outdoor photography

Markham Rd Trailhead There's a little-known trail on Markham Rd.  It shares a parking area with the Cross-Seminole Trail. I've never walked that trail because it's paved.  However, there are also unpaved trails here. I've been told that this property is a part of the Wekiwa Springs State Park, but I haven't been able to verify that. It's a pretty enough park.  Honestly, if I'm going to drive to the area, I'm more likely to head a little farther to the Lower Wekiva River Preserve, so for the most part I go here for my volunteer work with the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas. Carolina Chickadee Brown-headed Nuthatch Markham Tract, Wekiwa Springs State Park Trails I haven't been able to find a trail map of this location. It looks like I might need to make my own, so to speak, the next time I go. That is, I can certainly use My Tracks while walking the trails, and then show you the trails that I've walked.  I tend to walk south towards a ...

Wild Turkeys I'm sitting here at home testing out my upgraded internet connection. It only took 5 days for CenturyLink to upgrade my service from 3 to 10 Mbps.  So now I'm watching internet TV.  I guess I'm in a somewhat retro mood, and I'm watching the classic TV series, WKRP in Cincinnati, the Turkey episode--you know, the one where they drop Turkeys out of a helicopter as a publicity stunt, not knowing that Turkeys can't fly. Wild Turkeys So the episode gave me an idea of what my post should be today.  I occasionally find Wild Turkeys at Central Winds, and sometimes they can be pretty photogenic.  Wild Turkeys actually can fly, though;  they're a lot of fun to see. Wild Turkeys Wild Turkesy

Yellow-throated Warbler Migration is starting to get fun at Central Winds Park.  It's still early, but we're seeing a fair number of warblers coming in.  As usual, the Northern Parulas are the most plentiful, but Prairie, Black and White, and Yellow-throated Warblers are becoming common here.  We've also had our fair share of American Redstarts, Prothonotary Warblers, and Ovenbirds.  I suspect we'll be getting Yellow Warblers soon. We've also begun getting in some flycatchers. So far I've found an Acadian Flycatcher and an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Eastern Wood-Pewee And just for fun, Wild Turkeys are here too. Occasionally I find an adult with young ones walking through the grass. Wild Turkeys

Wild Turkey This morning I decided to try a new place.  There's a tract of the Wekiwa Springs State Park that is in Seminole County. It's a very pretty park, and shortly after arriving, I heard a Summer Tanager greeting me to the park.  I never did see it; it was pretty far off the trail.  But it's the first I've found in Seminole Co, this year.  More photogenic were Wild Turkeys, Brown-headed Nuthatches, White-tailed Deer, and a butterfly that I believe is a Juvenal's Duskywing Skipper.  This is a place for me to visit again. Brown-headed Nuthatch Juvenal's Duskywing Skipper? White-tailed Deer

Yellow-throated Warbler This morning I spent an hour before work at Central Winds Park.  Northern Parula are everywhere, as usual, but a Yellow-throated Warbler posed nicely for me, and for that I'm very grateful.  I also found a Black and White Warbler and a couple American Redstarts. The last two weeks of August have been so nice for migrants (I've found 11 warbler species so far) that I can't wait to see what September will bring. Yellow-throated Warbler Other highlights were a Great Egret perched nicely in a tree and a few early morning Wild Turkeys. Great Egret Early Morning Wild Turkeys

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 ...

Dragonfly I'm trying to get into the habit of having my camera with me at all times for those moments I can get out for a little bit of photography.  The other day, while one of my kids was in an appointment, I decided to walk around the lake behind the building to see what I could find. All I found to photograph was this dragonfly and a couple Ospreys at their nest. But after the appointment, I came out into the parking lot to see this Wild Turkey scampering across the parking lot. Thankfully I was able to fire off a few shots.  I thought it was kind of humorous, so I figured I'd share it with you. Wild Turkey Ospreys at Nest