outdoor photography

Willet Canaveral National Seashore Merritt Island is finally open again after the government shut down.  I took the opportunity to go to Oak Hammock area this morning. I've never been there before, and I was told that there may be mosquitoes there, but I did not expect to be swarmed by them.  I will not go there again without bug spray.  I was there for 20 minutes and only found an Ovenbird and Swainson's Thrush, but I spent most of my time swatting mosquitoes.  I cut my losses and went to Blackpoint Drive.  That was pretty slow too.  Water levels were high, and there were few shorebirds.  It was nice to see Pied-billed Grebes returning as well as a Savannah Sparrow.  Then I decided then to go to the Canaveral National Seashore.  I wanted to drive up Bio Lab Rd if it was open.  It was open, but I decided I didn't have enough time to drive it slow enough to make it worth my while.  I drove about a quarter mile up the road and tu...

Tricolored Heron Yesterday I drove out to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  I visited three areas: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Canaveral National Seashore, and East/West Gator Creek.  When I arrived on the island and drove toward Blackpoint Dr, I saw a man pulled over looking into the trees.  I decided to look at what he found, and it was a Peregrine Falcon!  It was pretty far away, but I took some pictures of him perched in a tree.  The drive itself was also enjoyable. All the usual birds were there, including 2 Gadwall, many American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged Teal, and Hooded Mergansers. Most highlights were mostly in the area near the first parking area.  There was a large flock of shorebirds there made up of Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Red Knots, Long-billed Dowitchers and Short-billed Dowitchers. Peregrine Falcon Long-billed Dowitchers (for the most part) Red Knot...

Merlin This morning I went out to the Canaveral National Seashore hoping to find another Razorbill and a Surf Scoter. I found neither, but sometimes you can have a great day even when you find nothing you hoped for.  We first dropped a couple of the "vistas" on the way to the seashore, and we saw a couple Ruddy Ducks and what I now believe was an Iceland Gull--rare for Florida.    We then stopped at parking lot 7 and found nothing unusual--some Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, lots of Royal Terns, and several birds so far out that they couldn't be identified even with a 60x scope.  We then drove up to parking lot 12 and found the photographic highlight of the morning--a Merlin in a tree eating what appears to be a Ruddy Turnstone. On the way home we dropped by Parish Park (just east of the Max Brewer bridge) and found a Bonaparte's Gull with some Sanderlings. Ruddy Duck Ring-billed Gull Royal Tern Bonaparte's Gull Sanderling Sander...

Snow Bunting This morning before Thanksgiving dinner, my daughter and I decided to go to the beach to make a sand castles. Coincidentally, a Snow Bunting has been seen at the Canaveral National Seashore over the last couple days, and it just so happened that a parking spot was open right where the Bunting had been seen. So even though I was at the beach with fatherly family responsibilities, my daughter had almost as much fun seeing the bunting as I did. We found the bunting right at the entrance to parking lot 8. It was back lit and far a way, but I was able to take a couple pictures before my daughter decided she was tired of looking at birds and wanted to go to the beach. It was all I could do to put the camera down, but this was daddy-daughter time, not birding time. We had fun on the cool and very windy beach before returning home.

Piping Plover Today at the Canaveral National Seashore I found my first ever Piping Plover.  I was rather shocked to see it, and in fact I wanted to come home and look at my photos to make sure I was right, even though I didn't know what else it could possibly have been.  He was very active along the shoreline with a couple Semipalmated Plovers keeping him company.  The lighting was just right for me to take a few decent photos. Yea! Piping Plover Piping Plover Piping Plover Piping Plover