Cypress trees towering over the mist rising off the surface of the marsh.

I found the biggest eastern fence lizard I've ever seen on the trunk of an oak tree in my backyard today. Here she is looking at the camera.

Was doing some work in the garden when I heard a peep from the camellia. A female northern cardinal sitting on her eggs in a nest. #birds

Another backlit shot of a sandhill crane colt ambling on the grass. #birds

A great blue heron splashes as it bathes itself in a pond. #birds

Thanks, Mary. Getting to see them is always a highlight of my spring.

Thanks, Glen. Love that rim lighting on these little guys.

Let me know when you get tired of sandhill crane babies. A pair of newly hatched colts exploring the edge of a trail. #birds

Thank you, Rob!

Another baby sandhill crane shot: a colt strides along its parent along the trail in some strong morning backlighting. Each of the last two mornings, the birds spent a couple hours grazing in a single spot before walking three-plus miles of trails at a pretty brisk pace. #birds

I spent the morning with baby sandhill cranes. A colt, roughly a week old and trapped in shadow save for its sunlit face, walks a dew-covered slope along a trail in the wetlands. Blurred out in the background you can see a grazing adult and a second colt. #birds

An osprey, with its wings spread wide and its head cocked to the side, ejecting some excess cargo during its flight. #birds

An overhead shot of three baby American alligators floating among the vegetation in a marsh.

A great blue heron nest sitting in a dead tree overlooking the marsh: one juvenile calls out while a second looks inside the nest and an adult scans the surroundings. #birds

In the early morning, a Cooper's hawk looks over its shoulder and through the bare branches of a tree to look back at me. #birds

Ah. Yeah, since I started predominantly carrying my 200-800, I find it a lot harder to get good shots of tiny critters. The 100-500 did a good job with small stuff, but in most of the locations I visit, I typically prefer the extra 300mm of reach.

A glossy ibis comes in for a landing onto a tree stump in the wetlands. #birds

Nice shot. Every time I see a mess of them, I never have my macro lens handy.

A great egret tackling a siren it caught in a muddy drainage ditch. #birds

Every time I pass this marsh rabbit with a broken ear I am compelled to take its picture.

Appetit. Stupid fingers.

Given how different hot sauces can be, a food website should really not be questioning this, but then again it is Bon Appetite.

A blue-winged teal shakes the water droplets from its head after a second duck splashed it. #birds

And here's the juvenile great horned owl sitting amidst some oak foliage and looking down at me after rousing and begging for food around midday. Mom's reaction was to fly to another branch to return to sleep. Taken at 800mm and tightly cropped. #birds

They are awfully beautiful birds.

An adult great horned owl looking down at me with half-lidded eyes from a large tree limb. #birds

Every time I pass this marsh rabbit with a broken ear I am compelled to take its picture.

A female northern harrier flying through a dull blue sky. #birds

Oddly enough, yesterday I had a long discussion with a couple of wildlife photographers with way more experience than I do, who were telling me they'd never gotten a good photo of a bobwhite before, so you've got one up on them.

Pretty uncommon for NYC but not unheard of. In general they're increasingly uncommon all over their range, but you still see some out on Long Island (mostly Suffolk). Good birds to have around: they eat a lot of pests, including ticks.