outdoor photography

Brown-headed Nuthatch Wekiwa Springs State Park I first visited the park shortly after moving  here so our family could go swimming at the springs. At the time, I had no idea at the time that this would become one of my favorite birding locations in Orange County. Now when I visit this park, I feel like I'm seeing Central Florida as it once was, and that keeps me coming back for more. Wekiwa Springs State Park Trails and Kayaking There are over 13 miles of trails, and the western portion has some great trails for birding.  The western portion of the park has some great trails in Pine flatwoods and even some scrub habitat.  For this, I like to park at the Sand Lake parking lot and walk west and south towards the campgrounds. There are some wonderful place along these trails for some nice pine flatwood species. The eastern portion gives you access to the Wekiva River, which is one of the two “National Wild & Scenic Rivers” in Florida.  During the ...

Prothonotary Warlber This morning a friend and I kayaked the Wekiva River (with a short stint up Rock Springs Run) looking for breeding birds.  I brought my camera with me, but I didn't take a lot of photos--that's partly because of low light conditions and the fact that it poured down rain on us a couple times.  I'm so glad I didn't forget my waterproof case.  We found only one Acadian Flycatcher and three Prothonotary Warblers, along with an assortment of the kinds of birds you'd expect to find.  I also took some photos of a Florida Red-bellied Turtle. Florida Red-belly Turtle

Yellow-crowned Night Heron This afternoon after work I took a kayak down the Wekiva River for about an hour to see what I could find for my June Challenge (finding as many birds as  you can in one county during the month of June).  It was really fun to find a Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest.  I saw one adult with two chicks (the photo below shows one pretty clearly and a bump for the second. Unfortunately, these are the best looks I was able to get of the birds--a somewhat cluttered background, but these are the first I've ever seen in Seminole County, so I thought I'd share. Yellow-crowned Night Heron Other cool finds along the river were two Barred Owls and an Acadian Flycatcher, both of which were new additions to my June Challenge total.

Red-headed Woodpecker We had a pretty fun morning at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  My dad wanted to find Bachman's Sparrows, I wanted Red-headed Woodpeckers, and we both wanted to find Short-tailed Hawks.  We went home photographing two out of three.  We found two Red-headed Woodpeckers, and one landed  not too far from us and put on quite a display. Red-headed Woodpecker A couple Bachman's Sparrows showed up right nearby, which was very convenient.  One landed on a branch close to my father but far away from me, so my photos are pretty heavily cropped. Bachman's Sparrow But we also had saw some other fun birds.  In particular, a Yellow-throated Vireo and a Prairie Warbler. Yellow-throated Vireo Prairie Warbler And we didn't just find birds. Other animals were also there just waiting to be photographed.  A Zebra Swallowtail and a White-tailed Deer both made an appearance. White-tailed Deer Zebra Swallowtail

Prairie Warbler This morning I visited Wekiwa Springs State Park.  I didn't see anything terribly unusual--perhaps an Orange-crowned Warbler was the nicest find (most have left us).  The photo above is really the only presentable photo I took this morning.  The background is a little more cluttered than I'd like, but Prairie Warblers are so pretty, I figured was worth showing.

Wekiwa Springs SP Canon PowerShot S100 Yesterday I was at Wekiwa Springs State Park with a mission: find a Bachman's Sparrow and photograph it. Then I had other birds I wanted to find too: Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, etc.  Sometimes I get so focused on my goals, that I forget how wonderful my surroundings are.  Occasionally, though, I have a momentary lapse of focus and I notice the beauty of my surroundings even with no visible wildlife.  On one of these moments, I photographed the pines and grasses without the Red-headed Woodpecker I was looking for. Wekiwa Springs SP Canon PowerShot S100 These two photos also illustrate how changing the angle of the camera and the focal length of the lens can radically change your image.  The first image was shot looking pretty much straight into the trees at a focal length of about 57mm (35mm equivalent).  The second was angled looking up to the tree tops at a focal length of 24m.  As you c...

Bachman's Sparrow My main goal in visiting Wekiwa Springs State Park this morning was to see a Bachman's Sparrow.  So I was excited when I heard one sing (to me it sounds like it's saying "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"). And then another popped up onto a branch right at about eye level.  The lighting was nice--I didn't even need exposure compensation. In some of these photos, it looks like this sparrow has something on it's belly, and I can't tell if it's a tick or something else.  I did get one email suggesting that it's probably a soft tick that will drop off when it's taken its fill of blood. Bachman's Sparrow Bachman's Sparrow Bachman's Sparrow Bachman's Sparrow Bachman's Sparrow Other highlights were several Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Eastern Bluebirds, Carolina Chickadees. lots of Pine Warblers singing, one Red-headed Woodpecker seen from a distance, and one Brown-headed Nutha...

Brown-headed Nuthatch I went to Wekiwa Springs State Park this morning hoping to find some Pine Siskins.  I didn't find any (at least none that I could be sure of), but the morning was still fun.  I found dozens of American Goldfinches, especially in the sand hill areas with pines and taller grasses.  Also numerous were Pine Warblers and Eastern Bluebirds.  It was fun to find my first Brown-headed Nuthatches in the park (and in fact, Orange County).  I was looking more for Red-breasted Nuthatches, but these will do for now.  I walked the wet-to-dry boardwalk trail a couple times, and I found a variety of warblers I haven't seen since October: Palm, Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Pine, Black-and-white, Yellow-throated, and an American Redstart. Eastern Bluebird Pine Warbler Chipping Sparrow American Goldfinch

Bachman's Sparrow  This morning I spent a couple hours at Wekiwa State Park.  I went there a couple weeks ago in search of a Bachman's Sparrow, and while I found them there, I wasn't able to photograph them.  I was hoping to find them again, and I was not disappointed.  I found three Bachman's Sparrows and several Eastern Towhees. Bachman's Sparrow Eastern Towhee Summer Tanagers are one of my all-time favorite birds.  Last time I was here, the one I found was too far away for photographs.  But this morning I found a wonderful male that didn't seem to mind my presence one bit. Summer Tanager Summer Tanager I saw or heard five woodpecker species: Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy, Piliated and a Northern Flicker.  I was most interested in the Red-headed Woodpeckers. Red-headed Woodpecker Red-headed Woodpecker Carolina Chickadees were also there--I love the challenge of trying to get a presentable photo of these birds. C...

Red-headed Woodpecker This morning we opted for a little change of scenery, and we spent most of the morning mostly in the sandhill and inland scrub habitats at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  I found a bird I'd never seen before, a Bachman's Sparrow, and a couple others I haven't seen this year, including a Short-tailed Hawk and a Summer Tanager.  It's a little frustrating, though, since I didn't get any good photos of any of these species. Red-headed Woodpecker Nevertheless, it was good just to see/hear them (that feels a little like saying it was great just being nominated), and there were several other species there that were really fun to find and photograph.  Wild Turkeys, Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Towhees and Red-headed Woodpeckers were all there, and there were some nice occasions to photograph each of them. Eastern Bluebird Eastern Towhee Pine Warbler Wild Turkey Here's a list of species we saw this morning: Wild Turkey 6 ...