outdoor photography

Northern Parula This week has been pretty fun for migrants.  A Red-eyed Vireo showed up about 2 weeks early, and there were 3 Louisiana Waterthrushes and 2 Hermit Thrushes, though none posed well for photos. Other more common birds were more cooperative, including many Carolina Wrens, Northern Parula, and Barred Owls. For some reason, this is the first Barred Owl I've seen here.  It was pretty dark, so I had to photograph the owl at 6400 ISO, which I normally avoid like the plague (really, any thing over 1600 I try to avoid).  But there was no blue in the frame, and it was pretty much the only way I could get the shot, so I tried it. I certainly won't be printing these, but I was pretty impressed with how my Canon 7D handled the noise. Carolina Wren Barred Owl Barred Owl

Marsh Wren Wrens do not top the list of birds that are difficult to identify, but for newer birders they can present a challenge. With practice they can be identified by their calls and songs alone--they're vocal enough that they can frequently be detected and identified without being seen.  But at first glance, they tend to look similar--little brownish birds that like to stick up their tails in the air.  We have four wrens species that are commonly found in Central Florida, and with a little bit of practice, they can easily be distinguished from each other by looking at their eye stripe and a couple other field marks. We'll look at each of our wren species in order of the prominence of their eye stripe. Marsh Wren Marsh Wren (note dark cap, bold eye stripe, and dark back) Marsh Wrens are winter visitors to Central Florida, and they very common in our cattail marshes from October through April.  They have an extremely prominent eye-stripe with a dark crown an...

Savannah Sparrow It's amazing sometimes how good a relatively small area can be.  There's a field on Canal St. just south of Lake Jesup, and a fellow birder posted finding Vesper Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows there.  So off I went to find them.  It's a very pretty area, with Orange and Palm Tree groves on both sides of the street, and then there's this plain open field.  On the southern end of the field is a barbed wire fence surrounded by grasses and other vegetation.  When I arrived, the fence was just crawling with Savannah Sparrows.  I studied the sparrows here for a while, and I was able to pick out one Vesper Sparrow and two Grasshopper Sparrows (no White-crowned).  The lighting was pretty good, so I also had fun photographing some of the other birds along the fence line, in particular a Gray Catbird, Carolina Wren and Yellow-rumped Warbler.  The Vesper Sparrow is a lifer for me, and fittingly, my first photos of it were less than ...

Carolina Wren Carolina Wrens are one of the loudest birds for their size.  These guys have a set of pipes to make Bessie Smith jealous.  They are our most common wren in Florida, and they're the only wren we have the privilege of seeing and hearing year-round.  If you're lucky, you may see one sporting white spots on its rump.  I don't know the purpose of these spots, or why they are only sometimes visible.  It may be a display of some sort, but I've also seen photos of them with their spots visible while resting. Carolina Wren Carolina Wren Carolina Wren

Indigo Bunting Yesterday the biggest highlight at Mead Gardens was seeing a Clay-colored Sparrow.  Other than that, it was pretty slow birding.  But we did see some other fun things.  Indigo Buntings are far less spectacular in the fall, but they are still quite attractive birds. Indigo Bunting This Carolina Wren is showing off some white spots on its rump.  I believe this is some sort of display, though sometimes these spots appear when they are preening.  This bird flew up to this perch after some other buntings went by, so perhaps in this instance it a display.  I don't see these white spots on Carolina Wrens very often, and this is the first time I have been able to get a photo that shows them nicely.    Carolina Wren And this hummingbird was dancing around the lower leaves of a Cypress Tree by the lake.  When she was flying, she was severely back lit, and the photos just weren't very attractive.  But she perched f...

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

Northern Parula This morning I went to Central Winds Park on my way to work for about an hour.  I had a pretty good time.  I went the trees between the playground and the lake, and I found three Northern Parula on and near the ground.  As I watched them, it became clear that one was young and had just left the nest, and the parents were feeding it.  It could fly but apparently still dependent on its parents for food.  I also found about 5 American Redstarts including 2 females.  And, I finally found a Blackpoll Warbler--my first of the year and my first photos ever.  It seems a rule with me that my first photos of any species are terrible (back-lit, grainy, etc).  This morning, my Blackpoll photos were a notch above terrible, so I figured I'd risk sharing a couple. Northern Parula with a treat for the kiddo Blackpoll Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Black Morph) ? Trumpet Vine...

Prairie Warbler A fellow birder reported seeing a Blackpoll Warbler at Mead Gardens this morning. I was unable to do any birding this morning, but when I read that I decided to visit in the afternoon. I spent almost two hours there, and I had a pretty good time.  I saw five warbler species there, the most I've seen anywhere in the last couple weeks. I saw a Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Prairie Warbler, Amerian Redstart and a Magnolia Warbler. I also saw a male Blue Grosbeak.  Unfortunately, I didn't get presentable photos of the Blue Grosbeak or the Magnolia Warbler. Longwing Skipper Carolina Wren Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher Here's a list of species I saw this evening: Wood Duck 2 Anhinga 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 White Ibis 3 Black Vulture X Turkey Vulture X Osprey 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Downy Woodpecker 3 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Great Crested Flycatcher ...

Blue Grosbeak We had some rain last night--I don't know how much, but I was hoping it might be enough bring in some migrants to Mead Gardens, so this morning I got there early just to see what birds may have dropped by.  I didn't stay long, since it seems I have to earn a living too.  But I took a tour of the area, and it was a pretty slow morning.  I did have one big highlight though.  I found one Blue Grosbeak on the boardwalk.  I think this is a female. The bird was pretty far away so I did the best I could. House Finch It was also nice to see some House Finches, a few of which came close enough for photographs.  I only saw one warbler--a Worm-eating Warbler flashed its head at me and then was gone.  House Finch There also were some rather ordinary species that nevertheless seemed rather photogeneic, so I shot a few photos of them as well. Carolina Wren Northern Mockingbird

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...