outdoor photography

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 ...

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Well, I must say it's been a pretty good year. I made my goal for the year, and then some.  I wanted to see 250 birds in the State of Florida, and I found 259, and I also found 272 total this year (including visits to TX, MD and VA).  I also have discovered the fun of keeping track of county lists.  I've decided to keep track of three counties near where I live, and hear are my totals for this year: Seminole (170 species), Orange (174 species) and Brevard (170 species). Nelson's Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow I also added 76 life birds to my list, thanks in part to the ABA allowing me to count the Nanday Parakeet. I've included a list of them below in the order that I found them.  The list I'm including below comes straight from eBird, so you may notice a Budgerigar listed, even though I don't believe it's ABA countable. Species Location State Date White-winged Scoter Blackwater National...

Bay-breasted Warbler Normally when I find a new bird, my first photographs are pretty bad.  It's pretty rare for me to get a photo I really like from my first photographs.  But when I took these, not only did I get ones that I like, these are some of my favorite bird photographs. Bay-breasted Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler This was a wonderful morning.  I joined the Orange Audubon Society's birdwalk at Mead Gardens, and the weather was just spectacular.  It wasn't hot, and it was sunny, and there were a fair number of birds to see. My biggest hope this morning was to photograph a Bay-breasted Warbler.  We did find and photograph one, which made my day, but we also found 9 other warbler species: Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Yellow-throated Warbler. Pine Warbler I've been giving myself an education on how to distinguish Pine Warblers from fall Bay-breasted Warblers.  You can see some similarities in the above photos, but immature Pine Warblers are far less yellow, making them more similar.  I don't see color perfectly, so I need to find other ways to distinguish them.  These photos illustrate three helpful clu...