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...

Black & White Warbler Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through.  There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted). Yellow Warbler Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5.  But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago.  One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally. Black & White Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have bee...

Eastern Kingbird I spent this morning at Merritt Island NWR.  I first went to Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, and that was pretty fun. The biggest highlights were seeing several American Avocets in breeding plumage and my first Eastern Kingbird of the year.  The Eastern Kingbird was right near the restrooms, where I seem to find them every year. American Avocet At one of the stops there was a large mixed flock of wading birds and shorebirds (where I saw the avocets).  Photographically, this was the best part of my morning. At one point, a Peregrine Falcon dove in to attack, I suspect one of the many shorebirds, but pulled out of his dive. I was only able to get a photo after it decided to fly away.  Man, those birds fly fast! Snowy Egret White Ibis Lesser Yellowlegs Roseate Spoonbill Great Egret Peregrine Falcon After Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, I drove down Biolab Road and East/West Gator Creek.  The only significant find...

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...

American Bittern This morning I decided to drive down to Viera Wetlands.  When I arrived it was very foggy.  I was somewhat disappointed, since I couldn't photograph anything any distance away without losing detail.  So of course, this is is when the Peregrine Falcon decided to appear.  I found it perched on one of the dead trees.  It was not that far away, and on a clear morning, I think it would have given me some very nice photos, but this morning, I had to shoot through through the fog.  There were many other nice things to find here, though.  A Common Yellowthroat was very cooperative, as was an American Bittern.  Later on I found a Raccoon near the edge of the water.  After making my first pass around the wetlands, the fog had pretty much cleared, so I decided to make another pass and hope that the falcon was still around.  It was not.  But, while looking for it, I saw a flash of blue-gray and another flash of brown. ...

Red-breasted Nuthatch After spending a couple hours looking for but not finding the Red-breasted Nuthatches that were found on Merritt Island yesterday, I decided to return today for a little bit to see if I could find them.  I arrived in the area to find several of my birder friends parked on the opposite side of the road from where I was looking yesterday.  They had already found one of the nuthatches, so I was able to just show up and enjoy.  In my excitement and haste, though, I forgot to check my exposure settings on my camera, and I ended up underexposing my best shots of the bird.  I performed a little Lightroom touch up work, though, and I was able to salvage something resembling a photograph. And I had an added bonus today--as I was getting ready to leave I found a Peregrine Falcon circling high over me.  I took a bunch of photos, but the falcon was just going higher and higher, so all but the first few I took really amounted to a waste of digits. ...