outdoor photography

Savannah Sparrow at Marl Bed Flats When I first moved to Central Florida, the first places I visited for nature and bird photography were in Brevard and Orange Counties.  I didn't know of any good places to visit in Seminole County where I live.  Every new place I found was in another county. But last year I began discovering my home.  It turns out that, while Seminole Co may not have quite the same variety of birds that its surrounding counties my have, if you know where to go, you can actually do pretty well here.  And there are some places in the county that are quite beautiful for nature photography and  landscapes.  So I thought it would be good to collect my favorite birding and photography locations within Seminole County and share them. Econ River Area My favorite places in eastern Seminole Count are located near the Econ River.  I began discovering places around here in June of last year.  It was so fun to begin finding pine fores...

Marl Bed Flats is easily the most productive tract the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.  It's located just north of Lake Jesup and east or Rte 417 in Sanford, FL [ map ]. A trail map for all three tracts of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area can be found here .  And here's a link to a map  that may be helpful with driving directions. This area is made up of floodplain wetlands and wooded hammocks.  During late September and early October, this area becomes filled with blooming Swamp Sunflowers.  It's apparently a beautiful sight to see, though for some reason I haven't visited while the sunflowers are blooming.  I visit mostly for the great birding, and especially for shorebirds.  As of my July 2015 update of this post, I've seen 147 species here, including 17 species of shorebird at the flats. Bald Eagles Trails The trail map claims there are two trail loops.  One with red blazes (0.8 miles) and one with yellow blazes (0.5).  I'll take t...

Geneva Wilderness Area One of my favorite places to visit here in Seminole County is the Geneva Wilderness Area, which is located in Geneva, FL [ map ]. The Geneva WA is about 180 acres with about 2 miles of trails through flatwoods, pine scrub and bay swamp environments. The trail takes you by three ponds, and there's a rustic chapel that overlooks a grassy clearing with two of the ponds. You can find a brochure with a trail map here .  I find this area truly beautiful, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves hiking, beautiful scenery, and wildlife. Carolina Chickadee Trails There are two main trails in the wilderness area, and both are relatively easy trails to walk.  The Loop Trail with red markers takes you on a loop around the ponds.  The trail with yellow markers takes you to Flagler Trail, a trail that takes you through the Little Big Econ State Forest. When I go in search of wildlife, I normally walk the trails in such a way that I can see ...

Loggerhead Shrike This morning we went down to Viera Wetlands, and we had great weather for birding and photography.  On the main route around the wetlands, we saw all the usual suspects, though I was fortunate to be able to watch an American Bittern for about 10 minutes before he flew off to another clump of grasses.  Those 10 minutes were worth the whole trip for me.  It was also nice to see a few Hooded Mergansers, though they were too far away to get good photographs.  We saw a Pied-Billed Grebe with a big fish in his mouth; it still amazes me how these birds can fit so much into their mouths.  At the click ponds we saw more Hooded Mergansers, Ring-Necked Ducks, and a couple shovelers. We then took the road back toward the River Lakes Conservation area, and we saw a couple nice Kestrels as well as a couple Loggerhead Shrikes. We got to watch one as it caught a grasshopper and impaled it on a barbed wire fence before eating it. Loggerhead Shrike ...