I will be heading down to Orlando soon for Photoshop World 2011. I plan on going early and taking advantage of the time to do some bird photography. While I have visited several locations on the west coast of FLorida, I have not visited many locations on the east coast.
Brown Pelican on Pier
In doing some research, I think I have narrowed down my potential locations to 3 areas. 1) Viera Wetlands, 2) Merritt Island NWR and 3) St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Which of these locations do my Florida friends and readers recommend? If not these are there other recommendations you have? If so email me or comment below.
As some of you probably gathered from Monday’s post, I was a little surprised at some of the birds I found on my recent trip to Quogue. My biggest surprise was finding this little guy sitting on a bale of hay in the middle of an open field.
Short Eared Owl Portrait
Now I have to admit owls are a new species for me. I have been in search of a Great Horned Owl for 6 months now and still have not found one. So if you think my identification is incorrect, please let me know. It seemed to me that my identification came down to 3 possibilities, Short Eared Owl, Barred Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl. What led me to my conclusion was the face. This owl has yellow eyes so we can scratch off the Barred Owl and the facial features and overall size to me rule out the Northern Saw-whet Owl.
Short Eared Owl on Hay BaleShort Eared Owl at Sunset
I’m still not sure how I was able to see this owl given I was driving and it was about 100 yards away from where I made these images. I suspect that he was in that field sitting on the hay bale waiting for some unsuspecting million dollar house mouse to come by!
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-2.0E III on Lexar UDMA digital film
As many of you know, my family has spent portions of every summer at the beach, specifically the Hamptons. I love to spend time there in the winter for several reasons. First, no one is there so it is very peaceful, void of the hullabaloo associated with the summer rush. Second, there are great opportunities for shore bird photography. Unfortunately this year I did not get out there in January or February which is prime time for wintering shore birds. However this weekend I decided to venture out east to mostly visit with my parents and help them with some things around the house. This winter has been particularly bad out east and some basic maintenance was in order, so in comes the oldest of the family caretakers. 😉 I ventured out on Friday morning with minimal expectations for finding good birds to photograph. Given that it was already March, I suspected that the wintering birds had already left the area and that I was too early for any of the spring and summer species that call the area home. As I expected, I was right, not much to photograph. And with the snow all but melted from our recent heat wave, the area was a mess, devoid of any great photo opportunities, or so I thought.
Killdeer at Sunrise
After driving around for some time I came across this sole Killdeer in a hay field.
Killdeer Preening
It was interesting to watch this little guy. There was no water around where he was foraging and there was a massive construction project with a pile driver smashing piles right across the street. It was so noisy I was surprised that the bird would even be in this area let alone allow me to get close enough to take these pictures and watch him for an hour.
Killdeer Itch
I have to admit that I knew when I was making these images that I would use them for nothing other than this blog. The busy background kills the images for my taste. I prefer a minimalist background and a subject that pops from the page. However, as I often do, I used this time to practice my skills and learn biology. You can read as many books as you like about animal behavior and bird behavior in particular, but nothing beats sitting and watching first hand. I also enjoy using my gear. The sound of a shutter clicking usually gets my creative juices going which leads to other things! Maybe it helped me unearth some other images that will make their way on the blog this week?
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-2.0E III on Lexar UDMA digital film
Its amazing how the weather change the last few days has put some pep in my step. This was aided of course by finding this Black-Capped Chickadee who was a very willing photographic subject.
Black-Capped Chickadee on Branch
We have had the first string of days with temps in the mid 40’s. It was great being outside, doing some birding, all while not shivering from the cold.
Black-Capped Chickadee Portrait
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-2.0E III on Lexar UDMA digital film
This beautiful cardinal was back yesterday and very happy with the new kind of bird seed I stocked the feeders with. 😉
Northern Cardinal Checking Out Bird Feeder
This was really the first Cardinal in 2 years that didn’t appear to care that I was trying to take his picture. He left the area if I made a sudden move, which I always try to avoid, but always seemed to come right back.
Northern Cardinal
These are some of the first Northern Cardinal images I have made that I really like. Great color, sharp focus and good composition. There are some things I could have done better in the composition and my subject is not in his peak breeding colors yet but away from that I am pretty happy with the outcome.
Northern Cardinal getting ready to jump!
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-2.0E III on Lexar UDMA digital film
I had a lot of fun working with this family of American Black Ducks. The pale color of the water at sunrise in addition to their willingness to “pose” for me made photographing them a lot of fun.
American Black Duck Huddle American Black Duck Family PortraitAmerican Black Duck Foraging
I think the results are really cool, almost like the images are portraits in a studio setting, except they were taken at sunrise!
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-14E II on Lexar UDMA digital film
Wow, sunset on Friday was amazing here. After weeks of sub freezing weather and several feet of snow, we had a day with temps in the 60’s! I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and heading out.
Hooded Merganser Hen at Sunset
I have really enjoyed visiting Greenwich Point Park this winter. As I mentioned previously, one of the species I did not have in my image bank were Hooded Merganser’s. There seem to be a group of 3-4 Drakes and 5-6 Hens that hang out at the large salt water pond in the middle of the park.
Hooded Merganser Drake
The only difficulty I have encountered at this location is that the birds here are not very habituated. You would think with the hundreds of people and dogs that use the park each and every day that the birds would be used to human presence, but they are not. This has caused me to work on environmental composition and telling a different story than just a closeup of the subject. While I would like to get some closeups, the practice of story telling is one that I welcome. To me, that is how you grab the heart strings of your viewers. Without that tug, images are just representations of time.
Hooded Merganser Pair at Sunset
Images captured by D3x, 600 VRII wTC-20E III on Lexar UDMA digital film
