outdoor photography

Northern Watherthrush A few days ago I finally had time to visit the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. Many of the rarities that have been wintering here have made themselves scarce. I didn't see the Long-tailed Duck, the Ash-throated Flycatcher or the Vermilion Flycatcher. There were still lots of birds to see here, though.  There were lots of sparrows at the Lust Rd gate, including a Song Sparrow, two Grasshopper Sparrows, an Eastern Towhee and lots of Savannah and Swamp Sparrows. My favorite photo of the morning, however, was this Northern Waterthrush that I found along the loop trail road north of the pump house. I saw two Northern and one Louisiana Waterthrushes, but I was only able to get a photo of a Northern.

Lavinia sp. Orbweaver A couple weeks ago I visited the wildlife drive at Lake Apopka. I decided to use my macro lens and see if I could go my whole time just photographing insects and spiders. I made it all the way until the sod fields near the end of the drive, when I had to put my 400 mm lens back on. Black and Yellow Argiope I saw two species of spiders, a Black and Yellow Argiope and a Larinia species orbweaver. These were probably the most challenging to photograph. The Lavinia sp. was pretty small, and it had become quite windy, so just getting a sharp photo was a bit of a challenge. I photographed two odes, a Rambur's Forktail and an Eastern Amberwing. Rambur's Forktail Eastern Amberwing I also had some fun photos of butterflies and moths, in particular, a Southern Skipperling, a Fiery Skipper, and a Yellow-collared Scape Moth. The scape moth was probably the most fun find of the morning for me. Yellow-collared Scape Moth Fiery Skipper ...

Cave Swallow There's at least one Cave Swallow that has been hanging out at Lake Apopka for at least the past three weeks. It looks like it's trying to build a nest under a bridge, which would be really cool, especially if there's a second around. And not too far away, at a bridge over Rte 50, there have been Cliff Swallows breeding there for at least the past few years.  Cave Swallow These two species look pretty similar, so I thought it would be fun to make a post highlighting how you can tell the two species apart, especially in flight. Now most Cliff Swallows in the U.S. have largely whitish foreheads. However occasionally you can find the "Mexican" race, which has a dark forehead, and It think the "Mexican" race looks a bit more like a Cave Swallow. But if you get a good look at the face, It think it's not too difficult to tell them apart. Cliff Swallow Cliff Swallows have much darker cheeks and throats, and so there's a...

Cave Swallow On the morning of April 28th, I drove the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and found my first Cave Swallow for Orange County. In fact, it appears to be the first Cave Swallow reported on eBird in the county, though I'm quite certain others have seen them here. I almost missed this guy. It flew by me and I noticed the pale rump and squared tale. I thought it was going to be a Cliff Swallow until I got closer looks and saw those pale auriculars and throat. I'm pretty pumped! Cave Swallow

Lark Sparrow On Saturday I drove out to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive to see a Lark Sparrow that had been found there the day before.  It was seen near the gate area, so I didn't do the whole drive. I just walked up and down Lust Rd until I finally saw the Lark Sparrow. Lark Sparrow While waiting for the Lark Sparrow to show up, I also saw a Field Sparrow, which also is a bit unusual in Central Florida. To my knowledge, neither bird was seen the next day, though people did photograph a Clay-colored Sparrow in the same general area. Field Sparrow  

Anhinga with Fish Back in August I visited Lake Apopka and found an Anhinga right after it speared a fish, giving me lots of opportunities for photos.  This one is my favorites because the fish looks completely surprised to be having such a bad day.

Yellow Warbler During late August and September, Yellow Warblers come through Lake Apopka in huge numbers. It's not terribly unusual to conservatively estimate 30 or more individuals along the lake shore.  I suspect this is largely because there are so many willows near the lake shore, and the drive takes you right between the willows and the lake. I think they're beautiful birds.  A few weeks ago, I was driving along the drive next to the lake, and I saw a few all in one tree. I pished a little bit, and then all of the sudden there were at least 10 there. I don't know that I've ever seen so many Yellow Warblers in any one place. This was my best photograph from that time.

Wildlife of Lake Apopka Over the last few days I've put together some of my favorite photos from Lake Apopka and assembled them into a video slideshow.  Lake Apopka has become one of my favorite places to visit--so much wildlife and so much diversity!  My video is about 7 minutes long; that's a little longer than I I intended, but I don't know how to make it shorter.

