outdoor photography

Yellow Warbler During late August and September, Yellow Warblers come through Lake Apopka in huge numbers. It's not terribly unusual to conservatively estimate 30 or more individuals along the lake shore.  I suspect this is largely because there are so many willows near the lake shore, and the drive takes you right between the willows and the lake. I think they're beautiful birds.  A few weeks ago, I was driving along the drive next to the lake, and I saw a few all in one tree. I pished a little bit, and then all of the sudden there were at least 10 there. I don't know that I've ever seen so many Yellow Warblers in any one place. This was my best photograph from that time.

Yellow Warbler Yesterday my father and I drove out to Lake Apopka to see the wildlife drive. It amazes me that every time I visit something new seems to present itself.  I suppose it's not too surprising that this is the case right now, since migration is now in full swing.  The biggest find for me was a Veery--well, two of them in fact--along the lake shore loop trail.  Unfortunately, they stayed too far back for me to get good photos.  Another fun bird was a Worm-eating Warbler, though this bird took off before I could get a photo. Yellow Warbler We walked the loop trail south a little ways, and that was one of the more productive areas.  We were looking for a Snail Kite that had been seen there last week, and we had no luck relocating it.  We didn't expect to get very many good photos either, since we were walking along the eastern shore of the lake in the morning.  In order to photograph birds in the shrubbery to the east, we had to loo...

Northern Parula Central Winds is starting to get interesting. A couple days ago we had a Blue-winged Warbler there, and there's been between 8-10 species seen there each day.  There are lots of Northern Parula here, sometimes more than 20, and there have been a fair number of Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Black and White Warblers. Ovenbirds and Prothonotary Warblers have become regulars here in small numbers. Prothonotary Warbler Yellow Warbler Black-and-White Warbler Occasionally, we also have the pleasure of seeing a Northern Waterthrush or a Worm-eating Warbler, though they haven't been as cooperative for photos.  I'm including a couple photos here as simple ID shots. Worm-eating Warbler Northern Waterthrush We've also had one early Chestnut-sided Warbler come through. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Northern Waterthrush This past Saturday I visited the wildlife drive at Lake Apopka. I was hoping to get some nice migrant activity, and I was not disappointed. Yellow Warblers were everywhere! I estimated 20 of them, but I think I underestimated. In one little spot along the lakeshore there were perhaps 10 Yellow Warblers, 2 Prothonotary Warblers, 5 Prairie Warblers, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, and an Acadian Flycatcher. Yellow Warbler There was far less activity along the rest of the drive.  There were hardly any shorebirds at the sod fields, oddly enough, and that was a little disappointing. However, I did get a nice photo of an Eastern Kingbird, which is always nice. Eastern Kingbird A couple herons posed for photos as well. A Black-crowned Night-Heron was perched along the edge of vegetation not far from my car (this photo is hardly cropped), and a Great Blue Heron also perched in the reeds for me. Black-crowned Night-Heron Great Bl...

Black & White Warbler Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through.  There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted). Yellow Warbler Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5.  But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago.  One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally. Black & White Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have bee...

Blackburnian Warbler This morning I visited Central Winds Park. I'd seen some pretty nice eBird reports over the weekend, I was not disappointed.  Central Winds has been pretty slow so far this Fall, but this morning I found 11 species of warbler, including my top goal for the morning, a Blackburnian Warbler. Prothonotary Warbler Yellow Warbler I'm still waiting for thrushes and tanagers to make their appearances here, but they should be coming any day now.

Black-throated Green Warbler My father and I had a fantastic time at Fort De Soto this morning.  We went hoping for some nice migrants, and we came home with twelve species of warbler, including my first Black-throated Green.  Here's a list of all the warblers we saw in the park: Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler. Hooded Warbler Yellow Warbler Blackpoll Warbler On top of these we saw two Eastern Kingbirds, one Veery, several Indigo Buntings, a Painted Bunting, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Blue Grosbeak. We found both a Scarlet and Summer Tanager. Rose-breasted Grosbeak Scarlet Tanager But the biggest surprise was seeing two Whimbrel.  One was pretty far a way near the Least Tern breeding platforms.  The second landed ...

Great Blue Heron This morning I returned to Central Winds, hoping to be able to see more with the opportunity to stay later in the morning. Unfortunately, I was rained out by around 10:30 am but still had a pretty good morning. I found 11 warblers: Ovenbird (2), Prothonotary Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart (3), Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula (12), Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler (10), Yellow-throated Warbler (6), Prairie Warbler.  Yellow Warblers were found seemingly everywhere, along with Northern Parula. It was also fun to find 2 Bald Eagles, one American Kestrel and a Veery. Yellow-throated Warbler Yellow Warbler

Bald Eagle This morning at Central Winds Park I had a pretty good morning. I saw my first Blackburnian Warbler, but was unable to get a sharp image of it.  A Bald Eagle was more cooperative; it flew not too far away from me, so I could photograph it.  I also found a couple Yellow Warblers by the shore of Lake Jesup.  The Yellow Warblers were somewhat uncooperative.  They teased me from fairly high up in the trees, and they never came low enough for a very nice look. But they're such beautiful birds, I can't help but show the photos I was able to get. Yellow Warbler My camera also disappointed me this morning.  These photos were taken at ISO 400, and on my older 40D my photos probably would have been fine.  But with the newer 50D, there's a fair amount of visible noise.  I did a little work to minimize it in the leaves and sky, but I remain somewhat unimpressed with this camera's performance even at moderate ISOs.  The higher resolution ...

Northern Parula I went to Orlando Wetlands Park this morning.  It started out pretty slow, but around the edges of the park I occasionally found three species of warblers.  I found one Northern Parula, 2 Yellow Warblers, and 3 Prairie Warblers. I normally go to Orlando Wetlands Park for larger wading birds, and there were many there for my next post, but I thought these deserved special attention. Yellow Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warbler