Nature Photography at Amico Island - Deer and spectacular Sunset behind Phiadelphia Skyline #WindPhotography

Doe a Deer

Hobbies like nature photography get us out of the house for hours and moving more. Harry and I took our cameras to Amico Island Park located in Delran Township, NJ - part of Burlington County Parks System.

I was hesitant at first thinking how can I ever capture anything like my first visit to Amico Island photo. Do you remember the magnificent blue heron showing off his full wing span? That was on Amico Island.

On this visit, soon after our arrival, an excited photographer came up to us telling us she saw a large number of deer in the woods. I quickly went in that direction to see if I could find them. Harry stayed behind taking pictures of a beautiful landscape of tree reflections on a pond.

When I found the deer, they allowed me to take their pictures. The deer stayed together hiding in the woods as they listened for other walkers and kids riding their bikes. 

As you can see, I got close enough to see their sweet faces. Their color tones blended perfectly with the dried weeds and grasses in the winter landscape. A large buck strolled by too; I was in awe and could not react fast enough to snap his photo. The late day light streamed through the trees outlining the deer's bodies, even their whiskers! 

This was the first time I noticed deer had whiskers and distinct markings on their faces. They are such beautiful animals. 

Besides having white underside their tail, white-tailed deer display white rings around their eyes and nose that remind me of our cat Sammi. Sammi's eyes have beautiful, thick white outlines above and below her eyes.

After my hike thorough the woods and getting lost after wandering off to find deer to photograph; I finally found Harry on my way back to the car at a scenic overlook of the Philadelphia skyline.

Within minutes, just before the park closed, we had a chance to view a most spectacular orange glow across the Delaware River as the sun set behind Philadelphia!

Amico Island Sunset - Philadelphia Skyline by Diana Wind

Blog post and photographs Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

@BurlCoNJ Wildlife Photography pic of today #windphotography

Great Blue Heron - wingspan: 5.5 to 6.6 feet

Amico Island Wildlife

Captured this photo of a beautiful, large bird on our fall nature walk this morning at Amico Island in Burlington County NJ. It looks like a Great Blue Heron - .Ardea herodias. We also saw some white herons, ducks, spiders, a snake and smaller migrating birds. 

Although I have lived nearby for all these years, this was the first time we ever went to Amico Island. We went with a group lead by Jennifer Bulava, the head Burlington County Parks System park naturalist. We will surely be back with our cameras! 

Thanks for the guided tour, Jenn!

Related Links
Great Blue Heron
Amico Island
Fall Migration Story of Harper, a Great Blue Heron

Photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

More Monarch Butterflies emerged in our NJ garden! #monarchmigration #gardenchat

photo by Harry Wind - edited by Diana Wind

Dorian was born! 

Dorian's chrysalis bobbed back and forth beneath a protective milkweed leaf as winds from Hurricane Dorian passed us along the Jersey coast after battering the Bahamas. As days passed by and the winds passed, Mother nature's course continued. The leaf started curling and browning. It probably wasn't the best idea to form a chrysalis under a milkweed leaf.  Amazingly, no other caterpillars ate that leaf and this story has a happy ending.

Dorian was born! As the sun warmed the morning air, this beautiful Monarch butterfly crawled out of the chrysalis. Nearby, another beauty did too. Yes, two more adult Monarchs to join the 2019 Monarch migration.

Harry noticed that they literally hung out around their chrysalis' mid-morning for a few hours while their wings dried. Learning about the amazing life cycle of Monarch butterflies has been the highlight of our summer. Dorian took 15 days to eclose (emerge). All I can say is, plant Milkweed and they will come. 

Happy Monarch Watching!
Photo and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.