Opossum with Young Opossum with Young Yesterday morning I drove out to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.  It's one of my favorite places for birding, and I was hoping to photograph a Yellow-breasted Chat that had been located there the day before. I heard two calling and singing in different places, but neither was interested in coming into view so I could get his photo.  Still, it was a fun drive.  My favorite moment, though, had nothing to do with birds. I saw an opossum walking towards me.  At first I thought it had some sort of deformity. It looked like it had a growth coming out the left side of its head.  But as it came closer, I noticed she had 4 little ones clinging on to her!  Because one was covering her eyes, I think she was more concerned with her young than with me. So I crouched down and remained motionless to let it get closer. When it came closer than my camera could focus, I backed up. She seemed totally unconcerned with me until I st...

Purple Swamphen Lake Apopka has been spectacular over the last month or so. For starters, a month ago, a Brown Booby was blown inland by a storm, found Lake Apopka, and now apparently doesn't want to leave. It's been living on the lake for the last month, usually too far away to see with binoculars. However, today I got some good scope views of this incredible rarity--too far away for photos, though.  A week ago, I found a Purple Swamphen (aka Gray-headed Swamphen) on Lust Rd.  This is an exotic species that escaped from south Florida a few years ago and has been expanding its range throughout south Florida, and now Central Florida. Two days ago, a Tropical Kingbird was seen here as well (I've chased it three times and not found it). Ash-throated Flycatchers have also been coming in. At least three have been seen between Magnolia Park and the pump house a the end of Lust Rd.  I found two yesterday when I was striking out on the Tropical Kingbird. Fulvous Whistling...

Yellow Warbler Yesterday my father and I drove out to Lake Apopka to see the wildlife drive. It amazes me that every time I visit something new seems to present itself.  I suppose it's not too surprising that this is the case right now, since migration is now in full swing.  The biggest find for me was a Veery--well, two of them in fact--along the lake shore loop trail.  Unfortunately, they stayed too far back for me to get good photos.  Another fun bird was a Worm-eating Warbler, though this bird took off before I could get a photo. Yellow Warbler We walked the loop trail south a little ways, and that was one of the more productive areas.  We were looking for a Snail Kite that had been seen there last week, and we had no luck relocating it.  We didn't expect to get very many good photos either, since we were walking along the eastern shore of the lake in the morning.  In order to photograph birds in the shrubbery to the east, we had to loo...

Northern Waterthrush This past Saturday I visited the wildlife drive at Lake Apopka. I was hoping to get some nice migrant activity, and I was not disappointed. Yellow Warblers were everywhere! I estimated 20 of them, but I think I underestimated. In one little spot along the lakeshore there were perhaps 10 Yellow Warblers, 2 Prothonotary Warblers, 5 Prairie Warblers, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, and an Acadian Flycatcher. Yellow Warbler There was far less activity along the rest of the drive.  There were hardly any shorebirds at the sod fields, oddly enough, and that was a little disappointing. However, I did get a nice photo of an Eastern Kingbird, which is always nice. Eastern Kingbird A couple herons posed for photos as well. A Black-crowned Night-Heron was perched along the edge of vegetation not far from my car (this photo is hardly cropped), and a Great Blue Heron also perched in the reeds for me. Black-crowned Night-Heron Great Bl...

Great Horned Owl Yesterday I drove out to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive before work.  I got there before 6:30 so that I'd have a couple hours to see what I could find.  I'm headed to Mexico for a week later on today, so I figured it would be good to have one last check of the drive before leaving. It was a pretty fun time, even if I wish it could have been longer. Solitary Sandpiper A Black Tern and an Upland Sandpiper were seen during the week, so those were the birds I was hoping for.  But I had no luck finding those.  However, there are still lots of shorebirds around the sod fields--most of them were on the west end by Canal Rd, so I had to look straight towards the sun to see them. Presentable photos were impossible, but there was a Stilt Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, at least 10 Pectoral Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers, and several Solitary Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs. Prairie Warbler Warblers are also coming back. I sa...

Bank Swallow The Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration Area arguably boasts the best inland birding in the State of Florida.  But until recently most of the area has been closed to the general public most of the year. During the annual Christmas Bird Count, birders are granted access to the restoration area, but most of the area has been off limits for most of the year.  However, earlier this year God smiled up on the lowly birders of Central Florida and opened up a Wildlife Drive that takes you through the heart of the restoration area.  This has opened up a huge area for birders and wildlife enthusiasts to visit during the weekends (and national holidays).  The drive is 11 miles long, and I normally take about 4 hours to get through from one end to the other. Northern Rough-winged Swallow So this morning my father and I arrived around 6:15 am and took our time making our way through the drive until we left around 10:30 am. We saw a Great Horned Owl on a t...