outdoor photography

Common Yellowthroat Earlier this year I "discovered" a new place for birding in Seminole County.  For a couple years now, I've been looking for a way to get to the St. John's River at Puzzle Lake from Seminole County. Strangely, I've birded Brumley Rd several times but I've never gone to very end of the road, so I've never seen this trailhead. And to my knowledge, no other birders have taken these trails to the St. John's River before.  So in February of this year, I decided this would be my new adventure for Seminole County.  I walked from the trailhead to the St. John's River and back. I've done so six times now, and already I've racked up 116 bird species along the trail and at the river [ field reports ]. The Trails Here's a map of the route I took on my second trip on March 7, 2015.  I'm showing this map because it allows you to see two ways to get out to the flats and back.  Since this trip, I've walked out to the S...

Crested Caracara This morning I drove out to Brumley Rd looking for birds to add to my year list.  Top on my list were Summer Tanager (missed), Red-eyed Vireo (found), and Yellow-throated Vireo (found). But perhaps the best moment of the morning was when this Crested Caracara flew up on a fence post.  It was so close, I pretty much could only get the whole bird in the frame when its head was facing to the left.  So this is just about a full frame shot.  I cropped a little bit of the barbed wire from the bottom of the frame, but that's about it.

Loggerhead Shrike I found several Loggerhead Shrikes on Brumley Road not far from my house.  This one had impaled a Mole Cricket on the barbed wire fence.  As I drove by it flew up and perched on the fence by the cricket. After a few seconds, it pulled it off the barbed wire, held it for a couple more seconds in its mouth, and then re-positioned and swallowed the cricket. Shrikes are famous for impaling their prey. They do this for several reasons: 1) it allows them to cache food for later consumption, 2) some insects like lubber grasshoppers have toxins that can make birds sick, but caching food allows the toxins to become less potent, and 3) shrikes lack talons, so thorns and barbed wire can be useful for holding prey in place while consuming it. I'm not sure why this fascinates me so much, but it's one reason why Loggerhead Shrikes are one of my favorite birds.   Loggerhead Shrike with Mole Cricket Impaled on Barbed Wire Loggerhead Shrike Loggerhead Shri...

Eastern Meadowlark On Brumley Rd this morning I found many singing meadowlarks; they're one my favorite birds because I love the soundtrack they add to my birding.  Plus they're one of the prettiest blackbirds I get to see on a regular basis.  These two were very close to each other, and I was able to photograph both from the same place. Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlark

Crested Caracara Why did the Crested Caracara cross the road? I really don't know, but I'm pretty glad it did. I drove to Brumley Rd this morning, and on the way into the area, I saw two on the top of a distant tree.  Then, on my way out, I only saw one.  I started to drive off and then I saw the second in the grass on the other side of the road near someone's yard.  It was pretty close to the road, and I thought maybe if I drive slow enough, I might be able to get close enough from some good photos.  As I was slowly approaching, the first flew over and landed on a fence post very near me.  I stopped my car and took the above picture.  Then it dropped down and walked  over the road to the grass with the other caracara. The two of them walked together, usually not close enough together for me to get both in the same frame, but it looked like they were trying to find their lost car keys. Crested Caracara Crested Caracara Crested Carac...