One of the most cherished birds to photograph in Florida is the roseate spoonbill. The beautiful pink colors are always stunning to see. People from around the world visit Florida on photography tours just to see the spoonbills.
They are particularly colorful this time of year as breeding season is underway.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
It’s always a thrill to see a Crested Caracara. They are a Federally designated threatened species so sightings are not real common. Caracaras are usually only found in parts of Florida, Texas and Arizona in the United States. Their range is mainly in Mexico, Cuba and Central America.
They feed on dead animals like vultures but will also eat insects, frogs, snakes and other small birds. When they’re not scavenging, they like to sit on fence posts or in tall trees. Their vision and sense of smell are amazing. They are normally not real wary so if you do find them at a reasonably close distance, getting a good photo is possible.
Recently we were fortunate to come across two perched atop utility poles in a pasture in rural Sarasota County. When we stopped to watch, one cooperated by flying towards us and landing in the field. It walked around the field for several minutes searching for a small animal or likely a nest of meadowlark eggs. A few minutes later the other spotted something and flew and landed 20 feet in front of me. It found a dead meadowlark. It eventually picked up the carcass and flew off to join the other caracara.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
One of my favorite photo destinations is Lakeland, FL. As the name implies, Lakeland is a city of lakes. According to recent data, there are 38 named lakes in the city. Lakeland is famous for its population of mute swans that are descendants of a pair of swans given to the city by Queen Elizabeth in the 1950s.
On our last visit we encountered the swans on their nests. Many were incubating eggs while some little cygnets had already hatched and were kept protected in enclosures. There were still many ducks around including wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, mallards and ruddy ducks. I had not seen a male ruddy duck for many years. A few white pelicans were also cruising the lake.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
We visited one of the local nature preserves a few days ago just to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. To our surprise, we found a bunch of indigo buntings along with a single male painted bunting. We thought maybe they had started their journey north for the summer but to our delight, they’re still here. We were even able to get some shots of males that have finished their molting into full color.
Our backyard painted buntings are also still here. Yesterday we saw multiple males and the lone female at the feeder. We keep hoping that they’ll decide to forego the northern travel and stay here for nesting season! They have been so fun to watch over the past 6 months.
For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
The nesting season is in full force. It seems like there are babies everywhere. We picked one day recently to check on bald eagle nests and found a total of 6 new eaglets in 4 nesting sites! It appears that they are all well on their way to growing into young adults.
There are also many sandhill crane babies around. The colts started appearing several weeks ago and we continue to see youngsters of all sizes. Most owls have grown and left their nests, and many songbirds are building nests or feeding chicks. It’s a busy time that will continue for another couple of months.
Wow! When I looked at the date on my last post, I couldn’t believe it’s been 6 weeks!! There has been plenty going on to keep us busy. But 6 weeks? Shame on me.
During my hiatus from the website, I had the opportunity to get out a few times with the camera and capture some new subjects. I’ll cover those journeys in the next couple of posts.
I also made the leap to a new Canon camera body. After months of research and trial, I finally jumped aboard the new mirrorless camera train. I won’t get into all the technical details, only to say that technology has made some amazing advances in modern cameras. The focusing on the new camera is incredible. It can actually zero in on the eye of an animal and track the animal while it’s moving! Unfortunately, as with all new things, it has so many settings that it will take a while to learn all the capabilities and customize it to my liking. But the good news is I am able to use all of my current lenses with a simple adapter and it works great!
Here are a couple of shots of a red-shouldered hawk from my first time in the field with the new camera. More to come.
Our favorite male painted bunting has been coming to our caged millet feeder since early November. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t see him several times. A couple of weeks ago he surprised us by bringing a buddy to the feeder. Two male painted buntings on the feeder at the same time is quite a sight! The second bunting is now a regular visitor. Hopefully they’ll spread the word and we can attract a female before they head north for the summer.
For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
One of my favorite places for nature photography in this area is Myakka River State Park in eastern Sarasota county. It is a huge park consisting of 37,000 acres with the Myakka River cutting through the center. Along the way, the river is dammed creating a large lake and vast wetlands. There is a wide variety of wildlife in the park. It’s common to see deer, eagles, ducks, spoonbills, wading birds, turkeys and plenty of alligators.
This past week was another great visit. In addition to seeing most of the wildlife listed above, we also came across a large flock of green-winged teal. More to follow in a separate post.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
I spent the last two days photographing a pair of bald eagles with their two new chicks. The nest is in the open, so photo opportunities are amazing. The parents stay busy. We watched them hunt for fish and today they brought back a whistling duck. When they’re not feeding the chicks, they fly off to grab clumps of Spanish moss to line the nest. Like people parents, they occasionally get to rest, sitting atop one of the trees next to the nest.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
The other day I posted about seeing several birds this season that are very uncommon in Florida. Black-chinned hummingbirds are typically found in the western states, most often across the rocky mountain region. While most migrate to western Mexico, there have been sightings across the gulf coast in recent years. We were fortunate to see two feeding on an orchid tree.
A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
I recently had the pleasure of capturing some fun birds in flight images with my neighbor and artist, Jerry Horine. We found an active area where wood storks were moving from their morning roosting spots. Storks are great targets because they tend to slowly glide a long way before landing. I also never realized how the edges of their wings had a green iridescence.
A few pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.
It seems each year we are seeing more birds that are seldom seen in Florida. Most of the birds are typically found much farther west. This year has been no exception. A few of the uncommon sightings include a black-chinned hummingbird, black scoter ducks, ash-throated flycatcher, scissor-tailed flycatcher and scaly-breasted munias. We even had a juvenile munia visit our millet feeder last week. Thanks to my good friend Art Nadelman for help with the identification!
