outdoor photography

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...

Merlin and the Dragonfly About a week ago, I drove to Canal St in search of a Least Flycatcher that was seen the day before. I didn't find it (it did show up a few days later), but I did see a Merlin fly by.  I photographed it as it flew by, and when I looked at the photos, I noticed that it attempted to grab a dragonfly. I'm really surprised that both the dragonfly was relatively sharp, so even though the photos aren't all that great, I thought they were worth sharing. Merlin and the Dragonfly Merlin and the Dragonfly Merlin and the Dragonfly

Nuttall's Woodpecker When we were in L.A. last week, we took a little time to visit Huntington Central Park.  I'd checked eBird and found that over 300 species have been recorded in this one little park. That's simply amazing to me!  The park reminded me of Central Winds, which is one of my favorite birding spots in my home county, though only 162 species have been recorded there. In fact, fewer than 270 species have been recorded in my whole county.  However, this park is near the beach, and it's in Southern California.  I had a wonderful time, and if I lived nearby, I suspect I'd need to be there at least once per week. The Nuttall's Woodpeckers I saw making more Nuttall's Woodpeckers were lifers for me. Western Bluebird Western Bluebird There were a few Western Bluebirds here too--I haven't seen these since I was a kid living in Concord, CA. I was pretty struck again by how beautiful these birds are, especially the males.  Our eastern va...

Merlin This morning was my best birding morning at Marl Bed Flats, though the photographic side of my brain must have shut down. I went there early this morning hoping to meet with the Space Coast Birding Festival group. I thought they were going to meet there at 6:00am, but apparently they were meeting elsewhere and then driving here, so I scurried off by myself to find an American Woodcock. It was very dark, and I was using the flashlight app for my android phone as my light source.  I soon came by many cows, which I wanted to avoid, so I took a pretty circuitous route out to the flats. Somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45 am, I saw a chunky snipe-like bird with more round wings flying from the open fields to the trees. Could that be it? It was too dark to make out any details in the bird. Then I heard a peent! call. Woo hoo! One life bird. Bald Eagle I then walked around looking for whatever else I could find.  I found a Northern Harrier and several Bald Eagles, and o...

Merlin At Merritt Island the other day I was able to photograph a Merlin eating what appears to be a Ruddy Turnstone.  It was so busy with its prey that it didn't mind me photographing it.  I happily enjoyed it happily enjoying its food until a vulture decided it needed to spoil the fun and perch where this Merlin was perched.  I was particularly impressed with the way the Merlin ripped the feathers off parts of the bird before consuming it, and in some of the photos, you can see the feathers flying in the wind. Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin Merlin

Merlin This morning I went out to the Canaveral National Seashore hoping to find another Razorbill and a Surf Scoter. I found neither, but sometimes you can have a great day even when you find nothing you hoped for.  We first dropped a couple of the "vistas" on the way to the seashore, and we saw a couple Ruddy Ducks and what I now believe was an Iceland Gull--rare for Florida.    We then stopped at parking lot 7 and found nothing unusual--some Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, lots of Royal Terns, and several birds so far out that they couldn't be identified even with a 60x scope.  We then drove up to parking lot 12 and found the photographic highlight of the morning--a Merlin in a tree eating what appears to be a Ruddy Turnstone. On the way home we dropped by Parish Park (just east of the Max Brewer bridge) and found a Bonaparte's Gull with some Sanderlings. Ruddy Duck Ring-billed Gull Royal Tern Bonaparte's Gull Sanderling Sander...

Northern Harrier Well, yesterday went a little better than predicted--the world didn't end, and I had a great time at the Zellwood/Mt. Dora Christmas Bird Count.  I was in the area around Lake Apopka--particularly to the north and east of it.  It was a cold (by Florida standards) and blustery day, but it was a great day for raptors.  We began the morning with a couple Barn Owls, and as morning broke, we also had Osprey, Bald Eagles, dozens of Northern Harrier and Red-tailed Hawks, many Red-shouldered Hawks, one Sharp-shinned Hawk, several American Kestrels, and one Merlin.  As the sun was setting, we found a couple more Barn Owls and at least one Short-eared Owl.  But the biggest highlight, though, was a Krider's sub-species of a Red-tailed Hawk. Red-tailed Hawk "Krider's" Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Sharp-shinned Hawk Barn Owl Ducks and water birds were also there.  We had 18 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and several Gadwall, Malla...