On the day after Christmas in 2009 we took a very nice powerful minivan ride through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The place was packed! I have never seen so many vehicles. While that warmed my heart to see all those nature lovers cruising around it did suggest that this was the day to avoid the main route of Black point road and look for less traveled venues for snapping a few frames.

We first took the East Gator creek road. Of course there were no gators. But some great bird opportunities. We tried L Pond Road next but it is still closed. So fell back on the ever popular Bio Lab Road. The name conjures up images of escaped radio active mutant beasts of out sided proportions and unimaginable powers. As it turns out that was pretty much the case. The Florida sun supplied the radiation and quite wonderful lighting and the birds are just always huge and amazing there.

All of these shots were taken using a Canon 40D and a 600mm f4 Canon Monster lens.