outdoor photography

Green-winged Teal This afternoon I dropped by a little retention pond on Lake Emma Rd.  The pond has shallow water right now, and it's been really good for shorebirds and ducks.  Today I found two Green-winged Teal in the pond and a Black-necked Stilt.  The stilt really surprised me.  I've been seeing Least Sandpipers, both Yellowlegs and Wilson's Snipe here, but I did not expect the stilt at all. Both of these birds were the first I've seen in Seminole County. Black-necked Stilt I was here a couple days ago and found a Swallow-tailed Kite, which is the first I've seen of the year.  It's funny how good a small, unattractive pond can be. Swallow-tailed Kite

Purple Gallinule I'm teaching in Miami this evening so I decided to spend the night at a friends house in Palm Beach County before to shorten my drive.  I'm so jealous; my friend lives a 15 minute drive from the Loxahatchee NWR. So I decided to go visit there this morning before work.  I only spent an hour there, but I was able to find about 40 species of birds.  I was hoping to see something I wouldn't see in Central Florida, and that didn't happen, but I did get to see a Purple Gallinule, a couple Green-winged Teal and a Northern Harrier.  Perhaps it's a good thing I don't live so close to a refuge like that.  You wouldn't be able to pull me a way. Green-winged Teal Red-shouldered Hawk Palm Warbler hop Yellow Rumped Warbler Here's a list of the species I found at the Lee Rd section of Loxahatchee between 8am and 9am this morning.  A few of these species were seen on Rte 441 just outside the refuge. Mottled Duck 3 Blue-winged Te...