outdoor photography

Bobolink Not all black birds are blackbirds, and not all blackbirds are black. This morning at Marl Bed Flats I saw lots of black birds, and some of them were blackbirds. My favorite blackbird, though, was only partly black, and it's not even called a blackbird; it's called a Bobolink. Bobolinks are blackbirds, and the males are mostly black, but the females aren't. I like the males, though, not so much because they are black blackbirds but because they just plain look funky. It looks like they have their bills on the wrong side of their head--very strange looking to me.  They come though Central Florida usually in late April or early May. This is the earliest I've found them here, though I don't think these are particularly early. Bobolink Eastern Meadowlarks are blackbirds that aren't really black birds--at least they're mostly not black.  But they are very fun.  This one grabbed a tasty morsel, a spider, I think, and I believe it's headed ...

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...

Greater Yellowlegs This morning I went to Marl Bed Flats with my father and a friend of mine.  We had a pretty great time.  We saw all the usual suspects: Sedge Wrens, Eastern Meadowlarks, Northern Harrier, Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and Sora. The biggest highlight for me was seeing a Merlin in the distance--the first I've seen this this fall. Eastern Meadowlark Osprey

Sedge Wren Yesterday morning a friend and I went to Marl Bed Flats. It was a little slower than I thought it would be, I'm guessing because it was a windy, cloudy morning.  Sedge Wrens were plentiful there, and the House Wrens were especially vocal.  Even with the wind there were lots of Savannah Sparrows around. We also had one Orange-crowned Warbler and many Palm Warblers, including one "yellow/eastern" race, but we saw only one Yellow-rumped Warbler and heard only one Common Yellowthroat. Sedge Wren House Wren There were also many blackbirds around, and we were lucky enough to have an Eastern Meadowlark fly right by us. I think this is my only presentable photo of an Eastern Meadowlark in flight. Eastern Meadowlark And Phoebes were calling everywhere.  A couple were quite photogenic; one perched right next to the past and allowed us to get some photos with nice, clean backgrounds. Eastern Phoebe One of the biggest highlights for me was seeing t...

Prothonotary Warbler June Challenge is officially over. During last year's June Challenge, I logged 80 species for Seminole County; this year I ended up with 96, including a Graylag Goose, which is not the FOS list. I was hoping to hit 100 species, but I really didn't expect that to be possible.  I was away in MD and VA for a week, and even if I were here the whole month, I thought I'd have to get pretty lucky to hit the century mark.  So I'm extremely happy with 96.  I added 17 species that I didn't find last year, so I'm pretty happy about that too. Downy Woodpecker I've shown pictures of most of these birds in previous posts from this month, though for this post I used photos of these birds in different poses, so they aren't the exact same images. Limpkin Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Crested Caracara Eastern Meadowlark Carolina Chickadee In the list below, I put an asterisk (*) by birds I didn't see la...

Eastern Meadowlark On Brumley Rd this morning I found many singing meadowlarks; they're one my favorite birds because I love the soundtrack they add to my birding.  Plus they're one of the prettiest blackbirds I get to see on a regular basis.  These two were very close to each other, and I was able to photograph both from the same place. Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlark

North Tract of Lake Jesup CA Yesterday my son had an appointment about five minutes from the north tract of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area. I've never been to this area before, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to check it out.  The area is mostly open fields with palm trees.  Like the Marl Bed Flats tract, you have to share the fields with cattle, so you have to watch where you step.  Anyway, the area is pretty enough.  I didn't see a lot of wildlife, but mid-afternoon isn't the best time to be out there anyway.  It was great to see several Eastern Meadowlarks there. North Tract of Lake Jesup CA North Tract of Lake Jesup CA North Tract of Lake Jesup CA Eastern Meadowlark

Long-billed Curlew It's always fun when you get two lifers in two days. Yesterday a Lincoln's Sparrow  and this morning a Long-billed Curlew.  I drove down to the Joe Overstreet Landing and had a great time there.  The Curlew was very cooperative and easily found.  It was hanging out with numerous Wilson's Snipe. Then I found a Crested Caracara perched on a fence post, and it took off when I was focused on it, so I had sharp photos.  Eastern Meadowlarks were very vocal on the drive into the landing, and I love hearing their calls. Occasionally one would pose on the fence for me.  And on a sad but fascinating note, I found a couple Turkey Vultures that were working on a Raccoon carcass by the road. Long-billed Curlew Wilson's Snipe Crested Caracara Crested Caracara Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlark (I normally don't photograph birds with with lighting like this, but this one had such an iconic pose, I had to try it) Tur...

Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlarks are wonderful birds, and I don't even have to see them to enjoy them. Just hearing them call in an open field is pretty spectacular.  For some reason being in an open field doesn't seem to be quite right unless a meadowlark perches on a fence post and calls.  Here is one of my favorite photos of Eastern Meadowlark photos.