outdoor photography

Eastern Phoebe I saw my first Great Crested Flycatcher of the year this year; that's usually a good sign that Eastern Phoebes are going to start packing up to leave. I suspect by the end of March, they'll all be gone.  So a few days ago I photographed an Eastern Phoebe at Central  Winds Park. I'm going to be a little sad to see them go.

Eastern Phoebe Yesterday I had what I thought was a pretty good idea. I wanted to try a couple places, and I figured if I rode my bike I could try them both. So I went first to Orlando Wetlands Park.  The route I had planned was about 5 miles.  I rode to the influent and then to the outflow and back to my car.  I saw a lot of birds--highlights were my first Louisiana Waterthrush of the year (and my first ever inside the park). I also heard my first Orange County Virginia Rail.  However, I didn't give myself much time for photography.  I took a few shots of an Eastern Phoebe, and I tried for several minutes to get a decent shot of the Louisiana Waterthrush, but it never really gave me a better look than what you see below. Louisiana Waterthrush My plan was then to ride my bike to the St. John's River from the Chuluota Wilderness Area.  There's a trail there that goes through the Charles H. Bronson State Forest to the river, and I was hoping there m...

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...

Eastern Phoebe A few days ago I dropped by Marl Bed Flats before work.  As I walked out onto the flats, I saw a flycatcher in the distance--too far away for my binoculars.  Just in case it decided to fly away before I could identify it, I snapped a couple pictures.  Sure enough, it's an Eastern Phoebe.  After I loaded the photos into my computer, I thought these might work as silhouettes.  So, these photos were totally unplanned.  If you like them, nature was the artist, not me. I even decided to break one of my own rules for composition--I normally have the bird facing into the frame, but when I cropped these, I thought the composition was stronger with the bird facing away. Maybe it heightens the solitary mood of the photo; I'm not sure why. Eastern Phoebe

Tersa Sphinx Moth It was a pretty fun morning at Central Winds.  We found only eleven warbler species (the best being 2 Magnolia Warblers), but there were lots of them there, especially American Redstarts.  We also were treated to some great views of two Summer Tanagers, a late Great-crested Flycatcher missing most of its tail, and an early Eastern Phoebe.  I'm not sure I've ever seen both of these flycatchers on the same day in the fall.  A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher showed off its breakfast, and we found two moths mating, which I believe are Tersa Sphinx Moths. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Magnolia Warbler Summer Tanager Eastern Phoebe Great-crested Flycatcher with only one tail feather

Lake Jesup CA - East Tract This morning I went for a little while to the East Tract of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area. It was my first time visiting the area. It was a little difficult to find the trail head.  I walked to the observation tower and back.  It's a very pretty area.  I took a couple scenic shots along the trail as well as a shot from the observation tower. I didn't see anything too exciting, but it was fun to photograph an Eastern Phoebe, an American Robin, a Tree Swallow, and some White Ibises. Lake Jesup CA - East Tract Eastern Phoebe White Ibis Tree Swallow American Robin

Canal St. Fence It doesn't look like much, but this little fence on Canal St just south of Lake Jesup is quickly becoming one of my favorite places for photographing sparrows and other perching birds.  This morning was one of my best sparrow photo days.  I was hoping to find a White-crowned Sparrow here, which I didn't find, but I did find many Savannah Sparrows, two Grasshopper Sparrows, one Vesper Sparrow and one Swamp Sparrow, and all but the Swamp Sparrow posed nicely for photos.  And if you stand in the right place, you can sometimes get photos of birds with the sun behind you and nothing behind the bird, giving you a clean background.  Oh, and this morning I also found an Eastern Phoebe perched quite nicely, and the photo below may be my all-time favorite phoebe photo. Vesper Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrow Eastern Phoebe

Sunrise Beyond finding the Brown-crested Flycatcher and other flycatchers I was looking for, I had fun finding other birds as well.  Several birds posed for photographs, most notably Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Phoebe, and Ospreys.  Also a Red Admiral landed on a tree trunk for me. In my haste to find the flycatchers, I didn't stop much for photos, but here are a few I did take. Red-winged Blackbird Red-Admiral Eastern Phoebe Osprey

Eastern Phoebe This morning I dropped by Mead Gardens before work.  It was somewhat quiet, but there were some highlights.  A Yellow-rumped Warbler posed nicely for me, as did an Eastern Phoebe.  And I also found my first Cedar Waxwings of the year.  These are pretty fun birds, and I'm always glad to see them. Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Cedar Waxwings

Eastern Phoebe My search for Henslow's, Le Conte's and White-crowned Sparrows has so far come up empty.  I'm still hopeful, though.  This morning I returned to Canal St., where I'd found Savannah, Vesper, and Grasshopper Sparrows earlier this month.  The morning started out very cloudy, and the birds seemed content to stay hidden and quiet, but the sun peaked out from behind the clouds just after 8 am, and then things began to pick up a little.  I found several Savannah and one Grasshopper Sparrow, but no sparrows more interesting than that.  But all is not a loss--while the lighting was good I was able to photograph some more common birds perched on the barbed wire and fence posts.  I can't resist photographing even very common birds when they present me with such a clean background behind them. Grasshopper Sparrow Northern Mockingbird Northern Cardinal

Eastern Phoebe It was slow at Lake Lotus this morning.  I first drove by an orange grove nearby to see what I could find--the most interesting find was a small flock of House Finches.  Then I went to Lake Lotus and walked the boardwalk.  The most interesting bird I found there was a Swamp Sparrow, but my best photos were of an Eastern Phoebe that was in the fishing area. Eastern Phoebe Swamp Sparrow Little Blue Heron

Marl Bed Flats is easily the most productive tract the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.  It's located just north of Lake Jesup and east or Rte 417 in Sanford, FL [ map ]. A trail map for all three tracts of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area can be found here .  And here's a link to a map  that may be helpful with driving directions. This area is made up of floodplain wetlands and wooded hammocks.  During late September and early October, this area becomes filled with blooming Swamp Sunflowers.  It's apparently a beautiful sight to see, though for some reason I haven't visited while the sunflowers are blooming.  I visit mostly for the great birding, and especially for shorebirds.  As of my July 2015 update of this post, I've seen 147 species here, including 17 species of shorebird at the flats. Bald Eagles Trails The trail map claims there are two trail loops.  One with red blazes (0.8 miles) and one with yellow blazes (0.5).  I'll take t...