3 Hour Photo Trips – Sardis Lake, MS

It’s about 8:30 am.  We’re on the way to Sardis Lake in Mississippi.  It’s one of our hot spots for Woodpeckers, and I’ve yet to get a great shot of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker…the largest in the Woodpecker family.  We took a different route than just the interstate, taking our time and enjoying the scenery and the countryside.  When what to our wondering eyes should appear…but two Zebra’s, a Giraffe, and a Camel.  To say that we were shocked, would be the understatement of the day.  Literally out in the middle of nowhere, suddenly we’re seeing African wild life.

So naturally, as any good photographer would do, I stopped immediately and began snapping pictures.  I didn’t care if traffic was coming or not, if I was completely off the road or not…I mean, there’s a giraffe looking at me!  I took a couple from the inside of the truck, then Monica got out and climbed into the bed of the truck to get a view over the double fence, and she took the profile pic that is just gorgeous.  We actually went on to Sardis Lake, walked the boardwalk through the swamp area, then on to the lower lake area below the spillway where we were truly blessed to see two new bird species for our collection:  the American White Pelican (absolutely awesome!) and a whole bunch of Great Cormorants.  I’ll post those pics in the next couple of days.

Sometimes when you go on these photo trips, they prove to be fruitful and if you’re lucky, when you get home and look at the pictures, they may even prove to be successful.  But let’s face it, when you get the chance to just randomly see zebras, camels, and a giraffe, the day is pretty much fruitful and successful right at that very moment.

I’ll leave you all today with two more pictures:  extreme close ups of the giraffe and the zebra.  The stripes on the zebra are just too perfect not to zoom in on and admire.  The giraffe, I swear it was like he knew his picture was being taken.  He posed and even smiled a nice toothy grin, and yet, a more perfect smile I doubt you could find in the giraffe world.

If you think this was a great day, leave me a comment or two and make it even better for me.  To my followers here in America, thanks for staying with me and checking out the pictures every day.  To my newest international followers (and how cool is that!) in Ireland, India, and now Romania, thanks for popping in and liking my work.

So after this great and exotic morning of photography, it is with renewed excitement and conviction that I leave you with these words:  Get out there, and Enjoy Our Wonderful World!