outdoor photography

Scarlet Skimmer (m) This morning I dropped by Wirz Park to see what kinds of birds and bugs I might find before work. Last time I visited this park I saw several Scarlet Skimmers, which are one of the few (and possibly the only) invasive dragonfly species. My understanding is that they are native to Japan. But they are very pretty, and the males are so brilliantly red that I can pick them out against a green back ground, even with my red-green colorblindness. I was surprised to see several other species here too, including several Pin-tailed Pondhawks, which were new to me this far north.  Several of these dragonflies posed quite nicely for photos, so I thought I'd share them. I'm somewhat amazed that I've made two blog posts in a row with not a single bird or landscape photo. So weird. Scarlet Skimmer (f) Eastern Pondhawk (f) Pin-tailed Pondhawk Blue Dasher

Merlin and the Dragonfly About a week ago, I drove to Canal St in search of a Least Flycatcher that was seen the day before. I didn't find it (it did show up a few days later), but I did see a Merlin fly by.  I photographed it as it flew by, and when I looked at the photos, I noticed that it attempted to grab a dragonfly. I'm really surprised that both the dragonfly was relatively sharp, so even though the photos aren't all that great, I thought they were worth sharing. Merlin and the Dragonfly Merlin and the Dragonfly Merlin and the Dragonfly

Seaside Dragonlet On Saturday while birding BioLab Rd, I found two dragonflies that I'd never seen before. The first was pointed out to me by a friend, a Seaside Dragonlet.  They are apparently very common along the drive.  The second one was a Marl Pennant.  This is one that I've been looking for for some time. Marl Pennant

Roseate Skimmer Yesterday afternoon I dropped by the Econ River Wilderness Area.  I had a meeting nearby, and I thought I'd go there early to check it out.  I wasn't expecting to find a lot there, but I was surprised at how few birds I found.  I ended up devoting most of my attention to the many dragonflies that were there.  I photographed four species, and two of them were new to me: a Roseate Skimmer and Bar-winged Skimmer. Bar-winged Skimmer Slaty Skimmer Needham's Skimmer

Brown Anole Despite appearances from my posts, Mead Gardens has more to offer visitors than just birds.  Even though it's a small park surrounded by homes, you can still find wildlife there.  While I favor birds, when I see other wildlife, I'm quick to turn my attention to it.  There's a very nice butterfly garden there, and I need to spend more time there, not just because there's a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that frequents it, but because there's some nice butterflies that you can find there as well.  So here's just some of the wildlife I've seen at Mead Gardens over the last week or so.  No butterflies, I know; I need to remedy that. River Otters I hope you don't mind the indiscretion of these squirrels.  Some people don't like portrayals of this behavior among animals, but I figure it's natural animal behavior. I try not to think of them as hawk food.  They have value in their own right if they would just stay out of bird feeders. ...

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...

Bobcat This morning I returned again to Merritt Island to see what we hadn't seen yesterday. We went to Pumphouse Loop Bio Lab Rd, Scrub Ridge Trail and the visitors center.  Pumphouse Loop was hardly worth mentioning but I did find a Green Heron that sat still very nicely for me and let me take its picture. Green Heron Dragonfly Bio Lab Rd was much more fun.  We decided that we should start from the south and work our way north.  Right off the bat we saw two Bobcats, and I was able to take my best photographs of this wonderful animal.  Then we were treated to a Great Blue Heron killing and swallowing what I believe is a Southern Water Snake.  We saw several species of shorebirds including Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, many Black-necked Stilts, a Stilt Sandpiper, a Spotted Sandpiper, and a Ruddy Turnstone.  We also saw many Semipalmated Sandpipers and a couple Western Sandpipers.  On the north end of the roa...

Dragonfly I went to Mead Gardens yesterday morning for about an hour before work. It was pretty slow--I saw several Common Yellowthroats, along with the usual Mockingbirds, House Finches, Great Crested Flycatchers, Carolina Wrens and Cardinals.  As I was getting ready to leave, though, things started to get good.  In a tree by the lake, there were several American Redstarts and a Magnolia Warbler becoming very active.  It would have been nice to see what else may have come around, but I had to content myself with that Magnolia Warbler.  Not a bad morning, though, if you ask me. Monarch Butterfly Magnolia Warbler Common Yellowthroat Here's a list of the 25 species I found this morning between around 8am and 9am: Wood Duck 2 Wood Stork 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 3 Chimney Swift 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 3 B...

Hermit Thrush I drove by Mead Gardens on my way home today.  I spent about 45 minutes there just to see if I could find anything interesting.  I only saw about 18 species there, but I did see my first Hermit Thrush of the year.  One of the Wood Ducks was out in nice light, a Barred Owl was out keeping watch, a Carolina Wren put on a little concert for me, and a Red-Shouldered Hawk flew by with a duckling in its grasp.  I heard at least one Northern Parula but never found it; I think it was across the stream on private property. Wood Duck Red-shouldered Hawk with Duckling It was also fun to photograph species other than birds today.  I got my first photographs of a Long-tailed Skipper, and a wonderful dragonfly I can't identify perched for me.  There were two Red-eared Slider turtles on a log that were in just the right light.  I see them there often, but they seem always to plop into the water when I get ready to take a picture. ...