S. M. Garver - Wildlife Photos

All the photos in this Wildlife Photos section of the website, except for the 'Household Pets', were taken within a short radius of an extended stay hotel in Jacksonville, Florida between February 2014 and January 2019. The land is flat so there are drainage ditches, culverts and ponds in many areas. Wildlife ecosystems flourish in them.

Wildlife seen in places other than near this hotel are in the Travel Photos section of the website.

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Beach Boulevard is a six-lane divided roadway on the left of this late April sunrise photo. The drainage ditch heading eastward is in the center of the image with the clouds and trees reflected in the water.
[The foreground trees, roadway, and ditch sides are dark. The roadway is peppered with headlights of oncoming cars. In the sky are low dark clouds mixed with lighter ones reflecting the pinkish morning sky. The sky is reflected in the water.]

The same drainage area a week later in daylight as the wood storks fish for meals and the black vulture waits for leftovers.
[This image is a closer view of the wide drainage area. Part of the hillside is paved while the rest is grassy. Several large, white birds, woodstorks, walk through the water with their heads in the water as the hunt for fish. One black vlauture sits at the top of the hillside. Two people are visible walking on the sidewalk near the road.]

During periods of low rainfall, vegetation grows atop the water.
This photo of the same area was taken late August 2016.
[All the water in the drainage area has a skim-coat covering of rust-colored growth atop it which is a contrast to the greenery growing on the hillsides.]

The drainage system heads left to this culvert under Beach Boulevard. The wood storks and black vultures were busy this late April 2014 morning.
[Three wood storks are in the water while five black vultures stand on the hillside leading into the water. A cement support holds the roadway and sidewalk above the water flow.]

The drainage system extends westward along the south side of Beach Boulevard. The small black blob in the middle of the water is a male mallard watching his young ones a little further beyond in the water. At the top of the hillside on the left is a post office parking lot.
[Daylight view of the stormwater drainage ditch leading to a culvert with two square arches. Atop the culvert are several cars awaiting the traffice light to change. Much less water in this section of the ditch.]

Continuing westward is this shallow section of drainage ditch. Just to the right of this image is a sidewalk and then Beach Boulevard. The birds from front to back are a snowy egret, a great egret, and a wood stork. The other white blobs are trash blown in by the wind.
[Grass-covered gentle slopes lead into the accumulated water. The birds are at the waters edge while litter peppers the landscape.]

Just before the square arches above the water seen on the photo two prior to this is a T in the ditch. Several stone arched roadways connect the post office property on the left and the adjacent retail business parking lot. This view looks southward from the archway closest to Beach Boulevard. This mid-June 2014 dusk photo captures two sets of mallard ducklings feeding in the water. One set has begun flying while the other set has yet to take their first flight.
[At the far left back of the image is a two-arched stone culvert. Sloping grassy hillsides lead about 8 foot down to the water which snakes through the low-lying area leading to the arches. The outlines of two mallards are visible in the center of the image while five brown blobs are to the right in a darker section of the image.]

Just beyond the stone arches (southward) in the prior photo is this section of drainage ditch.
[Grassy hillsides slope to the water. In the distance are a multitude of trees.]

On the back (south) side of the hotel is a fence which separates a small grassy area and this rainwater drainage pond. This early February 2014 sunset water image reflects the colorful clouds in the sky.
[A fence rail is seen along the right side of the image. An L-shaped pond extends back and to the left. Grassy hillsides lead down to the water in which purple pink clouds are reflected. Nearby trees are also reflected in the water. The brigh, setting sun is seen through tree trunks in the background right of the image.]

This is the back edge of the pond by early May. Considerable plant growth during the spring provides a backdrop for this great egret stepping through the water.
[A large all-white bird with a yellow-orange beak stands in water up to its feathers. The pond water extends to the left while considerable reed, grass, and small tree growth nearly hide the hillside leading into the water.]

Just on the other side of the fence to the east of the building is this swamp. During the extremely dry period in 2014 this swamp disappeared--a highly unusual occurrence--which took a toll on the wildlife ecosystem in the area.
[A multitude of trees and large shrubs extending upward from the water as well as being reflected in it.]

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