outdoor photography

Purple Sandpiper Two of my aunts and uncles are in town staying with my parents, and so we all decided to go to the beach for a couple hours this morning.  It was pretty fun hanging out with my daughter and extended family, and of course, I kept an eye on the birds.  I didn't see much that was unusual, though I did see about 30 Barn Swallows flying in from the ocean--nice to see them returning.  The biggest highlight, though, was seeing a Purple Sandpiper at the jetty.  At least one seems to turn up here every winter, so I always hope to see one when I visit.  This morning I was not disappointed.  These are by far my best photos of this beautiful little bird. Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone Yesterday morning I took my daughter and my parents to Ponce Inlet for some fun at the beach. Since I was primarily being a dad, I didn't do much birding, but I did bring my camera and I did scan the horizon some to see what may be flying by.  I was hoping to get lucky and start my year with some gannets, scoters, and other fun birds, but all I found was a few Northern Gannet.  But I sill had fun walking the beach with my daughter photographing the birds near shore. Sandwich and Royal Terns Ring-billed Gull Brown Pelican Royal Tern At one point my daughter and I walked out onto the jetty, and I kept my eye out for a Purple Sandpiper. I didn't find one, but I did find two more birds, this time two Royal Terns, with fishing line dangling from them. In the photo below, it looks like the fishing line is actually attached to the fish in is mouth, but the the other one was hooked near the belly. That makes four birds in the last two visits. ...

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...

Purple Sandpiper This morning I drove out to Lighthouse Point Park at Ponce Inlet, FL.  I went looking for a Purple Sandpiper that had been seen there yesterday.  I had never been there before, and upon seeing all the rocks on the beach, I began to think that it would take forever to find.  Well, I decided first to walk out on the jetty, and there it was--couldn't have been easier to find.  I photographed it for 5-10 minutes before it flew off down the jetty in front of a bunch of fishermen and I began to look for other things. Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper