outdoor photography

Swainson's Warbler This morning I drove by Mead Gardens hoping to find one of the Swainson's Warblers that were seen there yesterday.  A friend of mine was there too, and we ended up finding both Swainson's Warblers, plus 12 other warbler species: Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.  We also saw a waterthrush, but we did not get good enough looks at it to tell which one. Swainson's Warbler Swainson's Warbler Ovenbird Other highlights were male Indigo and Painted Buntings, American Goldfinches, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  It was also fun to see a Marsh Hare. American Goldfinch Marsh Hare

American Goldfinch This morning I dropped by an open field near Jay Blanchard Park.  The field used to be a horse farm, though the property is owned by the church I attend.  The horse farm is gone, but the fields are still there, and I thought I'd see what may be there.  I was only there for about 20 minutes, but it was pretty fun.  I saw nothing out of the ordinary (about 24 species), but it looks like there may be good habitat thee for sparrows and buntings. Last summer I often saw Swallow-tailed Kites roosting in a tree in these fields. This morning my biggest photographic highlight was seeing an American Goldfinch perch in a tree near me. I think it's fun that he's starting to get the yellow face and black cap of his breeding plumage. I had to manual focus for these images.  My autofocus quit working this morning, but when I returned to the car, I removed my lens, grabbed my lens cloth and wiped down the contacts, and all is fine.  Anywa...

American Goldfinch This morning I dropped by Mead Gardens, and while there were many birds there, there was nothing out of the ordinary.  My best find was a Blue-headed Vireo that decided not to let me get his photo.  But the American Goldfinches are still hanging around here, perhaps because there are a couple feeders up.  I found several goldfinches there today, and one perched on top of one of the feeders for a while.  I don't normally photograph birds a feeders. I enjoy going and finding my subjects more.  But when these guys land so close to me, well, I have nothing against the practice either. American Goldfinch American Goldfinch American Goldfinch

Brown-headed Nuthatch I went to Wekiwa Springs State Park this morning hoping to find some Pine Siskins.  I didn't find any (at least none that I could be sure of), but the morning was still fun.  I found dozens of American Goldfinches, especially in the sand hill areas with pines and taller grasses.  Also numerous were Pine Warblers and Eastern Bluebirds.  It was fun to find my first Brown-headed Nuthatches in the park (and in fact, Orange County).  I was looking more for Red-breasted Nuthatches, but these will do for now.  I walked the wet-to-dry boardwalk trail a couple times, and I found a variety of warblers I haven't seen since October: Palm, Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Pine, Black-and-white, Yellow-throated, and an American Redstart. Eastern Bluebird Pine Warbler Chipping Sparrow American Goldfinch

Prothonotary Warbler This morning I went again to Occoquan Bay.  I was told that the "easy trail" might be very productive, and it was. I got my first photographs of a Prothonotary Warbler and a Field Sparrow, and I also found a couple American Goldfinches and Eastern Towhees that were willing to pose for photographs. Prothonotary Warbler American Goldfinch Field Sparrow Field Sparrow Eastern Towhee