outdoor photography

Bald Eagles I don't know if it's really possible to truly appreciate these birds without seeing them outside in the wild.  Growing up I loved seeing them in zoos, and I've been very close to them at bird rehabilitation centers where I've been able to get a sense of just how large these birds are.  But these experiences do not do justice to seeing them paired, soaring in the sky almost in unison, or swooping down to grab a fish out of the water, or for that matter, chasing another eagle with a catch to steal it from him. Bald Eagles Bald Eagle I was at first disappointed that I couldn't get my camera to focus on the eagle before it passed me, but then it looked back, I guess to check on its fish, and that made my day Bald Eagle Bald Eagle Bald Eagles Bald Eagles are directly responsible (in part) for starting my fascination with wildlife and bird photography.  A friend of mine used to take me to Conowingo Dam in Maryland, which is a...

Northern Harrier Well, yesterday went a little better than predicted--the world didn't end, and I had a great time at the Zellwood/Mt. Dora Christmas Bird Count.  I was in the area around Lake Apopka--particularly to the north and east of it.  It was a cold (by Florida standards) and blustery day, but it was a great day for raptors.  We began the morning with a couple Barn Owls, and as morning broke, we also had Osprey, Bald Eagles, dozens of Northern Harrier and Red-tailed Hawks, many Red-shouldered Hawks, one Sharp-shinned Hawk, several American Kestrels, and one Merlin.  As the sun was setting, we found a couple more Barn Owls and at least one Short-eared Owl.  But the biggest highlight, though, was a Krider's sub-species of a Red-tailed Hawk. Red-tailed Hawk "Krider's" Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Sharp-shinned Hawk Barn Owl Ducks and water birds were also there.  We had 18 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and several Gadwall, Malla...

Sandwich Tern I went to Lighthouse Point Park at Ponce Inlet.  I was hoping to find one of the Razorbills that had been seen there recently, but no luck for me today.  It was still a pretty good morning, though.  Lots of gulls and terns were there: Sandwich, Royal and Forster's Terns, plus Ring-billed, Laughing, Herring, Great Black-backed, one Lesser Black-backed Gull and at least 100 Black Skimmers.  I found 14 Black Scoters flying off shore.  I also found about 35 Red Knots in two different flocks, and one was injured and by itself near the jetty. The injured Red Knot could not walk--it had to hop on one leg, and I don't think I could fly, so I reported it to the Seabird Rehabilitation Sanctuary, and hopefully it will be found and cared for.  There were about 17 Northern Gannet off shore, and one Magnificent Frigatebird flew over the jetty as I was walking back to the car. Black Skimmer Black Skimmer Black Skimmer Black Skimmer B...

Northern Mockingbird #1 (2200 x 1385 crop) Canon EOS 7D with EF 400mm f/5.6L (ISO 250 | f5/6 | 1/500sec) Lightroom Adjustments: Vibrance +62 Sharpening: +25 | Luminance Noise Reduction: +10 I acquired a Canon EOS 7D in September, and now that I've been using it extensively for a few months I thought it would be good to write reviews of its various features.  This camera has been on the market for a while and there are many reviews already available, but I thought it would be helpful to review the features of this camera that make it hands down the best Canon APS-C DSLR for wildlife photography.  In the past I've used the Canon Rebel 2000 and Elan 7 (film) and the 10D, 40D and 50D (digital), and all of these cameras have been wonderful cameras that have served me well.  But the 7D easily out shines them all. In this review, I'd like to examine the ISO performance of the camera. Before I begin, though, it may be useful for me to make a cou...

Eastern Phoebe My search for Henslow's, Le Conte's and White-crowned Sparrows has so far come up empty.  I'm still hopeful, though.  This morning I returned to Canal St., where I'd found Savannah, Vesper, and Grasshopper Sparrows earlier this month.  The morning started out very cloudy, and the birds seemed content to stay hidden and quiet, but the sun peaked out from behind the clouds just after 8 am, and then things began to pick up a little.  I found several Savannah and one Grasshopper Sparrow, but no sparrows more interesting than that.  But all is not a loss--while the lighting was good I was able to photograph some more common birds perched on the barbed wire and fence posts.  I can't resist photographing even very common birds when they present me with such a clean background behind them. Grasshopper Sparrow Northern Mockingbird Northern Cardinal

Royal Tern Yesterday morning I arrived in Cocoa at 5am for the Cocoa Christmas Bird Count.  This is my second year participating, and it's always a lot of fun.  We were out from about 6:30am to 6:30pm, counting all the birds we could find our area.  Easily the biggest highlights for me were seeing a White-winged Scoter, the first I've seen in Florida, and a Common Loon, the first for me this year in Florida. We saw about 18,000 scaup, and while most all of them were Lesser Scaup, I found one Greater Scaup in my photos among the rafts of Lessers. There were also huge numbers of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls, American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  But we also saw several species that are unusual for that area, even though they're common elsewhere.  In particular, our group was excited to see Tufted Titmice and a couple House Finches.  Other highlights for me were seeing 4 Painted Buntings, 8 Horned Grebes, 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 1 Northern H...