outdoor photography

Yesterday I spent the morning walking the trails of the Lower Wekiva River Preserve. I spent more time there than I have before, so I walked a lot farther.  Normally I walk to Marker F (the yellow star in the middle of the above frame) and then return.  But since I had more time I decided to walk farther.  I continued walking northeast until I ended up at a hardwood canopy. The trail got very wet, so I turned around.  Back home I found some new features on Google Maps that allow you to make maps and embed them in blogs, so I thought I'd give it a try. I drew the trails I normally walk and then put markers down for some of the sightings.  You can also embed photos in the markers.  So I thought I'd give it a try to see if it may be beneficial. I like this, but it may be more work to do than I want to do.  But we'll see. Maybe I'll do it for some of my favorite trails. Swallow-tailed Kite I was hoping to find a Red-headed Woodpecker; I heard one,...

Wilson's Plover Since I moved to Florida and became interested in birding, I've wanted to get good photos of all the little plovers that show up in Florida on a regular basis.  I found most of these plovers without much trouble, but Snowy Plovers have eluded me.  They've been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me, until the end of May.  I visited Siesta Beach in Sarasota, and one was very happy to be out on the beach with all the other sunbathers. So now I can write a post I've been wanting to write for years--a survey of Florida's little plovers. We have four of them, and they aren't too terribly difficult to tell apart, but I'll also share a few ID tips for those that may be new to finding Plovers. I couldn't decide whether I should organize them by the the order I found them or the overall lightness of their plumage, but then I realized that it's the same. I found them in the order of darkest to lightest. Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Plo...

Golden-crowned Kinglet (after) Today I finally got a copy of Photoshop CC.  There's a new feature in this software that I'd been excited about trying out--shake reduction.  I wish I could use a tripod for all my shots, but the reality is that I'd miss a lot of shots if I used a tripod.  And since my lens does not have image stabilization, I run the risk of motion blur due to camera shake.  This tool is designed to help that.  The above image is after applying the filter, and the below image is before. The tool generates noise, so I chose the minimum amount of sharpening, and then I added smoothing to control the noise. Fully zoomed in, this photo is a bit noisier than the original, but otherwise, I think the effect works pretty well. Golden-crowned Kinglet (before) We don't get Golden-crowned Kinglets in Florida very often; in fact, this photo was taken in Washington State.  I liked the photo, but I was always a little troubled by the softness of ...

American Kestrel American Kestrels are pretty common in the U.S., and here in Florida, we get to enjoy them in significant numbers throughout the winter months, but beginning in March or April, most of our Kestrels leave us.  But there are some that stay with us all year round. The southeastern subspecies ( Falco sparverius paulus ) of American Kestrel is mostly found in Florida and a few of its neighboring states.  It's smaller, and males generally have fewer spots on its belly and flanks.  But since there's significant amount of variation in spotting, it is generally not reliable to identify subspecies in Florida during the months when both subspecies are present. American Kestrel I found a couple Kestrels copulating at an electrical substation near my home in December last year.  The male had a very plain belly, which is a good sign.  I've seen this couple a few times since then, but now it's May and all our "northern" Kestrels are gone. So tod...

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Well, third time's a charm it seems. Today I made my third visit to Hal Scott Preserve (I went twice in the summer of 2013 and then today).  This is the one park I know of where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers can be found in Orange County, but until today I haven't been able to find them here.  I've seen lots of trees with white rings around them (indicating that at some point in time there has been a nest in the tree), but never any sight or sound of them.  Until today, when I took a different route and got lucky I suppose.  I found a pair of them together.  One of them was pretty perturbed with a Downy Woodpecker.  The Downy just seem like it had to be working the same tree with it, but every once in a while the Red-cockaded Woodpecker would chase off the Downy.  It was pretty fun to watch.  I just stood in one spot, and the woodpeckers were so interested in each other they didn't seem to mind me at all. Red-cockaded Wo...

Semipalmated Plover Yesterday morning I visited Marl Bed Flats again.  I'm pretty amazed at how good this place has been in May.  It's given me several Seminole County firsts, including a Short-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and now a Semipalmated Plover. Black-necked Stilts are still here, though in much smaller numbers; now only about 4 remain (out of over 40 in April). I've seen 12 species of shorebirds here over the last week--I'm not sure what it is about this inland location that's attractive to them, but I'm not complaining. Greater Yellowlegs Black-necked Stilt And strangely enough there's also at least one Savannah Sparrow still here.  It's three weeks late in leaving us. As best I can tell it's healthy, so it's really puzzling to me. Maybe it wants to stay for the June Challenge, but I suspect that's too much to hope for. Savannah Sparrow

Halloween Pennant I had high hopes this morning.  Back in January I'd seen at least 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers in this park, and I was hoping some would stick around to breed.  I had also learned that recently there was a controlled burn, so I was hoping this might attract some new species, like Hairy Woodpeckers.  However, I struck out on both counts. I still think Red-headed Woodpeckers may be around; it's a very big park with lots of places for them to nest, so perhaps if I try a few different routes I may find one. But the one cavity they excavated has been taken over by Great Crested Flycatchers. I found only the normal species that I usually find here. Bachman's Sparrow   I visited the area where there was a Bachman's Sparrow nest last year, and found them again not too far away from where there had nested a year ago. And I did have fun watching a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher with a tasty meal.  But I suppose the biggest highlight was seeing a few Hallo...