It’s been over 6 weeks since my last post. We always anticipate the winter and spring seasons to be some of the best times for wildlife photography here in Florida. Many birds migrate here, while many more migrate through our area in April and early May. But this year has been oddly quiet in several of the usual hotspots. We didn’t observe the numbers of waterfowl this year and the spring migration for several songbird species seemed almost non-existent. A little research may have revealed one of the reasons for the changes. According to weather experts, we are experiencing our first “El Niño” climate pattern in 5 years. We’ll have to wait for our next “La Niña” season to see if there is any connection. For whatever reasons, 2024 turned out to be somewhat disappointing.
Despite the downturn, there were some highlights. We managed to find a flock of green-winged teal that made a small lake near St. Petersburg their winter home and provided some great photo opportunities. The number of our local wood ducks appears to be on the rise. It was also a good year for painted buntings visiting our feeder. There were days when we would see 3 males along with a female. We had never seen more than 2 males in the past. For the first time, hummingbirds were at our feeders all winter. We found a bird called Chuck-will’s-widow. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one. They are part of the same family as whip-poor-wills and nighthawks and look very similar. This bird was sitting on her nest.
As we head toward summer, the wildlife environment changes. Different migrants arrive, while others become more active and visible. It’s the time of year for magnificent kites. Thankfully, it seems like some of the catastrophic habitat damage caused by hurricane Ian in 2022 is recovering. We went to south Florida last week to check on snail kites. I’ll be posting another update on that trip shortly.
A few more pictures from the past few months are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, please visit the galleries listed.
