outdoor photography

Gold Rim Butterfly On April 14th, Jeff and I visited Mead Gardens. We were hoping to find Zebra Longwing and Great Purple Hairstreak.  Birding was slow, though we did get a Worm-eating Warbler at the entrance to the boardwalk nearest the stream. The butterfly garden had a couple duskywing skippers and several Monarchs. But then a Gold Rim Butterfly showed up and stole the show. This is a swallowtail without a swallow tail, and I'd love to photograph all of the ones that occur in Florida (I still need Pipevine Swallowtail).  This was easily the highlight of the morning. Interestingly, we went to Leu Gardens after Mead and saw another one there. I guess they may be common in butterfly gardens, but these are the first I've seen. Monarch Monarch

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Well, third time's a charm it seems. Today I made my third visit to Hal Scott Preserve (I went twice in the summer of 2013 and then today).  This is the one park I know of where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers can be found in Orange County, but until today I haven't been able to find them here.  I've seen lots of trees with white rings around them (indicating that at some point in time there has been a nest in the tree), but never any sight or sound of them.  Until today, when I took a different route and got lucky I suppose.  I found a pair of them together.  One of them was pretty perturbed with a Downy Woodpecker.  The Downy just seem like it had to be working the same tree with it, but every once in a while the Red-cockaded Woodpecker would chase off the Downy.  It was pretty fun to watch.  I just stood in one spot, and the woodpeckers were so interested in each other they didn't seem to mind me at all. Red-cockaded Wo...

Red-headed Woodpecker Mead Gardens has been exceptionally slow all fall with very few warblers stopping by. But I still like to visit from time to time, especially during the Orange Adubon Society Birdwalks.  So yesterday morning I joined the group that was there and had  a great time.  The biggest highlight was seeing a couple Red-headed Woodpeckers.  These are the first I've seen in the park; they've been here for a couple weeks now--extremely unusual for this species.  At least one of them has excavated a hole in the park, and we watched it actively gathering acorns and caching them away.  Hopefully that means it's planning to stick around for a while.  In all we found six species of woodpecker on the property: Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Pileated Woodpecker. Red-headed Woodpecker We also had many House Wrens and a Scarlet Tanager. Warblers were tougher to...

Yellow-throated Warbler I went to Lake Lotus this morning.  It was a pretty slow morning for birds.  I did find four warbler species, though: a Yellow-throated Warbler, a Louisiana Waterthrush, a Northern Parula, and several American Redstarts.  I also found an Eastern Kingbird, which is the first I've seen in Seminole County.  Since birding was somewhat slow, I turned my attention to butterflies, spiders, bugs and flowers.  Zebra Longwings are my favorite butterflies, and Monarchs are always nice to find.  Golden Silk Orbweavers are plentiful there--they are fun to see if their webs are not spread over your path.  I also found one Katydid, and I think it's very young--it's wings are extremely small, and one of its legs appears not to be fully formed yet. Eastern Kingbird Monarch Butterfly Monarch Butterfly Zebra Longwing Scarlet Hibiscus Golden Silk Orbweaver Katydid

Dragonfly I went to Mead Gardens yesterday morning for about an hour before work. It was pretty slow--I saw several Common Yellowthroats, along with the usual Mockingbirds, House Finches, Great Crested Flycatchers, Carolina Wrens and Cardinals.  As I was getting ready to leave, though, things started to get good.  In a tree by the lake, there were several American Redstarts and a Magnolia Warbler becoming very active.  It would have been nice to see what else may have come around, but I had to content myself with that Magnolia Warbler.  Not a bad morning, though, if you ask me. Monarch Butterfly Magnolia Warbler Common Yellowthroat Here's a list of the 25 species I found this morning between around 8am and 9am: Wood Duck 2 Wood Stork 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 3 Chimney Swift 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 3 B...

Monarch Butterfly Lately I've seen more and more Monarch Butterflies in my visits to Orlando Wetlands Park, Mead Gardens, and Lake Lotus Park.  I know they are very familiar butterflies to most, but I think they're wonderful, so whenever I'm birding, it's a special treat to see them. Monarch Butterfly Monarch Butterfly