outdoor photography

Spotted Sandpipers on a Stroll Together Yesterday morning I got up early and made it to the end of Brumley Rd at the ungodly hour of 6am. It was still dark out, and I was not looking forward to the 3 mile walk out to the St. Johns River, but it just had to be done, and I had to leave this early if I wanted to be back in time for work.  I walked 8 miles and took a slightly different route than I've done in the past. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off My Maps when I got in my car, so the map below also shows me driving down Brumley Rd for a little ways: There have been so many good shorebirds seen at Lake Apopka over the last week or so that I was hoping they would share some of their wealth with me at what may be the best shorebird spot in Seminole county (it's only competition is Marl Bed Flats, but that appears to be dried up at the moment). Black-necked Stilt Alarm Call My morning wouldn't have competed with Lake Apopka, but it was still an enjoyable morni...

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...

Spotted Sandpiper There have been a couple Spotted Sandpipers at Central Winds Park this Spring.  Until this year, I've only seen this species in Brevard and Orange Counties.  It's been nice to see them in my home county on a regular basis.  The one above was taken at Central Winds; one below was taken near Cocoa Beach in the winter time, so he's not showing off his spots. Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper On the way home today I dropped by Central Winds Park.  I didn't see a lot there, but it was fun to see a Spotted Sandpiper in the little pond by the lake.  I had seen one flying low over the lake about a month ago, and this may be the same one.  I don't often see Spotted Sandpipers here in Seminole County, so I thought I'd share a couple photos. Spotted Sandpiper

Yellow-crowned Night Heron On Saturday I went to Merritt Island, and I already shared my experiences at CNS  in a previous post , but here I'd like share some of what I'd seen elsewhere on the island.  When I arrived, I first went Pumphouse Rd, which is often my first destination on the island.  Easily my favorite moment here was seeing a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  I had only photographed them as adults before, so I'm glad to add this to my collection.  Many shorebirds were here, including American Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, a Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Semipalmated Plovers and one Wilson's Plover.  Lauging Gulls, Forsters and Royal Terns, and Black Skimmers were also there. Least Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Tricolored Heron After visiting CNS, I drove up BioLab Rd. Shortly after turning onto the road, the weather began to turn sour.  Eventually I was engulfed in a thunderstorm....