outdoor photography

Neotropic Cormorant Jan 2, 2016 On New Year's Day our family drove down to Palm Beach County to visit my brother-in-law.  The following morning I decided to visit Wakodahatchee Wetlands. It's a wonderful place with a beautifully maintained board walk that takes you through the wetlands.  My primary hope was to see the Neotropic Cormorant that has been hanging out here.  It took a while, but eventually it showed itself--a nice, bright white line surrounding its gular pouch. My father and I also visited the park on Dec. 27th, so I thought I'd share photos from both of my visits.  My December visit was the first day I'd seen a Neotropic Cormorant in the U.S. Neotropic Cormorant December 27, 2015 I also saw another cormorant that looks like it might be a hybrid Neotropic x Double-crested Cormorant, but I'm no expert on these things.  It seems to have the white outline to the yellow gular pouch, but it's more faint than it should be. Neotropic x Doub...

Purple Swamphen I spent the night last night in Boynton Beach, and I left for home early this morning. However, I just had to check out Wakodatchee Wetlands, so I left about an hour early to drop by the park.  My target bird was Purple Swamphen, and it did not take too long to find them.  Purple Swamphens are not native to the U.S.  They are an Eurasian bird that has become established in South Florida since some escaped into the wild back in the 1990's.  At least one has been reported in Brevard County, but most remain farther south.  These birds are now considered countable by the ABA as of 2013. Purple Swamphen Aside from that, I was impressed with the wetlands.  It's truly beautiful, and I loved the boardwalk much more than a wildlife drive.  There were many herons, egrets, cormorants and anhingas breeding within the wetlands, but the highlights for me were a Cattle Egret striking a nice pose and an adult Tricolored Heron feeding a...

Tricolored Heron On Monday I went to Marl Bed Flats in an effort to score some last minute birds for my June Challenge. A friend of mine had seen a Bobolink there, so I wanted to find that, but I also was hoping a couple new shorebirds might have flown into the area.  My favorite photo from this last ditch effort is the one above, a pretty, young Tricolored Heron out at the shore of Lake Jesup.  But I also wanted to try an app from Google called My Tracks.  It's a simple GPS tracking software. You press "Record" at the beginning of your trip and "Stop" at the end.  Then it gives you a map of where you went and some some nice stats about your journey. On this particular trip I walked 2.69 miles over 2 hours and 25 minutes and burned 485 calories. While you're walking you can put down markers for things that interest you, like a Boboloink or Tricolored Heron (though I didn't notice this feature until today).  After you're done, you can sync your tr...

Tricolored Heron I found all the normal wading birds and shorebirds on Bio Lab Rd today.  Wading bird highlights were the normal herons and egrets, both ibises, and Roseate Spoonbills. We also had a fair share of Stilt Sandpipers, both Dowitchers, both Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers, and Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Roseate Spoonbills Stilt Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs with Larvae of Horse Fly (I think) I also found a small flock of shorebirds with dowitchers, yellowlegs and an interesting shorebird.  It's a Wilson's Phalarope!  It in the rear with a very thin needle-like bill, white throat, white rump, and pale lores. Dowitchers, Yellowlegs, Wilson's Phalarope Dowitchers, Yellowlegs, Wilson's Phalarope

Tricolored Heron You gotta love the way wading birds can contort their bodies to preen.  Every once in a while, the poses they strike just strike me as fun and amazing.  This Tricolored Heron decided to put on a preening show on Saturday when I was at Merritt Island. Pretty fun. Tricolored Heron There, now he's all settled again. Tricolored Heron Time to get back to work. Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron Yesterday I drove out to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  I visited three areas: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Canaveral National Seashore, and East/West Gator Creek.  When I arrived on the island and drove toward Blackpoint Dr, I saw a man pulled over looking into the trees.  I decided to look at what he found, and it was a Peregrine Falcon!  It was pretty far away, but I took some pictures of him perched in a tree.  The drive itself was also enjoyable. All the usual birds were there, including 2 Gadwall, many American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged Teal, and Hooded Mergansers. Most highlights were mostly in the area near the first parking area.  There was a large flock of shorebirds there made up of Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Red Knots, Long-billed Dowitchers and Short-billed Dowitchers. Peregrine Falcon Long-billed Dowitchers (for the most part) Red Knot...

Tricolored Heron Mead Gardens was pretty slow this morning--that is, unless you were hoping to see some grackles.  The place was overrun with Common Grackles.  I'm guessing at least 100 of them were there.  You could also find a Belted Kingfisher, several Eastern Phoebes, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers and other regulars.  Photographically, my best moment was finding a Tricolored Heron in my favorite little corner of the park.  Right near the concrete bridge, there are some submerged branches that wading birds and turtles often use.  The lighting can often be pretty nice here, and I love finding animals perched on these branches.  This morning a Tricolored Heron was there looking awful nice.  The lake level must he high, and fewer of the branches were exposed, but this heron flew to three of the exposed branches in search of food. Tricolored Heron Tricolored Heron Tricolored Heron Oh, and there was a Palm Warbler that posed nic...

Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR When I was living in Maryland, I mostly photographed landscapes and floralscapes (if I can coin a word), and wildlife photography was a occasional venture. The change in my habits came partly through the acquisition of a long telephoto lens, but also through seeing the wonderful wildlife here in Florida.  The Tricolored Heron was perhaps the first bird I found here that I didn't already know from Maryland. Soon after seeing one, I just had to find them more in what is now a perennial quest for the perfect Tricolored Heron photo. Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR Tricolored Heron Orlando Wetlands Park Tricolored Heron Mead Gardens Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR A Youthful Tricolored Heron Orlando Wetlands Park Tricolored Heron Merritt Island NWR

Tricolored Heron It's been interesting to witness the changes in what I've been seeing at Central Winds. Some species are disappearing from the park, like Yellow and Prothonotary Warblers, but this morning I had my first Blackpoll Warbler of the fall, and I also found a Marsh Wren at the shore of Lake Jesup. I found seven other warblers there: Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and a Yellow-throated Warbler. Marsh Wren Anhinga