Roger,

Very nice images. I also really liked your Mountain Lion
http://clarkvision.com/galleries/gal....08.2004.img_6
463b-600.html

Great expression, Great framing, Great Light, WOW!

About the Rookery; You were there last week. Late February is not quite
prime time for the Venice Rookery. So that might be part of the reason for
the light activity. Plus, I have seen years where it is slow and years where
the trees have been nearly destroyed by all the nesting. And there is a
natural cycle of ebb and flow of birds in Rookeries to think about. But the
main reason, for the lack of birds think is that is still early in the
season.

AFIK, the good shooting Rookeries are far and few between. What is so good
about the known ones is the birds are acclimated to the people so we don't
disturb the natural behaviors of the birds. And thusly they allow us to come
very close. I used to actively search out new Rookeries in Florida and I do
know a few, but access, shooting range, nest height and other variables make
almost all of them pretty inhospitable to bird photographers.

There used to be another nice Rookery in Sarasota (on private property), but
they took out the alligator that was in the pond, because they feared it
might attack some of their calves. Guess what happened. The Rookery died
off. Alligators are necessary for a good Rookery. They protect the Rookery
islands from Raccoons and other nest predators. I hope they did not take any
gators from the Venice Rookery.

--
PWW (Paul Wayne Wilson)
Over 1,000 Photographs Online at,
http://PhotoStockFile.com



On 3/10/04 11:18 PM, in article ,
"Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote:

Hi all, since there has been some activity on this group
on the Venice rookery and Ding Darling, here are a few images
processed from my ~4500 frames from last week:

http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.NEW

Also there are some images from the Arizona Desert Museum.

Concerning the Venice Rookery, what is it's future?
There has been pressure to build on the grounds (fended off
as I heard from locals), but with all the building
activity in the region, there are many fewer birds nesting there
than even 5 years ago. So where have the birds gone?
Are there similar rookeries around that offer similar
photo ops?

Roger