outdoor photography

Northern Gannet Yesterday I went to Jetty Park to find a Brown Booby that has been seen there.  Without a scope I was only able to get tiny photos of the bird, with only enough pixels to identify it.  But there were a few Northern Gannets hunting relatively close to the fishing pier. These birds are wonderfully fun to watch, especially as they dive for fish. Northern Gannet Northern Gannet The Brown Booby was a lifer for me, so even though the bird was far beyond the distance that my camera/lens could produce a usable image, I thought I'd share a couple. These photos show the blueish-gray bill with pale yellowish legs and no visible white on the upper-tail coverts.  I so wish I'd brought my doubler and tripod. Brown Booby Brown Booby

Tricolored Heron Yesterday I drove out to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  I visited three areas: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Canaveral National Seashore, and East/West Gator Creek.  When I arrived on the island and drove toward Blackpoint Dr, I saw a man pulled over looking into the trees.  I decided to look at what he found, and it was a Peregrine Falcon!  It was pretty far away, but I took some pictures of him perched in a tree.  The drive itself was also enjoyable. All the usual birds were there, including 2 Gadwall, many American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged Teal, and Hooded Mergansers. Most highlights were mostly in the area near the first parking area.  There was a large flock of shorebirds there made up of Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Red Knots, Long-billed Dowitchers and Short-billed Dowitchers. Peregrine Falcon Long-billed Dowitchers (for the most part) Red Knot...

Northern Gannet I returned to Lighthouse Point Park at Ponce Inlet again in the hopes of finding a Razorbill. We found one far off the jetty.  My father, who's in town for Christmas, located it in his scope, and I was able to locate it briefly with my binoculars.  It was very far away (I probably would not have been able to identify it with my binoculars), the winds were strong and the waves were high, and the Razorbill appeared to be spending a lot of time "flying" under water.  So no photos of the Razorbill, but later this week we're hoping to go to the gulf where people have been getting pretty good photos of Razorbills. Black Skimmer Black Skimmers, though, were a very different story. There were many there, and a couple were actively bathing and skimming by the shore, making me very happy.  Gulls were numerous too, though not like the last time I came came here.  We found only Herring, Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls, plus Royal and Sandwich Terns...

Sandwich Tern I went to Lighthouse Point Park at Ponce Inlet.  I was hoping to find one of the Razorbills that had been seen there recently, but no luck for me today.  It was still a pretty good morning, though.  Lots of gulls and terns were there: Sandwich, Royal and Forster's Terns, plus Ring-billed, Laughing, Herring, Great Black-backed, one Lesser Black-backed Gull and at least 100 Black Skimmers.  I found 14 Black Scoters flying off shore.  I also found about 35 Red Knots in two different flocks, and one was injured and by itself near the jetty. The injured Red Knot could not walk--it had to hop on one leg, and I don't think I could fly, so I reported it to the Seabird Rehabilitation Sanctuary, and hopefully it will be found and cared for.  There were about 17 Northern Gannet off shore, and one Magnificent Frigatebird flew over the jetty as I was walking back to the car. Black Skimmer Black Skimmer Black Skimmer Black Skimmer B...

Forster's Tern I took my daughter to the lighthouse park at Ponce Inlet for an afternoon at the beach today.  I went as a dad, not a photographer, but that didn't stop me from taking my camera with me.  There was a flock of gulls and terns there, and my daughter thought it would be fun to go see them.  So I photographed Forster's Terns, Sandwich Terns and Royal Terns.  There were also several Brown Pelicans there, and lots of Sanderlings.  But the biggest birding moment was finding three Northern Gannets. I set a goal at the beginning of the year to find 250 birds in Florida this year, and the Northern Gannet was my 250th find this year.  So that was a pretty great moment for me. Sandwich Tern Sandwich Tern Royal Tern Brown Pelican Snowy Egret Northern Gannet Osprey Sanderling