outdoor photography

Red-footed Cannibalfly Late last week I drove out to Marl Bed Flats. It has historically been my favorite place to look for shorebirds, but it has all but dried up, and the shorebirds are all gone.  I was hoping with all the rain we've had recently that things might change, so I gave it another shot.  Still no shorebirds.  The highlight of the morning was a flyover Eastern Kingbird--it didn't even have the decency to land in the park for a photo. Spicebush Swallowtail So I turned my attention to butterflies and other insects.  If I were more devoted to butterflies, I suspect I would see far more than I do. I see lots of them but I'm usually too tired and sweaty to give them much attention.  I photographed three butterfly species and one robberfly. I also learned something new about checkered-skippers.  I've seen Common/White Checkered-Skippers before (the two species are essentially identical), but I also saw a Tropical Checkered-Skipper.  Yo...

Downy Woodpecker A couple weeks ago I visited the Jones East trailhead of the Little Big Econ State Forest. My intention was to confirm the breeding of Bachman's Sparrows in on area of the park where I'd seen them before and then head north to the Econ River and look for Night-Herons, Prothonotary Warblers, and other birds that may be breeding by the river. I struck out on all counts. The Bachman's Sparrows appear to be gone, and I found no interesting birds by the river. Red-footed Cannibalfly So I photographed some bugs. I finally have photos of a robber fly, in this case, a Red-footed Cannibalfly. They're pretty amazing creatures. Then I photographed a Halloween Pennant. They're one of my favorites. dragonflies. Halloween Pennant Here's my eBird checklist , and here's a map of my walk.

Black-necked Stilt Yesterday I made the long trek out to the St. John's River at Puzzle Lake from Brumley Rd.  I'm always impressed with place when I go. I was hoping for returning shorebirds, and I didn't get anything new for the year, but it was nice to see returning Greater Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers, hopefully as a sign of other species to come over the next few weeks.  Killdeer and Black-necked Stilts are stilt there, of course, and it was exciting to see some little chicks running about. Black-necked Stilt Least Sandpiper (one of about 10 I saw)   I added four new birds to the eBird hotspot: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Wood Duck, Swallow-tailed Kite and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and I added Ruby-throated Hummingbird to my own list for the hotspot. In all I saw 47 species--here's my eBird checklist . Red-shouldered Hawk (immature) It was also fun to see this Sabatia flower, which I'm pretty sure is a Large Flower Sabatia. I've phot...