outdoor photography

Black-and-white Warbler On April 25, I returned to Maitland Community Park. One of my friends had seen a male Blackburnian Warbler there the day before. I did not find that bird, but I did see 8 species of warblers, which is pretty good for this Spring. There were a couple species that let me get fairly decent photos. I particularly like the  Black-and-white Warbler photo, but American Redstarts give me fits when it comes to photography. This photo has some room for improvement, but this will do for now. American Redstart

Northern Parula Central Winds is starting to get interesting. A couple days ago we had a Blue-winged Warbler there, and there's been between 8-10 species seen there each day.  There are lots of Northern Parula here, sometimes more than 20, and there have been a fair number of Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Black and White Warblers. Ovenbirds and Prothonotary Warblers have become regulars here in small numbers. Prothonotary Warbler Yellow Warbler Black-and-White Warbler Occasionally, we also have the pleasure of seeing a Northern Waterthrush or a Worm-eating Warbler, though they haven't been as cooperative for photos.  I'm including a couple photos here as simple ID shots. Worm-eating Warbler Northern Waterthrush We've also had one early Chestnut-sided Warbler come through. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Black & White Warbler Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through.  There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted). Yellow Warbler Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5.  But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago.  One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally. Black & White Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have bee...

Black-throated Green Warbler I went to Mead Gardens yesterday, and it was really slow.  After I found only two warbler species, I decided to go where I knew things would be good.  I was not disappointed.  Between a couple other birders and me, we had 17 warblers on the morning:  Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and two I didn't see: Prothonotary Warbler and Worm-eating Warbler.  This Black-throated Green Warbler is the first of the Fall for me.  The other photographic highlight was a Black-and-white Warbler. Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler On Saturday I drove to Lori Wilson Park near Cape Canaveral hoping to see a Connecticut Warbler that had been seen the previous day. I came up empty though, and in fact, it was a pretty slow morning--Blackpoll Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, American Redstarts, and a single Common Yellowthroat were all I saw there. One of the Black-and-white Warblers was pretty active though, and it did not mind being very close to me. Occasionally I had to back up to focus on the bird. I love how they crawl on branches like a nuthatch or creeper, and many times you can find them upside down. They're one of my favorite warblers. Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler He's shaking the moth he caught This morning my father and I went to Mead Gardens to look for migrants.  It was all in all a pretty good morning.  The biggest highlight was seeing a Hooded Warbler, ending a drought that's lasted over a year.  But we found 10 warblers in all this morning: Worm-eating Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler and Prairie Warbler. Black-throated Blue Warbler finally one that's mostly sharp Downy Woodpeckers  

Black-and-white Warbler It was a pretty good morning at Mead Gardens.  The biggest highlight of the morning was seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but it spent most of its time hidden, and photos were pretty much impossible. We had 11 species of warbler, though: Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.  Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers were all but gone (I saw two Palms and no Yellow-rumped, but we found at least 10 Prairie Warblers. I'm not very happy with the next two photos, but at least they show a couple of the more interesting birds that we saw this morning. Black-throated Blue Warbler I know it's a little soft, due to noise and shutter speed (I don't use flash), but I thought it might be good to show an ID photo of the bird Cape May Warbler I know it's a little soft and the bird did not gi...

Black-and-white Warbler Every time I visit this place I can't help but wonder why they couldn't decide if the Econ State Forest was little or big.  But what I have decided for myself is that I love this place, and I can't believe I've neglected it my first two years birding in Florida.  This morning was pretty fun.  Great Crested Flycatchers are moving back into the area, and I photographed my first of the year this morning.  Warblers were also fun.  I found seven this morning: Ovenbirds, Black and White Warblers, Northen Parula, Palm Warblers (including one "yellow" variety), Pine Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Yellow-throated Warbler.   I've seen Black and White Warblers occasionally throughout the winter, but their numbers seem to be increasing right now.  I heard several White-eyed Vireos and two Red-eyed Vireos, and the Red-eyed Vireos were the first I've seen this year. Black-and-white Warbler looking for its keys Great Crest...

Black-and-white Warbler Central Winds continues to impress me. Today I found ten warblers: Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and my first Blue-winged Warbler.  It was also great to see a Scarlet Tanager, 2 Painted Buntings and 2 Indigo Buntings, and I also found an Eastern Phoebe. Black-and-white Warbler There was a pair of Black-and-white Warblers in a tree right by the parking lot.  It was fun to hear them singing, and I think that's unusual  for fall warblers. Yellow-throated Warbler Sometimes you're just happy to have a photo that says "that's a Blue-winged Warbler."  This one lets you see a yellow warbler with wing bars and a hint of the black stripe through the eye. At least it's enough for an ID. Blue-winged Warbler

Cape May Warbler This afternoon I went by Central Winds for a little over an hour.  It was fantastic.  I counted 10 species of warbler: Cape May, Black & White, Yellow, Worm Eating, Black-throated Blue, Prairie, Yellow-throated, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, and American Redstart. It was also fun to find a Summer Tanager and Eastern Wood-Pewee. These were my best photos from the afternoon. Cape May Warbler Black & White Warbler Black & White Warbler Black & White Warbler

Black and White Warbler Black and White Warbler Black and White Warbler Black and White Warbler

Northern Waterthrush Well I've been away from blogging for a while, but not away from birding.  I've been visiting Mead Gardens frequently as migrants have been trickling in.  The birds are teasing me right now--there aren't high numbers of species, but it's fun to see what I can.  I've been dead set on photographing both waterthrushes this fall.  As of today, I have photographs of both, but I'm only really happy with the Northern Waterthrush above.  The Louisiana Waterthrush below is my first photograph of the species, but I hope that it gives me a chance for a better shot. Louisiana Waterthrush If you're not familiar with waterthrushes, these warblers can be very difficult to tell apart, even for very experienced birders.  The Northern Waterthrush has some streaking on the throat and often a yellowish color on the belly.  The Louisiana has a bolder white stripe above the eye that is thick behind the eye with no yellow on the belly (though w...

Black and White Warbler This morning I went to Mead Gardens with the great people at the Orange Audubon Society.  It was a pretty good morning.  I went hoping to see warblers, and I was not disappointed. 1 Ovenbird, 1 Worm-eating Warbler, 3 Black-and-white Warblers, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 1 (maybe 2) Cape May Warbler, many Northern Parula (I think at least 7), 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Palm Warbler, and 1 Prairie Warbler.  It was a dark, cloudy day this morning, and while I photographed every one of these species, the only presentable photograph I got was of a Black and White Warbler.  Other members of our group saw a Hooded Warbler, but it eluded me. Great Blue Heron Other highlights of the morning were many Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals, though we found one female that had a broken bill.  We also saw A Barred Owl and a Cooper's Hawk. Northern Cardinal Female Northern Cardinal with Broken Bill R...