The Anhinga is a diving bird. It pops up out of the water briefly, and then vanishes beneath it again. When it's swimming under the water, trying to photograph its head popping up briefly here and there is somewhat like the children's arcade game 'bop a mole', or so my son tells me. I was having as much fun watching and photographing the birds as I was watching my kids try to photograph the disappearing diving birds.

Sometimes the Anhinga will come out of the water with a fish, toss it up in the air, catch it, and swallow it. One day I'll be fast enough to get that on film. (I got the fish flip! It's on page 2.)

This picture and the one above are the same Anhinga; she's just dryer in this one, and turned at a better angle against the sun.

It's a girl; you can tell that by the much lighter brown head and neck than the boy Anhinga has in the picture below.

This next Anhinga seemed to be upset that another bird was getting too close to her perch. The other bird left.

Look at the green on this Anhinga face! That's a clue to look for nests; when their eyes are green, it's baby Anhinga season.

The male is the darker Anhinga on the left, and the female is the one with the brown head and neck on the right.

Speaking of baby Anhingas, this one popped up from the nest and posed for me:

These three Anhinga babies are sitting on their nest waiting for their parents to bring them food:

Double-crested Cormorants also dive, so if you're trying to identify a diving bird, have a look at those as well.

Go to page 2