outdoor photography

Cape May Warbler Last week I drove out to Mead Gardens, hoping to see a Wilson's Warbler that had been photographed there the day before.  Unfortunately, it either moved on or hid from me the whole time I was there, but that's to be expected. Thankfully, a few days later another Wilson's Warbler showed up at Central Winds Park right near my home and I got to see that one.  I had two consolation prizes at Mead, though.  First, and beautiful Cape May Warbler was extremely cooperative with me,  posing for pictures and everything. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher And second, I was able to get my first presentable photos of a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher that had been hanging out here for the last couple days. I've only seen three of these in Florida, and they've always been pretty difficult for me to photograph.  But this one flew very close to me.  These photos could certainly be improved with better light and background, but at the very least, they are photos...

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...

Cape May Warbler Cape May Warblers are always a special treat to see.  I find them in Mead Gardens, Lake Lotus Park, and Central Winds Park during migration. The last photo below is of a fall female at Lake Lotus - the bird seems to be having a "bad hair" day. Cape May Warbler Cape May Warbler Cape May Warbler Cape May 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

Osprey This morning I again went to Central Winds Park before work, and I had a pretty good morning.  I saw several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying over Lake Jessup, the first I've ever seen in Seminole County.  A Limpkin also walked by as I was by the lake shore.  A Carolina Wren was out on a tree limb singing away, and I decided it might be fun to capture it as a silhouette.  The Northern Parula continue to be willing to come low enough for photographs, and I saw several American Redstarts there as well.  My best find was a male Cape May Warbler, which I found as I began to walk back to my car. And as I made it back to the car, it was kind of fun to see a Blue Jay harassing a Red-shouldered Hawk. Carolina Wren Northern Parula Cape May Warbler Red-shouldered Hawk and Blue Jay Squirrel

American Redstart This morning I had to go pick up my pool pump at the repair shop, but, rather than going to Lake Lilly again, I decided to drive a little farther and go to Mead Gardens.  This is dangerous business, though, since I only had about an hour to be there before the repair shop opened, and then I had to go to work.  It's awful hard to leave Mead Gardens after only an hour.  Things started kind of slow, but about 15 minutes before I had to go, things started to really pick up around the Azalea bushes.  There I saw several American Redstarts, one Prairie Warbler, one Cape May Warbler, and about 3 Northern Parula. I also saw at least one (probably 2) Swainson's Thrush there. By the shore I found one Common Yellowthroat and a couple Great Crested Flycatchers.  They were very active, and about the time I turned to leave, they were feeding on insects.  I didn't have time to photograph them with their prey in their mouths; unfortunately, I had to g...

Cape May Warbler Yesterday I found a female Cape May Warbler that really stumped me.  The feathers on the back of her head were sticking up making it look like she had some sort of crown. I found this bird at Lake Lotus Park.  She was very active in a tree right by the gazebo at the fishing area on Lake Lotus.  Because this was so strange to me, I figured I'd share the photos with you. Cape May Warbler Cape May Warbler Cape May Warbler "I can see it!" Reach!