outdoor photography

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...

Wilson's Plover Since I moved to Florida and became interested in birding, I've wanted to get good photos of all the little plovers that show up in Florida on a regular basis.  I found most of these plovers without much trouble, but Snowy Plovers have eluded me.  They've been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me, until the end of May.  I visited Siesta Beach in Sarasota, and one was very happy to be out on the beach with all the other sunbathers. So now I can write a post I've been wanting to write for years--a survey of Florida's little plovers. We have four of them, and they aren't too terribly difficult to tell apart, but I'll also share a few ID tips for those that may be new to finding Plovers. I couldn't decide whether I should organize them by the the order I found them or the overall lightness of their plumage, but then I realized that it's the same. I found them in the order of darkest to lightest. Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Plo...

Semipalmated Plover Yesterday morning I visited Marl Bed Flats again.  I'm pretty amazed at how good this place has been in May.  It's given me several Seminole County firsts, including a Short-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and now a Semipalmated Plover. Black-necked Stilts are still here, though in much smaller numbers; now only about 4 remain (out of over 40 in April). I've seen 12 species of shorebirds here over the last week--I'm not sure what it is about this inland location that's attractive to them, but I'm not complaining. Greater Yellowlegs Black-necked Stilt And strangely enough there's also at least one Savannah Sparrow still here.  It's three weeks late in leaving us. As best I can tell it's healthy, so it's really puzzling to me. Maybe it wants to stay for the June Challenge, but I suspect that's too much to hope for. Savannah Sparrow

Sandwich Tern I've lived in Florida for over 2 years, and I've never walked the seashore on Merritt Island to photograph birds and wildlife.  But today I broke my normal routine and decided to give it a try, and I couldn't be happier.  Photographically speaking, I think I had one of my best days on the island.  In the parking lot, I found two Eastern Kingbirds, and then shortly after walking onto the beach, I found a Piping Plover , which I wrote about in my last post .  But I also found many other terns and shorebirds there.  I also found a couple Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings, Royal Terns, Forster's Terns, Black Terns, a couple Common Terns and a Sandwich Tern. Black Tern Black Tern Royal Terns (the immature one is begging for food, but mom will hear none of it) The beach wasn't crowded, the birds weren't very afraid of me, and the lighting was pretty good.  This made it easier for me to crouch down and ge...

Black-necked Stilt This morning I went to Merritt Island, and I had a pretty good morning.  We saw next to nothing at the Max Brewer Causeway, but from there we went to East Gator Creek and things started to pick up.   It was nice to see a Least Tern, and I never tire of photographing Black-necked Stilts and Reddish Egrets. Black-necked Stilts Reddish Egrets Least Tern From there we went to Blackpoint Drive.  Easily the biggest highlight of the morning was seeing three Common Nighthawks chasing each other.  They were so fast, and we were in a car unable to follow them as they flew, so I have blurry photos of them up close, and relatively sharp images of them far away.  There were many Black-necked Stilts at their nests, and one Reddish Egret came a little too close to one, causing the stilts to jump into action to defend their nest--it was pretty fun to watch.  It was also nice to see a Semipalmated Plover up close walking on Blackpoint Dr...