outdoor photography

Wilson's Phalarope Biolab Rd It used to be that when I went to Merritt Island NWR, my sole destination was Blackpoint Wildlife Dr. Of course, that is by far the most popular part of the refuge, especially for visitors from out of town.  But the refuge actually has many wonderful locations for birding, hiking and otherwise enjoying nature.  Some are wildlife drives, and some allow you to get out of your car and walk a bit. I thought it would be good to offer a brief summary of the best locations on the refuge. You can consult my field reports as well for more information. Many of those that visit the refuge frequently know every nook and cranny of it, but there are about 9 locations on the refuge that are relatively easy to find with excellent birding opportunities. The above map is turned sidewise--north is to the left.  But you can see I-95 and the Max Brewer bridge over the inter-coastal waterway on SR-406 that takes you on to the refuge. Saltmarsh Sparro...

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Stolen by pet.com.pk More and more I'm finding that my images are being stolen and published throughout the internet. I'm no expert at finding my stolen images, and I don't check for them very often, but I figured I share the little I know, and if any you have any tricks up your sleeve for how to deal with this, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. I'm always trying to learn more. Finding Images The best way I know of to find stolen images is to use Google Image Search .  You can just drag one of your images onto the page and it will show you where your picture has been published on the internet. I've found several stolen images this way. Contacting the Site Owner Sometimes all it takes is a nice but firm email to the site owner to get your images removed. About a year ago I found one of my images on NOAA's website.  They had made a presentation promoting a wildlife refuge, and they used one of my images of a Reddi...

Reddish Egret I told myself when I arrived at Fort De Soto that I wasn't going to do it. When I realized I'd forgotten to charge my camera batteries, and I had one battery dead and another one blinking "I'm going to die soon," I strengthened my resolve not to do it.   But I did. I photographed a Reddish Egret.  It was begging me, honestly. It was standing in pretty water in pretty light, and I tried walking by, I really did.  But it must have used it's jedi mind trick on me--"this is the bird you're looking for."  I knelt down, turned on my camera fired off about 10 shots, turned my camera back off to save my battery, and walked away. It seems like there's always a couple of these beautiful herons at North Beach. You're pretty likely to see both the light and dark morphs, and I have a billion photographs of them, along with other photos taken on my coast. I didn't need this photo at all, but I confess I kinda like it.  ...

Reddish Egret Last week my wife decided it might be fun to go to the beach on the Gulf coast (calmer waves), and she asked me if there was a good place there go visit.  Fort De Soto, of course!  So yesterday we spent the day there. My father and I got there early to do some birding and photography, and we were not disappointed. We found many terns and wading birds, including 2 Common Terns and a Black Tern, but shorebirds the most fun finds.  It's great to see them returning. Between the east beach turnaround and north beach we found 12 species of shorebirds, and most of them were pretty cooperative. Semipalmated Plover Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Willet Short-billed Dowitcher East Beach was filled with Least Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Semipalmated Plovers. There was also one Western Sandpiper there. Willets were everywhere. Spotted Sandpiper Marbled Godwit Piping Plover Wilson's Plover North Beach is great...

Reddish Egret with American Avocets I had a pretty fun time at Merritt Island this morning. I saw a Horned Grebe at the causeway and then went to Blackpoint Dr.  There was a significant number of shorebirds there: lots of American Avocets, Dunlin and Least Sandpipers, quite a few Black-bellied Plovers, and a few distant dowitchers and Red Knots. There were far fewer species of ducks than is normal this time of year: Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, and four Red-breasted Mergansers. Black-bellied Plover On the south side of the main road (west of the turnoff to Blackpoint Dr), there was a large number of wading birds, shorebirds and pelicans.  At one point, a group of them flew, containing the most interesting species in the group.  If I've counted right, this photo shows 11 Marbled Godwits, 5 American Avocets, 3 Dunlin and 1 Willet, though there were more of each species in the water. American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Dunlin The v...

Willet Canaveral National Seashore Merritt Island is finally open again after the government shut down.  I took the opportunity to go to Oak Hammock area this morning. I've never been there before, and I was told that there may be mosquitoes there, but I did not expect to be swarmed by them.  I will not go there again without bug spray.  I was there for 20 minutes and only found an Ovenbird and Swainson's Thrush, but I spent most of my time swatting mosquitoes.  I cut my losses and went to Blackpoint Drive.  That was pretty slow too.  Water levels were high, and there were few shorebirds.  It was nice to see Pied-billed Grebes returning as well as a Savannah Sparrow.  Then I decided then to go to the Canaveral National Seashore.  I wanted to drive up Bio Lab Rd if it was open.  It was open, but I decided I didn't have enough time to drive it slow enough to make it worth my while.  I drove about a quarter mile up the road and tu...

Reddish Egret On Saturday, after visiting a couple Tropical Kingbirds in Sarasota, FL, we went over to North Lido Beach Park, just to see what we might find.  A Reddish Egret was there, and since this is one of my favorite birds, I figured this bird deserves its own post. This one was feeding by the shore, and gave a couple nice poses. When doing its characteristic "canopy feeding", for some reason it always turned away from me, so I missed out on those shots. But I liked the way it posed in these shots too. Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret Reddish Egrets are one of my favorite birds. There was one feeding on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive this past Saturday.  He put on quite a show.  The best thing about watching these birds is their "canopy feeding."  They dart around like they're crazy, and then they lift their wings over their heads and jab their bills in the water to catch prey.  They spread their wings to create shadows, allowing them to better see the fish.  I like this a lot because it gives them beautiful poses for photos.  I watched him do this for about 15 minutes or so on Saturday, to the delight of my shutter. Reddish Egret Reddish Egret Reddish Egret Reddish Egret Reddish Egret Reddish Egret Reddish Egret

Black-legged Kittiwake I had plans to find a Seaside Sparrow this morning, but those were foiled by the weather.  The morning was foggy, rainy, and windy where I was going to look.  So I had a last minute change of plans.  I drove down to the Skyway Fishing Pier and found the Black-legged Kittiwake that has been seen there--a lifer for me. Black-legged Kittiwake Then I went to Fort De Soto, which is only about 25 minutes away.  I love this place.  On the way I saw a Nanday Parakeet, and once in the park, it was fun to see a mixed flock of gulls and shorebirds, and also this Red-breasted Merganser. Also seen here were Royal, Forster's and Sandwich Terns, a couple American Oystercatchers, and many Willets and Marbled Godwits. Red-breasted Merganser Marbled Godwit Willet Forster's Tern American Oystercatcher Then I found a Long-billed Curlew actively feeding on crabs. I think I remember reading that one was seen here, but I'd forgotten...