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...

Pileated Woodpecker This morning Central Winds was a little slower than normal.  There were three of us here this morning, and between the three of us, we had 9 warblers: Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Prairie Warbler.  We also checked by the little pond and found several Indigo Buntings, a couple Painted Buntings and one Blue Grosbeak.  A Limpkin and Pileated Woodpecker posed for photos, but other than that it was pretty slow. Limpkin Blue Grosbeak

Eastern Kingbird the first I've seen in the park Today I joined the Orange Audubon Society's bird walk for Mead Gardens.  Normally this time of year, the park is just hopping with migrants.  I checked the eBird reports from last year at this time, and there were some really nice sightings in the park.  However, this fall has been extremely slow, so I've only visited a couple times.  I hoped for some surprises this morning, but I think this was the slowest September day at Mead that I can remember.  We had five species of warbler: Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Prairie Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Northern Parula.  We had a few Red-eyed Vireos to liven things up a bit, and several of us had the chance to see a couple Baltimore Orioles.  Those that stayed past 11:00 am were rewarded with nice views of three Eastern Kingbirds.  Those were the first I've seen in the park, so that's something.  There were still the normal ...

Chestnut-sided Warbler I had a great morning at Central Winds. It's always fun to find a Chestnut-sided Warbler, but I ended up with eleven warblers. I got out of my car and had 6 warbler species in the same tree right next to my car, including two early Palm Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-throated Warbler.  The earliest I've seen a fall Palm Warbler at Central Winds is on September 24 in 2012, so these two are pretty early. A walk around the park yielded 5 more species before I left around 9am.  I found several Ovenbirds, a Prothonotary Warbler, a couple Chestnut-sided Warblers, a Pine Warbler, and a few Prairie Warblers. Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker I went to lunch with some friends today at Tijuana Flats.  As I was walking back to my car, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on a tree near my car.  Amazingly, it let me walk to my car, get my camera, and get back into position to photograph the bird.  I just couldn't believe how cooperative the bird was being.  Then as an added bonus, once I looked at my photos I was able to see the ants it was eating.  These are by far my best moments with a Pileated Woodpecker, and it came about just by a little serendipidy. Pileated Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker

Louisiana Waterthrush This morning I dropped by Spring Hammock Preserve just east of Lake Jesup.  There's a path that follows a stream there, and I thought the stream might be good for finding waterthrushes.  I ended up finding three Louisiana Waterthrushes along the north side of the trail and a fourth on the south side of the trail.  Since I found the fourth on my way back, it's possible that one of the ones I found on my way out just flew across the trail, but I think I found four in all.  Other warblers that were there were many singing Northern Parula, one Ovenbird, one Common Yellowthroat, and many Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  The photos here are a little grainy since the waterthrush was in the shade, and I had to raise my ISO to 3200 to get a shutterspeed of 1/125 sec. Louisiana Waterthrush It was also fun to find a Pileated Woodpecker working on a tree not far from the trail.  I got this shot off before it saw me and flew away (unfort...

Tufted Titmouse This morning I was going to do some work in Oviedo, so I thought I'd drop by Geneva Wilderness Area before work.  I had noticed that birding data between July and October is pretty much non existent during this time, and I wanted to get a sense for what may be found there.  I wasn't expecting much, figuring that Geneva might not be visited too much during this time for a reason. Brown-headed Nuthatch Initially things were slow, seeing only White-eyed Vireos and Eastern Bluebirds.  But when I arrived at the chapel and ponds area, things began to change.  I was hoping to find shorebirds or something interesting by the shores of the ponds, but they were empty except for a few Wood Ducks.  However, I began to hear activity all around me, mostly coming from Tufted Titmice and then from Brown-headed Nuthatches.  It seemed like the titmice and nuthatches worked up all the other birds in the area into a frenzy, and birds were everywhere. ...

Pileated Woodpecker This morning before work I went to Central Winds again, and I had another pretty fun hour.  I counted 8 warbler species: Yellow, Yellow-throated, Prairie, Northern Parula, Northern Waterthrush, American Redstart, Ovenbird, and my first Tennessee Warbler.  We actually found 2 Tennessee Warblers this morning, and I photographed them, though lighting conditions weren't great and the photos show it. They've been seen several times over the past few days, so maybe on my next visit they'll be more cooperative. I normally wouldn't show these photos, but since these are my first Tennessee Warblers, I figured I'd show them anyway.  A Pileated Woodpecker came out and posed for a picture, though, and that was very nice. Tennessee Warbler Tennessee Warbler Tennessee Warbler

Least Bttern This morning I went to Orlando Wetlands Park again and had a pretty good morning.  The biggest highlight was seeing 10 Least Bitterns in the park--that's easily a record for me.  I think my previous record was 6. Some of them were obviously paired, which was also fun to see. Least  Bittern Several Barn Swallows were out, and they are extremely difficult to photograph.  But about four of them decided to perch and pose for us. Barn Swallow Several Snowy Egrets were out fishing, and I suppose we could have watched them do so all day.  I love watching them fly low over the water and pick up fish of the surface mid-flight. Snowy Egret Snowy Egret A Crested Caracara was perched where I'd never seen one before.  I normally see them on the Birding Loop, but this one was northwest of it. Crested Caracara I think that Little Blue Herons are most interesting when they are in the process of getting their adult plumage.  ...

Pileated Woodpecker, Merritt Island  When I was a kid, I loved to go hiking, and even though I wouldn't call myself a birder then, I still loved to see interesting birds.  Because my dad is a birder, I actually learned the call of a Pileated Woodpecker long before I ever saw one.  I still remember vividly my first time seeing one in person.  Our family was camping at Bull Run Park in Virginia; I remember telling my parents I was going to go find a Pileated Woodpecker.  And sure enough, as I was walking, maybe 30 min. later, one flew right by me, landed on a tree trunk for a second, and flew off.  I was mesmerized.  Since I announced I was going to find one ahead of time, it took a while before I convinced my family I actually saw one.  Now seeing a Pileated Woodpecker is commonplace for me.  I see them very frequently here in Florida.  But something about seeing one brings up those childhood memories. Pileated Woodpecker, Orlando...