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 ...

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

Zebra Swallowtail Yesterday I went with a friend to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge--an Island just north of the Bay Bridge in Chesapeake Bay.  We went to find bird species, and we found many, but we were more surprised and delighted by all the butterflies, moths and other insects we saw on the refuge. Zebra Swallowtail Hummingbird Moth Silver Spotted Skipper Wasp That's not to say that we didn't see some fine birds as well.  In particular, I enjoyed photographing the Least Terns that were on the island. Least Tern Least Tern Other highlights were seeing many Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher