I was sitting in Ricky Bourg's 26' Boston Whaler watching as Bill Bergen came trotting down the pier at Ricky's Motel & RV Park; with some of the gear he had forgotten and left in his car. He climbed in the boat and I backed the boat away from the pier in great anticipation. The plan for the day  was we were going to a small island in Barataria Bay called "Queen Bess Island", to the local folks it's known as "Bird Island". See the article written by one of Louisiana's primer wildlife writers and photographers, George Payne. The article is named: Grand Isle; One of the Last Peaceful Get Aways. The plan was to photograph the nesting Brown Pelicans, "not nesting at this time", they are in abundance at this time of the year.

We headed east down the intercostals channel until we reached the end of Grand Isle and then we headed due north. It was only a matter of minutes until we could see the white rocks that surrounds the island to help with erosion there. Both of us were craning our necks and Bill had his binoculars out so he could get an early look.

What I saw next reminded me about a time I was listening to a young man telling a group of us a story about a most horrible boat wreck he had, there was something about being in 14 foot waves in an 8 foot deep ocean, well he finished his story and glanced around the group to see just what sort of affect his story was having, and he happened to catch me in the middle of my incredulous stare at him, and he says to me, "you would've just had to have been there". That's the description folks, I was not prepared for the number of Brown and White Pelicans that inhabit this island. There were nest everywhere, and the sky was full of birds and more species of other birds than I can't tell you about; you'll just have to come and see for yourself.

I was driving the boat and Bill was snapping pictures. On this trip he was using his Canon EOS 3 with the Canon 100/400 IS lenses. I maneuvered the boat into position while Bill was trying to get that magical shot of a pair of American Oyster Catchers and their new chick. Because of their young bird the adult birds were hanging tight on the rocks at the edge of the water giving Bill the opportunity to photograph them. The light was not good at the time of day we were at the island, so the fabulous shot we were looking for just didn't happen on this trip.

After about an hour and a half of circling the island we headed back to the motel much enriched by what we had seen.

Bill was down for the annual " Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration" and he was displaying some of his beautiful bird photographs at the community center. Bill has a collection of photographs he has of many Louisiana bird species as well as others around the country, fact is we are displaying a whole gallery of Bill images on this site for your enjoyment. Click here to see Bill's  Galleries and I think you will agree that Bill is one fine photographer.

This celebration is an annual thing at Grand Isle and if you have not made the trip down, you should. Bill had made an earlier trip to the island in this fabulously restored sail boat. The trip had been arrange by the folks who host the annual event, Bill says that was a treat in itself.

Grand Isle is host to a multitude of wading and shore birds species and if you are a photographer or bird watcher I think you will be happy with what is available here. There is shallow water behind the motel and to the left of the pier, you'll find there are hundreds of Gulls, Terns, White Egrets, Reddish Egrets and more species that hang out in this area all the time. One of my favorite pastimes was to sit on the deck of the 3 bathroom unit overlooking the area we are speaking of, and watch the incredible bird life. The little Clapper Rails are there daily, I would watch the mother bird carrying small crabs and other crustaceans for them to eat. One day Ronnie Lemoine, the managers husband, was feeding the small chicks little minnows he had caught in his cast net off the dock. The anxious  parents looked on. So come on down, I think you'll enjoy the trip

Bill Bergen has quite an album of many species of bird photographs and if you are interested in purchasing some of his images you may contact him at his email address,  Contact Bill Bergen at billbird@ofeathers.com