outdoor photography

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...

Red-shouldered Hawk We had a pretty good morning at Orlando Wetlands Park. We didn't see anything terribly unusual, but there were some fun photographic moments.  Well, not so fun for rabbits.  One of the first sights we saw was a Red-shouldered Hawk with a rabbit (perhaps a Marsh Hare).  We also saw several Purple Gallinules, and one was pretty close, allowing me to get some photos.  On the way back, we saw a Sora and a Sandhill Crane fledgling walking with his parents near by. Purple Gallinule Sora Sandhill Crane Little Blue Heron

White-crowned Sparrow I was traveling up to Alabama this morning, and so I left early to see what I could find at Payne's Prairie.  I walked the La Chua Trail; it was somewhat breezy out, so I suspect many sparrows were hiding, but I did get to find eight sparrow species: Field Sparrow (my first in Florida), White-crowned Sparrows (my first photos in Florida), a funny-looking Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow and several Eastern Towhee. White-crowned Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Chipping Sparrow This Song Sparrow looks odd to me Swamp Sparrow It was also fun to find several Sora and an American Bittern, an American Kestrel and a couple White-tailed Deer. I missed seeing the female Vermilion Flycatcher, the Groove-billed Ani, and the Fox Sparrow that has been seen nearby. American Bittern Sora American Kestrel White-tailed Deer

Merritt Island NWR This morning I went to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and I had a fantastic time.  I went to Parrish Park (just past the bridge), Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, and Canaveral National Seashore.  I brought my new Canon Powershot S100 camera with me and took the above photo with it.  I'm pretty impressed with the camera so far.  Other highlights were seeing many Belted Kingfishers, a few Reddish Egrets, lots of Yellowlegs, and both Least and Western Sandpipers.  There were many ducks and shorebirds there, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  When I stopped by the restrooms to walk the trails (near where I took the above picture), I saw a Sora and a Clapper Rail.  The Clapper Rail was not acting much like a rail.  It spent a considerable amount of time out in the open--always near cover, but in plain sight.  These are my first sharp photos of a Clapper Rail. Belted Kingfisher Reddish Egret Least Sandpiper...