outdoor photography

Purple Swamphen I spent the night last night in Boynton Beach, and I left for home early this morning. However, I just had to check out Wakodatchee Wetlands, so I left about an hour early to drop by the park.  My target bird was Purple Swamphen, and it did not take too long to find them.  Purple Swamphens are not native to the U.S.  They are an Eurasian bird that has become established in South Florida since some escaped into the wild back in the 1990's.  At least one has been reported in Brevard County, but most remain farther south.  These birds are now considered countable by the ABA as of 2013. Purple Swamphen Aside from that, I was impressed with the wetlands.  It's truly beautiful, and I loved the boardwalk much more than a wildlife drive.  There were many herons, egrets, cormorants and anhingas breeding within the wetlands, but the highlights for me were a Cattle Egret striking a nice pose and an adult Tricolored Heron feeding a...

Ash-throated Flycatcher Last Saturday I decided to visit Lake Apopka for the morning.  I'm participating in a competition this year called a Twelve Day BigYear.  It's a pretty fun competition--the idea is that you pick one day each month in a county (I chose Orange Co), and then find as many birds as you can in those twelve days.  It takes some planning, and to some extent the key is to find as many rarities as you can and hope the more common birds will be seen as well.  I'd love to get 200 species on the year, but that might be a bit over reaching. We'll see.  I started my January day with 92 species, mostly around Lake Apopka. Ash-throated Flycatcher Taking Off The biggest rarity was a White-faced Ibis.  It was found during the CBC in December, and thankfully it was still there.  I chose Lake Apopka just so that I could find that bird again.  It also fun to find an Ash-throated Flycatcher.  They were my best photos of the morning...

Red-cockaded Woodpecker This year I decided to try my hand at a little competition, called a 12 day big year.  You pick one day per month for 2014 and count as many species that you can find within those 12 days within the State of Florida.  I decided to join January 30th, giving me one day to get my January totals in, and it rained that day.  Then in February, I picked a day when I needed to be home by a little after lunch.  So I began the year woefully behind the leaders.  Not that it would matter much, since even on my best days I can't do a lot of traveling, and there are some very experienced birders in the competition. I'm not really in it to win it; it's just a fun little competition to participate in. I enjoy the atmosphere of friendly competition embodied by the competition. But yesterday was a pretty great day.  I totaled 103 species on the day and added 27 to my total for the year, giving me 131 so far.  I started out at Three Lakes Wild...

Black-bellied Whistling Duck This morning I dropped by Orlando Wetlands Park for about an hour before heading to work.  It was fun to see a Roseate Spoonbill and three American White Pelicans, though they did not want to pose in good light for me.  The most interesting find, though, was a Belted Kingfisher, which is unusual here this time of year. Belted Kingfisher Also fun to find was a young Sandhill Crane; it's nearly full grown and getting new feathers.  All the normal wading bird were there, and a Cattle Egret flew by in good light for a photo.  Snowy Egrets were flying low over the water picking fish out of the water.  At one point, it appeared to be running on top of the water. Sandhill Crane Cattle Egret Snowy Egret Boat-tailed Grackle Red-winged Blackbird Red-winged Blackbird I also found this Florida Green Watersnake, the first I've seen and photographed. Florida Green Watersnake

Cattle Egret This morning before work I decided to visit Central Winds again.  It's amazing to me how much things can change in just a few days.  Over the weekend, things were still hopping here.  On Wednesday, things were decidedly slower, and that trend continues today.  Even the numbers of Northern Parula and Yellow Warblers are vastly diminished. But I did see one Ovenbird, one Worm-eating Warbler, one Yellow-throated Warbler, one American Redstart, and one Magnolia Warbler.  Despite others seeing Magnolias in the park over the last couple weeks, today's was my first in the park.  I wasn't able to get a photo of the Magnolia, but I did slightly advance my quest for a decent Worm-eating Warbler photo.  This one is now my best, though it is still far from good.  The warbler popped out and let me get a peek (and a couple photos) and then flew back under cover never to be seen again by any human soul. Worm-eating Warbler

Limpkin My intention this morning was to go to Marl Bed Flats, but it appears to be closed for construction, so I drove over to Lake Jesup Park on my way into work.  I didn't have much time to walk around, but by the boat ramp there was a Limpkin. Limpkin Limpkin It was also fun to see several Black Vultures and a couple Cattle Egrets. Black Vulture Cattle Egret

Snowy Egret This morning I went to Orlando Wetlands Park with about 5 other people, and we had a pretty great time.  It was cloudy and threatened rain all morning, but it never really did.  Purple Gallinules were out in force--I counted 12. Purple Gallinule A couple Sandhill Cranes also decided to sing their lovely song at close range. Sandhill Crane Cattle Egrets My companions for the morning were also very interested in the flowers and butterflies, and it occurred to me that I often do just pass them by without much thought. Queen Ornate Bella Moth Four-spotted Penant Oats Grama

Snowy Egret catching a Fish I don't think I'll ever get tired of Orlando Wetlands Park, though this morning I tried. We decided to try an area I've never visited--the north-east quadrant north of Lake Searcy.  There's a trail there that goes to the northern edge of the park, and I thought it would be fun to walk the trail through the woods to observe a different kind of habitat. It became clear to me, though, as we approached the trail, that we were leaving the birds behind. And after walking the trail for a minute, I decided it was so muddy and mosquito-ridden to travel, so we decided to turn back.  This decision cost us perhaps an hour of good photography time.  The consolation prize, though, was the opportunity to observe a rookery of Cattle Egrets.  Easily 100 egrets were flying back and forth from a clump of trees gathering nesting material--a never ending line of Cattle Egrets with a mission.  One of these egrets found a branch with leaves that appeare...

Black-bellied Whistling Duck Yesterday morning I went to Orlando Wetlands Park, and I had a wonderful time, despite not seeing some of the species I was hoping to see.  I missed seeing Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons, though I found out that if I'd taken a different path when I arrived, I'd have seen some (so I know where to go next time).  I also missed seeing Waterthrushes where I'd seen several last year.  I did, however, find 5 Least Bitterns, and while I didn't come home with any presentable photos, it was great just to see them.  I also found many Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, which are always fun to see. Wood Duck Plenty of egrets and herons were out and about, and I'm convinced that Orlando Wetlands Park is the best place in Central Florida to see and photograph just about any heron, egret or bittern.  The only exception is the Reddish Egret, which isn't generally found this far inland.  And I suppose I could add that, since...