outdoor photography

Black & White Warbler Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through.  There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted). Yellow Warbler Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5.  But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago.  One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally. Black & White Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have bee...

Yellow-throated Warbler Migration is starting to get fun at Central Winds Park.  It's still early, but we're seeing a fair number of warblers coming in.  As usual, the Northern Parulas are the most plentiful, but Prairie, Black and White, and Yellow-throated Warblers are becoming common here.  We've also had our fair share of American Redstarts, Prothonotary Warblers, and Ovenbirds.  I suspect we'll be getting Yellow Warblers soon. We've also begun getting in some flycatchers. So far I've found an Acadian Flycatcher and an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Eastern Wood-Pewee And just for fun, Wild Turkeys are here too. Occasionally I find an adult with young ones walking through the grass. Wild Turkeys

Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Wood-Pewees are wonderful little flycatchers.  The first time I photographed of one in Florida it actually caught a little dragonfly for me. I believe all these photographs came from Mead Gardens, which has been the most reliable place for me to find them during their migration through Florida.  Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Wood-Pewee

Bay-breasted Warbler This was a wonderful morning.  I joined the Orange Audubon Society's birdwalk at Mead Gardens, and the weather was just spectacular.  It wasn't hot, and it was sunny, and there were a fair number of birds to see. My biggest hope this morning was to photograph a Bay-breasted Warbler.  We did find and photograph one, which made my day, but we also found 9 other warbler species: Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Yellow-throated Warbler. Pine Warbler I've been giving myself an education on how to distinguish Pine Warblers from fall Bay-breasted Warblers.  You can see some similarities in the above photos, but immature Pine Warblers are far less yellow, making them more similar.  I don't see color perfectly, so I need to find other ways to distinguish them.  These photos illustrate three helpful clu...

Eastern Wood-Pewee It was a relatively slow morning at Mead Gardens today.  I found three warblers (Pine, Palm and a Northern Parula), a Swainson's thrush, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  I didn't find the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher this morning  either (I only looked for a few minutes, though), though I did find an Eastern Wood-Pewee and an Eastern Phoebe. The Phoebe must be young because it seems to have more yellow on its belly than usual. And both posed for some photos. Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe Eastern Phoebe Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Wood Pewee The Eastern Wood Pewee is a small flycatcher, though it gets its name not from its size but from its "pee-a-wee" call.  They can be a challenge to identify, but look for bold wing bars and the grey-olive upper parts.  If you see one, or really any flycatcher, don't just identify it and move on.  Watch it for a while, and you may get the special treat of watching him catch a special treat.  That's the fun of watching these wonderful birds - seeing them in action. Eastern Wood Pewee Eastern Wood Pewee Eastern Wood Pewee  

Eastern Wood Pewee (front-lit) As outdoor photographers, we have a significant challenge--we are at the mercy of the sun and weather.  Sunny days give us fast shutter speeds , but usually this comes with harsh shadows.  Cloudy days give us even lighting, but then we have grey skies and slower shutter speeds.  Sometimes the light is uneven, where the scene you're photographing may have both sun and shade.  We can compensate for this challenge somewhat with a flash, but even with the best flash, the lighting conditions around you can significantly affect your images. Eastern Wood Pewee (shaded) The photos included here are of an Eastern Wood Pewee (a small flycatcher) and the first three images are of the exact same bird taken on the same day.  The differences between the photographs have to do with the relative positions of my camera, the bird and the sun.  The first image above was taken with sunlight coming from behind me, and direct sunlight f...