outdoor photography

Osprey Last month at Overlook Park I saw an Osprey fly by.  This happens so frequently that I usually don't bother to take a photo. However, this time looked a little different.  I put my binoculars on the bird and noticed that it was carrying a Needlefish.  I can't imagine that this is good eating, but I suppose when you're an Osprey, you eat what you catch.  The fishermen at the park weren't catching anything, so the Osprey was certainly having a better day.

Common   Goldeneye A friend of mine found a Canvasback in a little retention pond in Sanford, so I drove up this morning to see it, but I struck out.  I went to work dejected, but then a little after lunch I received an eBird alert that a Common Goldeneye was seen in a retention pond at a nearby mall. I drove up there and sure enough, there it was! It's the first sighting recorded on eBird for Seminole Co. So it was a pretty good day afterall. Common   Goldeneye

Bald Eagle Flying Away with a  Stolen Rock Pigeon I walking around  the marina  in Sanford a  little while ago, and I  had a pretty memorable experience. As I walked by a tree, a young Cooper's Hawk with a Rock Pigeon flushed and flew up into a different tree. That was surprising and cool enough, but a Bald Eagle must have seen all that happened, and it  flew over to investigate the tree with the Cooper's Hawk. Bald Eagle It was so close to me that this is a full frame image. With its eyes on the Cooper's Hawk it didn't seem to care about me one bit. It then descended into the tree, and the Cooper's Hawk freaked out, flew into another tree, and dropped its prey. This photo is not as sharp as I would like, but I believe this is a full frame image, or nearly so. The action took place so close to me, I didn't even have  time to back up. Cooper's  Hawk Freaking out and heading into another tree with a Rock Pigeon Bald  Eagle with Rock Pigeo

Painted Bunting One of my favorite migrants, though we get to see these all winter long as well. Lately I've been considering why it is I find birding so continuously fascinating, and even addicting. Of course there's the beauty of the birds, the thrill of finding them (especially rarities), and the challenge of learning to identify them.  I also have great interest in learning about their behavior--why they act the way they do.  It's a fascinating endeavor.  But recently I've become more aware of another reason why I'm fascinated by birding--the rhythms of nature. Bald Eagle Bald Eagles are residents here in Florida, and they breed here, but thin out in the summer time. This one stole a Rock Pigeon from a Cooper's Hawk and flew off with it. I'm growing in my appreciation and understanding of this aspect of birding--I certainly have not arrived.  But year after year, I'm starting to at least appreciate the rhythms of nature in Florida and

Dark-eyed Junco This past week I was in St.Louis, and I had no time for any birding, but I did walk around the campus where I was working looking to see what may be lurking around.  I didn't see anything unusual, but it was nice to see many White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, which we don't get to see much in Central Florida. So these are my first photos of the "slate-colored" subspecies of Dark-eyed Juncos. Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) Last November I visited my sister in Seattle, and there I photographed my first "Oregon" subspecies as well. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

Great Cormorant Yesterday I saw my first Great Cormorant, a lifer for me. Aside from the fact it was having a bad feather day, it's a beautiful bird.  This bird was found over  a week ago about a half mile south of where I saw it yesterday.  We spent about an hour looking for it there; then we gave up and decided to cross the Halifax River and head over to the beach. As we got onto the bridge, I saw some cormorants north of it; we pulled over at the Port Orange Causeway Park, and sure enough, one was the Great Cormorant.  We watched it on its perch for a while, but then an Osprey knocked it off its perch, and it began to work its way south. At one point it caught a large fish, though it dropped it.  I'm thankful for that Osprey. Were it not for that bird, the cormorant would not have given us any better photos than the last photo below. Great Cormorant Great Cormorant Great Cormorant Great Cormorant  

White-crowned Sparrow Fun Sparrows are continuing to arrive here in Central Florida; the latest I've seen is this young White-crowned Sparrow.  This one appeared in one of my favorite sparrow spots in Seminole County; they seem to come here every year. Last Fall, I saw one here a couple times, but the area was disturbed when the road was paved early this year, and I couldn't find any here since then.  I was hoping I'd get the chance to see one this Fall here, and thankfully one showed up.  I also found my first Vesper Sparrow of the Fall, but it was too far away for photos. White-crowned Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow

Yellow-throated Warbler Yellow-throated Warblers are one of my favorite warblers. They are one of our more common warblers here in Florida during Spring and Fall migration, but some can be found all winter long, and a few even breed here in the summer. We have two subspecies of Yellow-throated Warbler that occur here in Florida. Yellow-throated Warbler (yellow-lored) Dominica Subspecies (Yellow-lored) Most of our Yellow-throated Warblers have a little bit of yellow on front of their eyebrows or supercilium and long bills. Up north they prefer Loblolly Pines on their northern breeding grounds, though when I see them here, I frequently see them in palm trees. Yellow-throated Warbler (yellow-lored) Albilora Subspecies (White-lored) But on rare occasions we see some with all white on their supercilium and shorter bills. They prefer breeding grounds among sycamore trees, but I haven't seen enough of them here in Florida to guess what they prefer as they pass through.

Lark Sparrow This morning before work I decided to drive around some road-side sparrow habitat to see what I could find. I checked the Black Hammock area south of Lake Jesup, and I wasn't finding anything. I was hoping for Grasshopper Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows, but I was having a hard time finding any sparrow at all--not even a Savannah Sparrow. But the last place I checked turned out to make out for a slow morning. I was checking some bushes next to the road on Canal Street, and there were several birds on the back side of the bush that I couldn't make out. As I was waiting for better looks, a Lark Sparrow popped out into full view and sat on a perch for several minutes. Then it disappeared for a minute or two, but then I saw it fly across Canal Street to perch on a palm tree for me. It was one of the most cooperative sparrows I've ever photographed. This bird made my week. Lark Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow There are six Ammodramus sparrows that occur in Florida, and now I have presentable photos of all of them. This may be my favorite group of birds in the world. I know the Henslow's Sparrow photo below is terrible, but I'm not complaining. I suspect I won't get a better photo unless I see one up north in the summer.  Full disclosure, though: my Seaside Sparrow Photo was not taken in Florida; it's from South Carolina.  But I have seen them here in FL too--just too far away for photos.  Would someone please send a Baird's Sparrow here please? Saltmarsh Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Seaside Sparrow Le Conte's Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow

Saltmarsh Sparrow Ammodramus Sparrows are beautiful sparrows.  It's my favorite genus of sparrows, and perhaps my favorite of any group of birds.  I think they're absolutely gorgeous birds, and many of them are tough to find.  Saltmarsh Sparrows are the last Ammodramus sparrow that occurs in Florida that I've photographed. Such beautiful birds! Saltmarsh Sparrow The easiest place I know of to find this species is at Shiloh Marsh, which is the northern part of Merritt Island NWR in Volusia County.  They occur here along with Nelson's Sparrows. Two of the most beautiful sparrows I've ever seen in the same spot. Saltmarsh Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow

Painted Bunting It's not uncommon to see Painted Buntings during migration, and even throughout the winter, but for some reason I almost always see females. I see adult males around feeders pretty frequently too, but they don't seem to want to pose for photos away from feeders.  But this particular individual was very cooperative, and there were no feeders around. Painted Bunting Painted Bunting