outdoor photography

Spicebush Swallowtail Central Winds Park I just discovered a new website that I think is pretty wonderful.  It's the butterfly equivalent of eBird, called e-butterfly.org (don't forget the dash). This site lets you enter your butterfly sightings, keep track of your life list, and see what else has been seen near you.  The site seems self-consciously patterned after eBird, so if you use eBird, learning this site should be pretty easy.  This site is brand new, so there's still a few kinks to be worked out, and there appear to be very few users of the site, especially in Florida.  I'm a novice at butterflies, and for the most part I only record butterflies I photograph while birding.  I'm still currently ranked third in the State of Florida for sightings in 2014 out of nine others.  You get the picture. However, my guess is that this site will take off just like eBird has, and when it does, it will be an even more valuable resource for birders and butter...

Northern Parula This morning my son had a 9am appointment in Sanford, and I had a work obligation in Orlando at 2pm.  Not wanting to risk something going wrong, I decided to stay local and bird my way from Sanford to Orlando. I first went to Spring Hammock Preserve, hoping for a Prothonotary Warbler and Northern Waterthrush.  I succeeded with the latter but not with the former.  The place was also loaded with Northern Parula and Red-eyed Vireos; I heard both frequently all long the trail. On the way back I came across a butterfly that I later identified as a Hackberry Emperor. Hackberry Emperor From there I went to Central Winds park, hoping for a Prothonotary Warbler. No luck there, and in fact, there wasn't much at all to speak of there, but there was a Lesser Scaup by the shore of Lake Jesup.  Most of the rest of the ducks have moved on; I'm not sure why this one has stayed so long. Lesser Scaup From there I drove down to Mead Gardens, which has ...