outdoor photography

Limpkin They aren't the most graceful birds in the world, but they do have their charm.  About a week ago I was driving the wildlife drive around Lake Apopka and a pair flew right by me.  They were close enough I couldn't get both birds in the frame, so I concentrated on the closer one. I believe these are my best in-flight Limpkin photos. Limpkin Limpkin

Pileated Woodpecker This morning Central Winds was a little slower than normal.  There were three of us here this morning, and between the three of us, we had 9 warblers: Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Prairie Warbler.  We also checked by the little pond and found several Indigo Buntings, a couple Painted Buntings and one Blue Grosbeak.  A Limpkin and Pileated Woodpecker posed for photos, but other than that it was pretty slow. Limpkin Blue Grosbeak

Northern Waterthrush We need some new weather to move through.  I've seen the same warblers for the last 3 days.  I shouldn't complain.  I saw 12 species this morning, and that's always fun. A Northern Waterthrush and a Limpkin posed for photos too. And this morning I found 3 new critters I've never seen before in the park--Raccoons. I'm not sure I'm happy about this. They're fantastic egg-robbers, and I prefer to have the birds.  But they're here, and I'm working on being content with that. Limpkin Raccoon

Yellow-throated Warbler A friend of mine found a Hooded Warbler and a Cerulean Warbler at Central Winds yesterday.  Of course, I wasn't there.  I think that all the Hooded Warblers got together and decided to stay away from me whenever I'm in Seminole County--I can't seem to get that one on my Seminole County list.  So of course I trotted off this morning to see if I could find anything there.  I found neither of my target warblers (Hooded and Blue-winged), but I did find 10 others: Ovenbird (at least 7), Northern Waterthrusth, Worm-eating, Northern Parula (at least 20), Black and White, American Redstart, Yellow, Prothonotary (2), Yellow-throated, and Prairie.  It was also fun to find a Limpkin and hear an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Limpkin I also found a beautiful Black and Yellow Argiope spider.  Central Winds is crawling with Golden-silk Orbweavers, and they're both beautiful and gigantic.  These argiopes are only slightly smaller, but I think ...

Prothonotary Warbler June Challenge is officially over. During last year's June Challenge, I logged 80 species for Seminole County; this year I ended up with 96, including a Graylag Goose, which is not the FOS list. I was hoping to hit 100 species, but I really didn't expect that to be possible.  I was away in MD and VA for a week, and even if I were here the whole month, I thought I'd have to get pretty lucky to hit the century mark.  So I'm extremely happy with 96.  I added 17 species that I didn't find last year, so I'm pretty happy about that too. Downy Woodpecker I've shown pictures of most of these birds in previous posts from this month, though for this post I used photos of these birds in different poses, so they aren't the exact same images. Limpkin Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Crested Caracara Eastern Meadowlark Carolina Chickadee In the list below, I put an asterisk (*) by birds I didn't see la...

Barred Owl This morning I dropped by Lake Lotus Park; I haven't been here in months because they open so late in the morning it's difficult to spend any length of time here before work.  Well, I was driving nearby this morning, so I thought it would be worth walking the trail once to see what may be there.  There was nothing unusual to be found--a first-year Double-crested Cormorant was on the water, I guess too young to go to the coast for breeding.  A Limpkin landed on the boardwalk railing so close to me that I could only photograph its head and neck (not that I'm complaining).  And a Barred Owl was out by the boardwalk, and it was close enough for nearly full-frame pictures.  Right near the owl was a pretty flower, which I'm guessing is a Primrose-willow of some sort, but I don't trust my own diagnostic skills for wildflowers. Barred Owl I'm still sometimes amazed at the difference moving a little bit can do for your compostion.  The above sh...

Great Blue Heron Yesterday morning I drove up to Overlook Park.  It's about 15 minutes from my house, and I check it out regularly to see what ducks may be out on Lake Jesup.  It's a very small park, so I never expect to find much, but yesterday morning was very enjoyable.  A Great Blue Heron was begging me to take his picture, several Limpkins were out busily gathering snails, some Double-crested Cormorants perched on Lake Jesup for me, and a Bonaparte's Gull stayed pretty close to shore.  I saw nothing new or unusual, but I still had a pretty great 45 minutes before work. Limpkin with Tricolored Heron Limpkin Double-crested Cormorants Bonaparte's Gull Bonaparte's Gull

Limpkin Chick This morning I drove to one of my favorite places near Lake Jesup, and I happened to find a family of Limpkins.  Mom and Dad were both feeding their four little chicks, and it looks like they just recently hatched. I usually only come here occasionally for just a few minutes to see what ducks may be floating out on Lake Jesup, but now I think I'll have to come here once a week or so and check up on these little ones.  I'm always amazed at how tender the adults can be in caring for their chicks. I kept my distance from them, and while occasionally they would come relatively close to me, most of these photos are pretty heavily cropped. Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick Limpkin with Chick

Belted Kingfisher This morning I went to Orlando Wetlands Park.  I was hoping to see the Vermilion Flycatchers that were seen there this past November, and I found both without much difficulty.  They're such a beautiful red I can't miss them even with my red-green colorblindness. They were pretty far a way, but since they're such pretty birds I decided to show you a photo from the same location last year when one was much closer. Vultures were pretty photogenic this morning, especially a couple Black Vultures picking on the remains of a turtle.  And a Belted Kingfisher decided to land on a perch very close to me, then immediately saw me and took off; thankfully I got this photo as she was leaving.  Other highlights were a Red-shouldered Hawk and Limpkins Vermilion Flycatcher (Feb 2013) Vermilion Flycatcher (Feb 2012) Black Vultures Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk Two Limpkins

American Bittern This morning I decided to drive down to Viera Wetlands.  When I arrived it was very foggy.  I was somewhat disappointed, since I couldn't photograph anything any distance away without losing detail.  So of course, this is is when the Peregrine Falcon decided to appear.  I found it perched on one of the dead trees.  It was not that far away, and on a clear morning, I think it would have given me some very nice photos, but this morning, I had to shoot through through the fog.  There were many other nice things to find here, though.  A Common Yellowthroat was very cooperative, as was an American Bittern.  Later on I found a Raccoon near the edge of the water.  After making my first pass around the wetlands, the fog had pretty much cleared, so I decided to make another pass and hope that the falcon was still around.  It was not.  But, while looking for it, I saw a flash of blue-gray and another flash of brown. ...