outdoor photography

Smooth-billed Ani Our family drove to Boynton Beach yesterday for a wedding this morning, so I took a couple hours and went to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. What a wonderful place! I'd been here once before 3 years ago.  My main target was a pair of Smooth-billed Ani that have been seen here for over a month.  They didn't take too long to find.  They're such a pretty bird. Snail Kite Other highlights from the morning were my first of the year Snail Kite.  It looked like there was a family of 4 near the entrance, and my first ever Ruddy Daggerwing Butterfly.  Here's my eBird checklist for the morning. Ruddy Daggerwing Okay, I can't resist. Here are some more photos of the Smooth-billed Ani. Even though the bird was farther away with these photos, I just like the green background better. Smooth-billed Ani Smooth-billed Ani

Red-cockaded Woodpecker This year I decided to try my hand at a little competition, called a 12 day big year.  You pick one day per month for 2014 and count as many species that you can find within those 12 days within the State of Florida.  I decided to join January 30th, giving me one day to get my January totals in, and it rained that day.  Then in February, I picked a day when I needed to be home by a little after lunch.  So I began the year woefully behind the leaders.  Not that it would matter much, since even on my best days I can't do a lot of traveling, and there are some very experienced birders in the competition. I'm not really in it to win it; it's just a fun little competition to participate in. I enjoy the atmosphere of friendly competition embodied by the competition. But yesterday was a pretty great day.  I totaled 103 species on the day and added 27 to my total for the year, giving me 131 so far.  I started out at Three Lakes Wild...

Snail Kite Snail Kites don't frequently come into Orange County, but with all the rain we've been having, I guess water levels are high, and this one decided to look for a better place to find Apple Snails.  What a beautiful bird!  I watched this one for almost an hour.  It spent a lot of time just perched, but then it did put on a show for a little while, collecting snails and then eating them right in front of me. Based on the yellow legs and thin-looking bill, I think this is a first year bird. Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite

Snail Kite All these Snail Kite photos were taken at E. Lake Toho, my favorite place to find them.  The top four photos are males.  The last three are either immatures or adult females.  I'm not certain which, but the tail band makes me lean toward adult female. Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite

Long-billed Curlew It's always fun when you get two lifers in two days. Yesterday a Lincoln's Sparrow  and this morning a Long-billed Curlew.  I drove down to the Joe Overstreet Landing and had a great time there.  The Curlew was very cooperative and easily found.  It was hanging out with numerous Wilson's Snipe. Then I found a Crested Caracara perched on a fence post, and it took off when I was focused on it, so I had sharp photos.  Eastern Meadowlarks were very vocal on the drive into the landing, and I love hearing their calls. Occasionally one would pose on the fence for me.  And on a sad but fascinating note, I found a couple Turkey Vultures that were working on a Raccoon carcass by the road. Long-billed Curlew Wilson's Snipe Crested Caracara Crested Caracara Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlark (I normally don't photograph birds with with lighting like this, but this one had such an iconic pose, I had to try it) Tur...

Limpkin Yesterday at E. Lake Tohopekaliga, I saw four Snail Kites , but there were several other birds worth some attention.  The Limpkins were out in force, and there were several Green Herons out and a about, as well as Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons and Great Egrets. It was also nice to see two Wilson's Snipe and two Lesser Yellowlegs, and even some Purple Martins. I also saw a White-winged Dove fly by, which I was kind of excited about.  There were also lots of rabbits out and about. Green Heron Wilson's Snipe Rabbit Red-winged Blackbird Here's a list of the species I saw yesterday morning: Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) 1 Mallard (Domestic type) 1 Mallard x Mottled Duck (hybrid) 3 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Egret 2 Little Blue Heron 1 Cattle Egret 4 Green Heron 4 White Ibis 15 Turkey Vulture X Black Vulture X Osprey 2 Snail Kite 4 Common Gallinule X American Coot X Limpkin 15 Sandhill Crane 12 Lesse...

Snail Kite This morning I had an appointment in Osceola County, so I decided to go early down to East Lake Tohopekaliga to see if I could find any Snail Kites.  I stopped near Crabby Bills and walked along the south side of the lake. I got there around 8:15am and saw none for a while, but just before 9am, I saw four that "congregated" high above my head.  After about a minute or so, one of them flew west and the the other three headed east.  I followed the three toward the east, and one of them flew by me relatively close a couple times. It's hard to know for sure, but I think I have photos of at least three of the four that I saw. Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite

Snail Kite Today we went down to Osceola County in search of Snail Kites.  We first went to the bridge on Neptune Rd at Lake Tohopekaliga, where we found several Northern Harrier, but no Snail Kites.  We then went to East Lake Tohopekaliga and hit the jackpot.  We saw three in the distance at the corner of East Lakeshore Blvd and Brown Chapel Rd, and then we went to the Hamilton Disston Park on the south side of the lake and saw two more, and these were somewhat closer to us, so our photographs were more presentable.  Here they are.  These are the first Snail Kites I've ever seen, so this is a good day. Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite Snail Kite