An Apple a Day and the Birds will Play!
A morning with the Fort De Soto beach birds – Big Red’s “drunken sailor” antics, courting Least Terns, and a surprise Whimbrel!
Ring-Billed Gull
Early May Shorebirds at Fort De Soto
Exceptional morning of May shorebird photography at Fort De Soto with migrant Red Knots and Least & Royal Tern courtship
It’s Skimmer Time Again!
Afternoon photography at a Black Skimmer colony, where courtship and nesting are definitely underway! Lots of good action photography
Nesting Underway at Viera Wetlands
Nesting is underway at Viera Wetlands, where Great Blue Herons, Anhingas, and Cormorants are claiming palm trees and showing off their breeding plumage
Seahorse Surprise at Fort De Soto
Fort de Soto’s North Beach never disappoints. This time, it turned up a Ring-billed Gull with a seahorse surprise!
2016: Photographic Year in Review
Favorite photographic memories of 2016
Coot Glamour Shots at Lake Mirror
I played with my new 7D Mark II and the available birds – the coots! Coot glamour shots turned out to be fun. :)
Windy and Cold at Fort De Soto
Somebody needs to tell the groundhog that he really mis-predicted the weather this year. Instead of his projected early spring, we got freezing cold temperatures well into April! Still, Fort De Soto is an awesome place for springtime bird photography, even if there’s wind and cold. I spent a very pleasant evening and morning at […]
My New Groundpod
Lately I’ve been hand-holding the Beast a lot, so that I can lie down and photograph birds at eye level. This technique has been paying off well with the Sandhill Crane babies (more on that tomorrow!) To see what I’m talking about, look at the two images below. The first was taken while I was […]
A Walk Around Lake Morton
Last week Rich and I were in Lakeland to judge the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair. We had a great time talking to the students about their projects. Afterward, I twisted Rich’s arm into taking a nice walk around nearby Lake Morton. I wanted to see if the Mute Swans were nesting yet – […]
My First Visit to Lake Morton
After a quiet morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Friday, Dyeyo and I decided to head to Lake Morton. Herman has been telling me about it for ages, and he always knows the good birding places! There were lots of Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks sleeping on the lake. It was my first opportunity […]
Finally!
Finally! I got to use The Beast for the first time in almost a month! After hearing friends talk about the great birds at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I went there yesterday. Blackpoint Wildlife Drive was busier than I’ve ever seen it (both with birds and photographers :)). The birding wasn’t spectacular, due to […]
Finally! I Photographed a Painted Bunting at the Circle B Bar Reserve!
I had a nice walk this morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve. It’s always great to go there to unwind after a long week. This morning I hiked the Alligator Alley trail in search of small birds, then I walked up Marsh Rabbit Run and up Wading Bird Way around to the Eagle Roost […]
Hungry Gull
The rains kept me inside tonight, hoping that our backyard birds had found dry and safe places to weather the storm. So I’ll post a picture I took this weekend. A bunch of gulls flew over the backyard, and to practice flight shots with the Beast, I aimed and shot. I laughed when I realized […]
Lions and Bitterns and Rails, Oh My! Circle B Bar Reserve Never Disappoints
A group of photographers met at the Circle B Bar Reserve for sunrise this morning. We had a blast. Circle B really is a photographer’s playground at this time of year! Dyeyo and I parked at the parking lot at the Circle B entrance, then took the Windmill Whisper trail out to Wading Bird Way. […]
Ring-Billed Gulls
We had some Ring-Billed Gulls over the Pebble Ridge pond this evening. I liked this juxtaposition, with the smaller duck in the background.
Another Great Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve
Dyeyo and I tried something a little different this morning. We arrived at the Circle B Bar Reserve about fifteen minutes before sunrise, and we parked in the lot right at the entrance to the reserve. Then we hiked out to Wading Bird Way on the Windmill Whisper trail. We got to the crossroads right […]
In Search of Hooded Mergansers…
A recent Birdbrain post indicated that there were about 20 Hooded Mergansers in a small pond outside a Perkins restaurant at the intersection of Conroy-Windermere Road and Apopka Vineland Road in Orlando. So Rich and I stopped there this morning after we dropped his folks off at the airport. There were no Hoodies this morning […]
Chased by an Otter at the Circle B Bar Reserve
I’ve been called the Birdie Paparazzi. But today I was the one being followed! An otter came bounding up the path after me at least twice. He was cute! This morning I decided to hike Alligator Alley, since it was foggy and I felt like taking sunrise pictures. It’s also been a while since I’ve […]
Breezy Morning at Oakland Nature Preserve
We decided to postpone our usual Circle B Bar Reserve trip for a day, since the weather forecast called for a cloudy day with lots of wind. But when I woke up this morning, it was surprisingly sunny, and just a little breezy. So Rich and I headed to Oakland Nature Preserve to see if […]