ornithology was the study of birds. I thought this guy was just obsessed with feathers.
The only non-bird related field trip we got was when they took us out to the desert and we set live traps for field mice. We marked off a square and set traps. The next day we came back and counted how many field mice we had captured. We then were supposed to mark the field mice and let them go, reset the traps then come back the next day and see how many field mice we captured the second time and how many of them had been marked. From that we would plug the numbers into some hairy formula and it would tell us how many field mice per square mile there were in the area. It all sounded good on paper until we got out to our traps and realized none of us had thought about how we would mark the field mice we caught. It just so happened my girlfriend was in the class and she had a bottle of finger nail polish. We took the field mice out of the traps and I painted their fingernails. Do you have any idea how hard it is to paint the nails on a field mouse? It's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. But after giving each field mouse a pedicure we released them. I often wondered what happened that night in the field mice community when a group came back to the burrow with freshly painted sultry rose nails. It must have caused quite a stir since the next day only one mouse returned to have his nails touched up. I'm not sure which was more funny; me painting toe nails on a field mouse or my girlfriend's face when she saw her favorite nail polish being used on the toes of a rodent. That relationship kind of went downhill after that.
I guess I should be grateful our professor was an ornithologist and not an icthologist. I'm not sure I could have dealt with the idea of sticking my head underwater and counting fish. Besides, the nail polish didn't appear to be waterproof.

[YEKCIM]

Nice shots, Mark, and thanks for sharing.

Oh, and I wouldn't worry too much about being faster than the gator. Just bring along a companion, and be sure you are faster than he is!

~Ed

[Merrywheather]

Here's a shot of my gear being visited.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/2461481975_9837a61d84.jpg

That shot is hilarious! I'm sure you didn't think so at the time!

Very nice shots. I love your bird nomenclature!