Little Winter Wonders
One of my favorite birds is the green-winged teal. They are beautiful small ducks that migrate here every winter. While green-winged teal are a common species, they can be difficult to find because they prefer smaller shallow ponds with plenty of cover. Last year we were dealing with the high water left over from hurricane […]
Lakeland Area
As the “snowbird” season comes to an end in Florida, we wanted to try and photograph a few waterfowl species before they begin or continue their journeys north. One of the species that spends time here is the ruddy duck. We’ve photographed the attractive little ducks in the past, but we’re always on a mission […]
Myakka River Wildlife Destination
Myakka River State Park is a wildlife and nature gem. Located in eastern Sarasota County, it is one of the largest parks in Florida with over 37,000 acres. The Myakka River flows through the park and creates a variety of lakes, ponds, and flooded marshlands. Because of the diverse terrain, the park is home to […]
Wintering Waterfowl
It started off being a rather quiet year for waterfowl. No matter where we went in December and early January, the numbers seemed down from years past. But the last couple of weeks have changed everything. Not only have the number of ducks improved, but we found a couple of species that we hadn’t seen […]
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
A duck that is common in our area but seldom seen in the rest of the country other than southern Texas and southern Arizona is the black-bellied whistling duck. A few things make them easy to identify in the air. First is their distinctive call. They sound much like a wood duck with more of […]
Lakeland
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 […]
Ducks Unlimited Milestone
I apologize for getting a little “political” but one thing I learned years ago is that the vast, vast majority of sportsmen and sportswomen are more concerned with actually doing something about the environment than our government. Maybe the best example of this is the Ducks Unlimited organization. The attached article highlights the efforts that […]
Port Manatee
Last week I had the pleasure of joining a group of some of the top birders in Manatee County, Florida for a field trip to Port Manatee. The trip was hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers due to a number of highly restricted areas. The fields and ponds consist of silt dredged from the […]
