outdoor photography

Grasshopper Sparrow There are six Ammodramus sparrows that occur in Florida, and now I have presentable photos of all of them. This may be my favorite group of birds in the world. I know the Henslow's Sparrow photo below is terrible, but I'm not complaining. I suspect I won't get a better photo unless I see one up north in the summer.  Full disclosure, though: my Seaside Sparrow Photo was not taken in Florida; it's from South Carolina.  But I have seen them here in FL too--just too far away for photos.  Would someone please send a Baird's Sparrow here please? Saltmarsh Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Seaside Sparrow Le Conte's Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow

Lark Sparrow This past fall I've decided to concentrate my birding on sparrows in Florida.  We have three sparrows that are extremely common this time of year: Savannah, Chipping and Swamp Sparrows. I have seen and photographed these more times than I can count. Happily, Eastern Towhees can be found here all year round. But aside from these four, sparrows here can be somewhat of a challenge. Here's my progress so far.  I'm including photos of a couple sparrows (Lark and Bachman's) that I happened to find before this past fall. Bachman's Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Le Conte's Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow I see Song Sparrows very infrequently, and I've seen one White-crowned Sparrow and one Saltmarsh Sparrow, but I have no decent photographs of these species yet.  I'm still hoping to find a Fox, Henslow's, Field,White-throated and Seaside Sparrow in Florida. H...

Nelson's Sparrow In the Shiloh area of Merritt Island NWR, there's a place where you can find Nelson's and Saltmarsh Sparrows.  On the morning I was there, Nelson's Sparrows were much more willing to be photographed. They are one of the most beautiful sparrows I've seen. Nelson's Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Well, I must say it's been a pretty good year. I made my goal for the year, and then some.  I wanted to see 250 birds in the State of Florida, and I found 259, and I also found 272 total this year (including visits to TX, MD and VA).  I also have discovered the fun of keeping track of county lists.  I've decided to keep track of three counties near where I live, and hear are my totals for this year: Seminole (170 species), Orange (174 species) and Brevard (170 species). Nelson's Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow I also added 76 life birds to my list, thanks in part to the ABA allowing me to count the Nanday Parakeet. I've included a list of them below in the order that I found them.  The list I'm including below comes straight from eBird, so you may notice a Budgerigar listed, even though I don't believe it's ABA countable. Species Location State Date White-winged Scoter Blackwater National...

Nelson's Sparrow This morning I went to the Shiloh area of Merritt Island in search of Sharp-tailed Sparrows.  I found both species, but unfortunately only my photos of the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow turned out.  I suspect I can return there and try again for the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, and I probably will, but unfortunately that means I'll need to walk through the mucky marsh to get to where I found them.  But I'm really happy with my first Nelson's Sparrow photos, so I'm not complaining. Nelson's Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow After finding the sparrows I decided to try to find the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher again.  Sure enough, it was right about where it was this past Saturday, though this morning it was also very photogenic. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scissor-tailed Flycatcher