One of my favorite places is the Guanica State Forest. It became a nature reserve in 1919 and was designated by the United Nations as a Biosphere Reserve in 1981. In my opinion, and that of many others, Guanica is one of the best examples of a subtropical forest as well as dry forest in the Caribbean basin. A dry forest should be devoid of shore birds, the only exception being an area with seashore and even then, the shore birds should be limited to those areas with shoreline available. Guanica defies these expectations. Any depression that fills with water in Guanica attracts shore birds, allowing them to be found throughout the dry forest. These pools are essential as the highly endangered Puerto Rican Crested Toad lives in these unique water reserves. In fact, this specific location is designated critical habitat. I am very familiar with the area as it was one of my study sites for the work I did for my Masters Degree thesis in the late-1980s.
Fast-forwarding about 25 years, this particular day started with thick cloud cover. I thought to myself “Great, the light will filter itself naturally”. All morning long there had been intermittent drizzle. I was taking my fairly new Canon 7D through its paces at the time. Needless to say, I was concerned about the drizzle. I hiked two of the trails I had used for my research by the time I realized the drizzle was not going to stop. It was nearing noon and I was getting hungry. The only cover in the vicinity was a small area of mangroves. I kept my camera and 400mm lens on the tripod while I searched for my meal bar and water bottle. As I started to open the wrapper this Great Yellowleg lands at the edge of my lenses’ minimum focus distance. Slowly, I got behind the camera and took a few shots of the little fellow as he grabbed a morsel and took off. I couldn’t believe my luck at picking the spot and being able to get a good shot, seemingly out of nowhere. Afterwards, my luck continued to improve as the drizzle dried up and the day resulted in several good shots and even better memories.
– Bryan
Photo © 2015 Bryan Arroyo
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