outdoor photography

Northern Waterthrush I had a pretty good time at Central Winds this morning. I'd seen an Acadian Flycatcher there yesterday, though there was enough yellow on it that I thought it might have been an early Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. My recording of its calls was pretty terrible, but I still think it's an Acadian.  I returned to where I'd seen it yesterday in the hopes of getting a better recording, but I did not see or hear it. So I turned my attention to warblers.  There were at least 9 species in the park: Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush,  Worm-Eating, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black and White, Yellow, Yellow-throated, and Prairie.  I also thought I heard a Prothonotary Warbler, but I never saw it.  I also found an Eastern Kingbird--my first in Seminole County for the year, and the first I've ever found at Central Winds Park. Here's a picture of the Acadian Flycatcher I found yesterday. Acadian Flycatcher Also last week (August 29th) I found...

Red-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireos are returning to Central Florida as migration is heating up.  To commemorate the event, I thought I'd share a few photos.  I love the sound track they often add to my forest wanderings. Red-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo This morning Mead Gardens was somewhat slow, but this Red-eyed Vireo flew in the tree in front of me.  These are some of my better Red-eyed Vireo photos. Red-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo

Northern Waterthrush Well I've been away from blogging for a while, but not away from birding.  I've been visiting Mead Gardens frequently as migrants have been trickling in.  The birds are teasing me right now--there aren't high numbers of species, but it's fun to see what I can.  I've been dead set on photographing both waterthrushes this fall.  As of today, I have photographs of both, but I'm only really happy with the Northern Waterthrush above.  The Louisiana Waterthrush below is my first photograph of the species, but I hope that it gives me a chance for a better shot. Louisiana Waterthrush If you're not familiar with waterthrushes, these warblers can be very difficult to tell apart, even for very experienced birders.  The Northern Waterthrush has some streaking on the throat and often a yellowish color on the belly.  The Louisiana has a bolder white stripe above the eye that is thick behind the eye with no yellow on the belly (though w...

Swallow-tailed Kite After spending a little bit of time at Mead Gardens, I decided to go up to Lake Lotus Park.  Easily my favorite moment was seeing two Swallow-tailed Kites.  At first I saw them in the distance, but then they flew low over the trees, and at times they were so close I couldn't fit one in the frame. Swallow-tailed Kite I also saw a Red-tailed Hawk Fledgling.  It was branching on a tree near the "octagon" on the boardwalk with an adult nearby. Red-shouldered Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk I also found my first Red-eyed Vireo of the year.  Two of them were in the park singing up a storm.  Often it takes me forever to locate these birds when I hear them, but these were actually pretty easy to find. Red-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo