All posts by Ed Rosack

Florida Waterfalls?

June 15, 2013Falling Waters, INSIDE FLORIDA, Rainbow Springs, TechniquewaterfallEd Rosack

So you’re in Florida and you want to make some waterfall photos. I hope you’ve got other plans too – because waterfalls are a tough assignment in the sunshine state. We have plenty of water (well, most of the time), but we’re one of the flattest states in the US – so we tend to come up short on the “falls” part. You can photograph waterfalls here – not the grand vista kind you’d see in other places like Yosemite or Alaska – but still scenic and worthwhile.

Yosemite National Park, California: Bridalveil Falls through blooming Pacific dogwood tree. Sorry, not in Florida.

Where in Florida can you photograph waterfalls? If you look at the Wikipedia article on waterfalls of the world, you’ll see that the Florida section lists just one: Falling Waters State Park is in Chipley just south of I-10 in the Florida panhandle.

Falling Waters State Park sinkhole – When it’s a waterfall, this is Florida’s tallest one. If the stream at the top is flowing, it falls 73 feet down into this 100 foot deep, 20 foot wide sinkhole and disappears into the Florida aquifer.

This park has some unique geology. Sinkholes line the boardwalk and you can descend part way into the main one pictured above. When the small creek that feeds the falls is flowing during the wet season, the waterfall can be quite impressive. It wasn’t on the day I visited :-(. Check with the park before you go – you can reach them at 850-638-6130.

If you do some Googling, you’ll find a couple other Florida waterfalls mentioned. Falling Creek falls is a small (~5 foot) waterfall in north Florida near the intersection of US 41 and I-75. Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park is near Gainesville. Similar to Falling Waters, it’s a bowl-shaped sinkhole over 120 feet deep and 500 foot across. You can follow a trail and see streams falling into the sink and the resulting small waterfalls. You can also descend into this sinkhole to view the inside. The tiny waterfalls here trickle down the embankment before they too disappear into the Florida Aquifer.

Rainbow Springs State Park is the home of Florida’s 4th largest spring. It was a privately owned commercial attraction up until the 1970s. It’s now a state park and in addition to the spring, has some very pretty gardens and several man-made waterfalls fed by water pumped from the spring.

Waterfall at Rainbow Springs State Park, Dunnellon, Florida

Rainbow Springs is a very pretty place. The Rainbow River is one of the clearest waters anywhere. The falls too are pretty. The morning I was there, only one had any water flow at first. Before I left, they’d turned on the others and I was able to photograph them too.

There are also other man-made waterfalls you can photograph. These are too many to list, but here’s one example from the Gaylord Palms hotel in Orlando:

Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando, Florida – A waterfall in the Everglades portion of the Atrium

To close out this post, here are a few hints on waterfall photography:

If you want to show the water motion as a silky smooth stream, you’ll need to use a slow shutter speed. This depends to some extent on how fast the water is moving, but a good starting point might be 1/2 second or so. Experiment with different shutter speed settings to see which ones you like best.
You’ll need a tripod for slow shutter speeds, so bring yours.
If you have too much light to get the slow shutter speed you want, try using a polarizing filter or a neutral density filter.
The polarizing filter will also help reduce reflections on vegetation and the water’s surface
Be careful with your exposure. It’s easy to over expose the water since there’s often a large contrast range between it and the surrounding area. Make sure to check your histogram and think about bracketing your exposure.

Do you have any other waterfall photography hints to share? Do you know of any other Florida waterfall locations? If so, please let me and others know in the comments.

I have a couple more photos from Falling Waters in this set on Flickr. You can see photos of the other Rainbow Springs waterfalls in this set. And finally, this one has some of my other waterfall photos.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Crystal River, Weeki Wachee, Micanopy, and Cross Creek

June 1, 2013Crystal River, INSIDE FLORIDA, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, Micanopy, Weeki WacheeAntiques, boat, kayak, landscapeEd Rosack

We’ve kayaked at Crystal River before but wanted to explore the area a little more. So Lynn and I decided to take advantage of our long weekend and went back last Saturday. It was a very beautiful trip – relaxing, great scenery, and good weather too. We reserved two kayaks for 8:30am from the Crystal River Kayak Company and were on the water before most of the crowd got there.

The canals in the area can be pretty. Sometimes it takes a while to position my kayak for a photo and Lynn gets pretty far ahead.

In the winter months, manatees are all over this area although we didn’t see any on this trip. It’s warmed up so much they’ve moved on. If you’re planning to kayak here, it’s best to go early in the day. We drove by later and the water was very crowded – not at all like what we experienced the first thing in the morning.

The hotel where we stayed was right on the water, so I was hoping for a good sunrise or sunset view, but was disappointed. There weren’t any good sight lines east or west and even though we drove around a bit looking, we couldn’t find a spot close by. I’ll have to do more research before our next trip.

So … on to Plan B. The deck next to hotel pool was right on the river, next to dive shop and restaurant / bar. For some reason, the evenings were crowded and noisy, but before dawn there was no one around! So I got up early on both mornings and wandered down to the water. It was extremely calm both days with a full moon. Perfect conditions for some pre-dawn, long exposures. I made several images and I like this one best:

One view from the water by our hotel. I wanted to show the sailboats and reflections against the sky. It was about 30 minutes before dawn, and so dark that it took me a few tries to frame the image the way I wanted. The sky colors were a bonus – I couldn’t see them at the time. I was lucky the water was calm and the boats didn’t move during the 6 second exposure.

In addition to the kayaking and relaxing, we also had several good meals and especially liked Charlie’s Fish House. There’s lots to do in the area too. We enjoyed stops at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park on the way over, and Micanopy and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park on the way back.

Weeki Wachee mermaid.

Weeki Wachee State Park has a live mermaid show, a glass bottom boat ride, a water park and canoe / kayak rentals. It was crowded when we stopped. We saw the mermaid show, but the line for the boat ride was over an hour long.

At the corner of Cholakka Blvd. and Seminary Avenue, Micanopy, Florida.

Micanopy is a good place to look for antiques and photograph historic buildings in an “old Florida” setting.

The farmhouse at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park in Cross Creek, Florida. She wrote her books on the screened porch.

We had a great trip, but it was too short. There’s way more to see and do in this area and it won’t all fit into a single weekend. We might have to schedule another visit soon. You can see a few more photos from Crystal River in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Central Florida Zoo (Sanford)

May 25, 2013Central Florida Zoo, INSIDE FLORIDA, Sanfordbee, birds, Flowers, macaw, Otter, Snake, sunriseEd Rosack

I hadn’t been to the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, Florida since early 2007 and Tom M. had some new gear he wanted to try – so we decided to visit this week. Here’s a few photos I made along with some photo hints.

The River Otter exhibit was fun. If you’re patient and the otter’s in the mood, you can make a nice image of it swimming. Up your ISO to get a fast shutter speed and get close to the glass to block reflections. Then press the button right before “the moment”.

One of our Photography Interest Group members, Jeff S. has a write-up about the zoo on his blog: http://www.firefallphotography.com/central-florida-zoo/. There’s some good info and photos there – well worth a read.

Macaw – Many zoos have these very photogenic birds around. They’re good posers!

Photography at this zoo can be challenging. Many of the animals are behind glass or wire mesh fences, and far away or in bad light. You’ll need to look for situations where you have a clear view of the animals and if you’re patient they’ll often come closer. You can also try the standard techniques i.e. Use wide open apertures to blur the fencing; Hold your lens close to the glass or use your hands to block reflections; etc.

Snake eyes – Albino Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. The “herpetarium” is dark. I didn’t bring a flash, but If I had, I might have tried using it (held out to the side to avoid reflections). The snakes don’t normally move fast – in this case I braced my camera so I could use a slow shutter speed (I also didn’t bring a tripod).

Busy Bee – There are a lot of pretty plantings and flowers at the zoo. I made this photo in the Butterfly Garden area.

And one last photo – we went by the marina in Sanford before going to breakfast and then the zoo. It’s a nice place for sunrise.

I’m glad we got up early

As usual, you can click on these photos to go to Flickr, where you can see larger versions. You can also see a few more photos from the Central Florida Zoo in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Viera Wetlands update, 5/18/13

May 19, 2013Cocoa, Cruise Ships, INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, black and white, Black Crowned Night Heron, bridge, cruise ship, long exposure, sunriseEd Rosack

I went over to the coast yesterday with Kevin M., Kevin K., Lutfi E.

Sunrise sure is happening really early again! We started out on the 520 Causeway near Port Canaveral – Kevin M. wanted to make a sunrise photo with a lit up cruise ship in the scene. Here’s how my version turned out:

Disney cruise ship at dawn – Port Canaveral, Florida

We also moved around looking for other compositions and I think each of us also made an image of this:

Beneath the Bridge – 520 Causeway looking east

After sunrise we moved down A1A to explore Lori Wilson Park and the boardwalk there. It’s very nice and located right on the beach. Migratory birds have been reported there, but we didn’t find any on Saturday.

Our last stop was Viera Wetlands. We wanted to check on it because we hadn’t been by since February. We saw a few of the common wading birds, some juvenile Anhingas, Ospreys, Coots, Glossy Ibis (that we hoped were White Faced Ibis – but weren’t), lots of Grackles, and a few other species. We also took a turn around the Click Ponds where we found a relatively uncommon Black Crowned Night Heron. Kevin M. managed a good photo when it came out of the reeds for a few seconds.

Black Crowned Night Heron (Photo by Kevin McKinney, used with permission)

This wasn’t our most productive or exciting trip ever, but we did have a good time. The activity was slow – I think we’re starting to get into the summer birding slow down here in Central Florida. We may need to look for a few different photo ops for the next few months.

You can read other Central Florida Photo Ops blog posts about Viera Wetlands from this link. And I’ve collected other photos from there in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Gatorland update, 5/11/13

May 11, 2013Gatorland, INSIDE FLORIDA, OrlandoAnhinga, Cattle Egret, Cormorant, Tri-colored HeronEd Rosack

Keith H. and I took advantage of our annual photo passes and stopped by Gatorland yesterday morning. If you’ve planned to see the wild bird rookery there, don’t wait too long. There’s a lot going on now and it won’t last forever.

Cattle Egrets and Cormorants are still incubating eggs and should start hatching soon. Great Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Anhingas, and Woodstorks have hatched and you can get great photos of parenting activity including feeding, nest maintenance, displays, and flight to / from nests. All of the birds are in peak breeding colors.

Tri-colored Heron in flight

Gatorland is a great place to practice flight photography. Observe the bird behavior for a while, pick a likely place with a good background (hopefully in the shade) and wait. Opportunities will occur!

Cattle Egret

Most of the Cattle Egrets were back in the bushes, in bad light and obscured by twigs. Be observant and patient you’ll find one out in the open and maybe even in front of a dark background.

Here’s a couple more photos from yesterday:

Anhinga in flight – they’re very different (and attractive) in breeding season.

Double Crested Cormorant – very pretty eyes if you can catch them in the right light

We also saw several other birds types including a Swallow-tailed Kite.

If you go during the week, take advantage of the early entry option. We got there at 7:30 and there were only a few other photographers there. As we were leaving about 10:15, there was a huge line waiting to get in. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to photograph in the early morning light and when it’s peaceful.

Another reason to visit Gatorland is to see the new Panther Springs exhibit. These animals are very impressive – I didn’t realize how large they are. These two are a brother and sister pair that were raised in captivity and so can’t be released back to the wild. The Florida Panther population is estimated at only 100 – 160 in south-west Florida. Well worth seeing.

Hello kitty!

You can read other Central Florida Photo Ops blog posts about Gatorland from this link. And this set on Flickr has many other photos I’ve made there

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

South Florida, the Everglades and the Florida Keys

May 4, 2013Everglades, INSIDE FLORIDAAnole, Bill Baggs, birds, Blowing Rocks, Brian Piccolo, Burrowing Owl, cloud, coquina, crocodile, Everglades, Key Largo, landscape, Lizard, Owl, storm, sunsetEd Rosack

First, an apology: It appears that a couple of the species names for birds we observed in the Dry Tortugas triggered some people’s spam filters. So if you’re an email subscriber and didn’t get the email with the Dry Tortugas post, please check your spam folder or click here to open it in your browser. Sorry about that. Although there’s not much I can do about it. And it is funny.

Second: Happy anniversary, blog! The first Central Florida Photo Ops post went up on May 7th, 2007 – 6 years and 270 posts ago. Thanks once again for all your encouragement. I enjoy writing the blog, but I don’t think it would have lasted this long if not for the occasional comments and questions from readers. Please keep them coming!

Third: Here’s some info on the rest of our South Florida trip. The Dry Tortugas were the focus of our expedition, but we also visited Blowing Rocks Preserve, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Largo, Everglades National Park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and Brian Piccolo Park. Since these were such short visits, I can’t really provide detailed reviews of each. Instead, I’ll show sample images to give you some background and an idea of what you can see in each place.

I’ve heard that Blowing Rocks Preserve in Jupiter Florida is an awesome landscape place under the right conditions. The morning we were there, the light was harsh and the weather wasn’t ideal to show off the rocks. I think studying the tides and winds (and some luck) are required to make the most of a visit to this place. Here’s one photo I came up with.

Blowing Rocks Preserve – Sand steps, Three sets, Two close, No return?

We stopped at Bill Baggs to look for a couple of birds that had been spotted there. We didn’t have much luck with the rare birds, although I enjoyed seeing the light house and this awesome lizard.

This Cuban Knight Anole was over a foot long, much larger than the anoles we see in Central Florida

We spent a day driving through the Everglades, stopping at each area along the main park road and side roads. It was very overcast, and I found it tough to compose landscapes. I’m sure there are some great spots that people more familiar with the area know about. I guess I need to go back and find them.

Brewing storm, Everglades National Park – A pine tree and grass reflect on the inches deep Everglades “river of grass”

We made it all the way to the end of the road in Flamingo. I was very excited to see a couple of American Crocodiles in the marina there. Only about 2000 of these remain in the wild. They look different and somehow even more menacing than the alligators we’re used to seeing in Central Florida.

American Crocodile

We had tentative plans to find some night-time / star trail photography dark sites in the Everglades, but with the long days and cloudy weather, we never got to it (another reason to go back). While in the Everglades we saw Purple Martins (rooming with House Sparrows), Shinny cowbirds, Brown Cowbirds, Spotted Sandpipers, Red Headed Woodpeckers, Swallow Tail Kites, Red Shouldered Hawks, an Anhinga rookery, Black Vultures (that were eating rubber off of cars!), the American crocodiles, and of course Alligators, Turtles and many other common birds.

The place we were staying in Key Largo had a private beach and boat ramp, and we spent one sunset there. It was pretty – the rocks in the foreground look like a Japanese garden. So much so that I wonder if someone arranged them.

Gulf view from Key Largo at sunset

On our way home, we stopped at Brian Piccolo Park to see the Burrowing Owls. They were easy to find in their marked nests and fun to watch. We also saw a few Monk Parakeets there.

Brian Piccolo Park: Burrowing Owl guarding nest

Other wildlife seen on the trip included Loggerhead Shrikes, Ground Doves, Eurasian Collard Doves, White Headed Pigeons, a Great White Heron, Cardinals, a Northern Curly Tailed Lizard, and Iguanas.

It was a fun but exhausting trip! For more photos, please look at this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – take a long weekend and go make some photos!

Dry Tortugas National Park – April 21, 2013

April 27, 2013Dry Tortugas, INSIDE FLORIDAblack and white, Brown Noddy, fort, Fort Jefferson, infrared, Northern Gannet, Scarlet TanagerEd Rosack

Intro / Description

One of the Photography Interest Group members (Kevin M.) wanted to visit the Dry Tortugas during bird migration. I’d always wanted to see it too and I’d never been to the Everglades so I suggested we combine a trip. He organized an extended expedition and we set off last Saturday with Kevin K. in a packed Prius headed for Key Largo – our base of operations. Since there’s so much to cover, I’ll tell you about the Dry Tortugas in this post, and fill you in next time on the Everglades and a few other places we went.
The Dry Tortugas are a remote group of seven small islands / keys (named Garden, Loggerhead, Bush, Long, East, Hospital, and Middle) located about 70 miles west of Key West. These islands and the surrounding waters make up the 100 square mile Dry Tortugas National Park. It’s known for its isolation, clear waters, unique and migratory bird populations, shipwrecks, and Fort Jefferson.

Fort Jefferson Parade Grounds – Dry Tortugas National Park, Garden Key – I’m not sure which bird is in the center top. It looks like either the Perigrine Falcon or Cooper’s Hawk we saw earlier in the day. This is a 7 image, stitched pano (~50 megapixels). I uploaded a larger than normal version. If you want to see more detail, click on this image and then on Flickr select actions/view all sizes.

Fort Jefferson construction took place from 1846 to 1875. It’s the largest masonry structure in the western hemisphere but was never completed. Like many other forts, it became obsolete when rifled cannons were put into use. Photo ops lurk throughout – so be alert and explore!

Inside the Fort Jefferson walls – I’m happy that two people strolled into my composition. They couldn’t have positioned themselves any better. The fort housed prisoners in the Civil War era and these two and their appearance in this IR, B&W photo add to the ghostly feel of the fort.

There’s a lot of interesting background and history about this place. Dr. Samuel Mudd (convicted of conspiracy in the Lincoln assassination and later pardoned) was imprisoned here. There’s also an interesting novel I enjoyed reading in Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series that takes place here (Flashback). It covers a lot of historical background too.

Info for Photographers

The easiest way to get to the park is via the Yankee Freedom that departs Key West daily. They provide everything you’ll need for a day trip. If you’re more adventurous, you can charter a sea plane or an extended cruise on a smaller boat, or even take your own boat. If you don’t take the Yankee Freedom, just make sure you do your research and go prepared. The park is primitive and there are no supplies / food / water for visitors – so bring everything you might need. As of April 2013, the Yankee Freedom is only 6 months old and in great shape. A buffet breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and water / soft drinks / hot coffee all day are included in the fare. And you can return to the boat during the day to use the rest rooms or cool off in the air-conditioning. All three of us thought the ship and crew were excellent.

Brown Noddy in flight

The day we went, about 30 – 40% of the passengers were birders – some of them very experienced. Several bird species are found in the Dry Tortugas and nowhere else in North America. It’s also on the main fly way for birds migrating between Central America / Cuba and the rest of North America. In late April / early May, it’s a vital resting place for the birds. John James Audubon visited in May of 1832 and spent several days cataloging species. I’m certain we didn’t see as many as he did, but we did pretty well. Kevin M. and I each got several life birds. Here’s our list from the few hours we were there:

Masked Booby (nesting), Brown Booby, Brown Noddy, Bridled Tern, Sooty Tern, Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Least Tern, Audubon Shearwater, Magnificent Frigate Bird, Northern Gannet,

Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Blue Wing Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Northern Parula,

American Redstart, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Hermit Thrush, Ovenbird, Chuck-Will’s Widow, Indigo Bunting, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Black Whiskered Vireo,

Grey Catbird, Peregrine Falcon, Coopers Hawk, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Cave Swallow, White Winged Pigeon, Ruddy Turnstones, Laughing Gull, Osprey, Brown Pelican, Cattle Egret, and Snowy Egret.

Whew!

Singing Scarlet Tanager – Fort Jefferson parade grounds

Here’s a couple of links to info maintained by one of the Yankee Freedom crew (Chelsea): Dry Tortugas Birding Blog and Dry Tortugas Birding info. Check them before you go for current information.

Photo hints:

You’ll be doing a lot of walking and climbing and there aren’t any lockers where you can leave excess gear (although the crew says they’ve never had a problem with lost / stolen equipment). Pack only what you can carry around all day.

Tripod/Monopod:

Allowed and a good idea if you need it for your birding lens. Otherwise, just to lighten your load I wouldn’t recommend it. I was able to hand hold / brace my cameras and didn’t miss my tripod. You’ll want to plan differently if you’ll be there for sunrise, sunset or at night.

Lenses:

Unfortunately, if you’re going for both scenic landscapes and birds (and why wouldn’t you?), you’ll need a variety of lenses. Long / bright for the birds and wide for the landscapes. There are also photo ops from the boat that will be quite challenging unless your camera body or lens has stabilization. You’ll pass about 100 yards from a colony of Masked Boobies on Hospital Key as you enter the park. Be ready for a unique and challenging chance to capture these birds on the nest with chicks. And if you miss the Brown Boobies while you’re at the fort, be sure to watch for them as you leave. They often hang out on Marker 3.

Best time to visit:

Late April / early May is the best time of year for birds, although it’s already getting hot by then. If you’re even a bit of a birder, it’s worth putting up with the heat.

Other:

Our trip over was on a fairly calm day. Even so, there was quite a bit of pitching and tossing. If you’re at all susceptible to seasickness, you should take something in advance. Also, be ready for weather at the park. A poncho and camera cover for rain, and sun block or long sleeves and a hat for the tropical sunshine. You won’t have problems with insects since there’s no standing fresh water on the islands.

Northern Gannet – Floating near the dock in the Dry Tortugas

Summary

Wow – what a fantastic trip! We had a wonderful time in this remote and fascinating place and it’s now a new favorite of mine. It takes some time and effort to get to, but there is so much to see and photograph – don’t miss it!

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	My Dry Tortugas set on Flickr Kevin M’s Dry Tortugas set on Flickr Kevin K’s set on Flickr
Website:	http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm
Address / Phone:	Location in Google Maps There’s no phone, but you can email the park from this website: http://www.nps.gov/drto/contacts.htm
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	Don’t miss it!!!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Reflecting on headwaters

April 20, 2013Everglades, INSIDE FLORIDA, Kissimmee, Shingle CreekCypress, landscape, snailEd Rosack

re·flec·ting (verb): 1) to be reflected or mirrored; 2) to think, ponder, or meditate

head-wa-ters (noun): the upper tributaries of a river.

Clouds and Cypress Reflect from Shingle Creek – It’s hard to believe this urban creek just south of Orlando is the northernmost headwaters of the Everglades

If you look out the window as you fly over Florida, you’ll see much of the land is undeveloped. As you near Orlando though, you’ll see a great deal of housing, roads, city buildings, and theme parks. Central Florida can be a very urban place – it’s encouraging that even in the midst of all the development, there are a great many areas where you can experience nature, wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Many places I visit are fairly well-known. But I had never heard of Shingle Creek before reading Wild Florida Waters, by Doug Alderson – a book about exploring Florida via kayak and canoe.

Driving through Kissimmee, Florida in the middle of airports, fast food, shopping malls, housing developments, and theme parks, you might not even notice this waterway – but you really should look for it. The first pioneer settlement in the Central Florida area was along this creek. Settlers cut down old growth cypress to use for shingles, hence the name. Shingle Creek is also generally considered to be the northernmost headwaters of the Everglades. The creek begins in a swamp very close to I-Drive where thousands of tourists visit the convention center and theme parks and go shopping every day. It flows into Lake Toho in Kissimmee, then into the Kissimmee River system and on through south Florida to the Everglades.

I see different numbers for the size of Shingle Creek Regional Park. One source says that it’s about 456 acres, another says that over 1000 acres have been purchased. Either way, it’s large and the landscapes are beautiful. There are trails to hike and bike and if you have a canoe or kayak you can venture into some very thick cypress swamps south of the Steffee Landing park entrance. You can see alligators, otters, water moccasins, ospreys, hawks, woodpeckers, limpkins, herons, egrets, and even bald eagles. It’s truly a wonderful oasis in the middle of urban Central Florida. I’m grateful we’re preserving it and I’m going back soon to explore more of it.

Apple snail eggs – These snails deposit their eggs just above the water line. Seeing them is a good sign of healthy water. The snails feed on an algae that grows on eel grass which helps filter and clean the water. Eel grass doesn’t grow well in cloudy polluted waters, so you won’t find Apple snails there. You won’t find Limpkins or Snail Kites there either because Apple Snails are a main part of their diet.

More reflections – Shingle Creek south of Steffee Landing

You can enter the park from two locations. Use these addresses to search for it in Google Maps (just searching for “Shingle Creek Park” didn’t work too well for me): 4266 W. Vine Street, Kissimmee, FL 34741 -or- 2491 Babb Road, Kissimmee, FL 34746

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, step away from the pavement and go make some photos

Fort De Soto Bird Migration

April 15, 2013Fort De Soto, INSIDE FLORIDABaltimore Oriole, beach, birds, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue Grosbeak, Chimney Swift, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Hooded Warbler, Indigo Bunting, landscape, Merlin, migration, Orchard Oriole., Prairie Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, sunsetEd Rosack

It’s April and birds are heading north again through our area. Fort De Soto south of St. Petersburg, Florida is a “migrant trap” because they stop there on the way. If you’re a photographer or birder and you’d like to see many types of birds – now is the time to visit this wonderful place.

I went over last Saturday with Kevin M. and Lutfi E. There were a lot of other birders there as well as a few photographers. It was fun talking with the birders. They’re all helpful and I learned a lot from them. If you’re just starting out in birding, go with a knowledgeable friend (thanks, Kevin!), or check with your local Audubon group. They often organize field trips with an experienced leader. The Orange County Audubon Society has a trip planned for next weekend.

Migration at Fort De Soto – As a beginning birder, I was excited to photograph these 11 life birds on Saturday: Chimney Swift, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Merlin, Black-throated Green Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, and Orchard Oriole.

In addition to the 11 life birds I managed to photograph, we saw many others including: Worm Eating Warbler, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Throated Vireo, Northern Parula, European Starling, Black and White Warbler, Common Ground Dove, American Crow, Magnificent Frigate bird, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Laughing Gull, Sandwich Tern, Caspian Tern, Brown Pelicans, Eastern Kingbird, Ospreys, Cormorants, Anhingas, Vultures, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Snowy Egrets.

If you go, plan to get there early and stay all day. Fort De Soto is a big place and we couldn’t get to all of it on Saturday, so I’m sure there were many other species we missed.

You must be patient and quick to photograph these smaller birds. They move fast and flit in and out of trees and bushes so catching them out in the open is tough. A long, fast lens helps too!

This is also a beautiful place for landscape photography because there are both sunrise and sunset views. Here’s a photo I made last year:

The end of the day at Fort De Soto – Looking southwest toward Egmont Key from the base of the bay pier. The ferry to the Key is on the left.

You can see larger versions of these images on Flickr by clicking on them. And I have a few more photos from Fort De Soto in this set. You can also see Kevin’s Fort De Soto photos in this set.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Merritt Island – April 10, 2013

April 11, 2013INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, black and white, Black Skimmer, boat, BPWD, infrared, landscape, pier, Space View Park, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

A couple of weeks ago, I met photographer Larry Jordan at Gatorland and he mentioned wanting to visit Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. He hadn’t been in long while, so I offered to go with him. It was a great excuse to get out and show off one of my favorite places and it didn’t disappoint. We met before dawn at Space View park for what turned into a pretty sunrise.

Dock at dawn

After sunup, we entered MINWR in search of wildlife, first to Gator Creek Road where we saw a few birds including black necked stilts. These unusual looking, pink legged birds are only in Florida for the summer breeding season and I’m glad they’re back already. Next we went to Black Point Wildlife Drive to see what was going on there. The initial portion was very quiet, but then the action ramped way up!

Four more black necked stilts were flying all around the first pond on the right. They were very active and noisy in what I think was courtship inspired chasing and calling to each other. We enjoyed watching and photographing them, but decided we’d better move on – we didn’t want to miss out on whatever else was going on. It turns out that was a very good idea.

At the next pond, the first thing I noticed was a flock of White Pelicans. They were pretty, but a bit far off for photos – and just swimming around out there feeding. Then we noticed the Black Skimmers.

I often see these birds along the north shore of the Bennet Causeway leading into MINWR. There, they usually huddle with the gulls and this makes for static looking photos. We didn’t see any there yesterday morning and we found out why at this place. It seems they were all over there and very active. I’ve never seen so much skimming. Long graceful glides over flat water with an uncluttered background, sometimes fairly close to shore. They use their longer, lower bills to slice through the surface searching for fish and write a sharp wake behind them. Wonderful to watch and with such good light, a near perfect opportunity for photographs.

Black Skimmer skimming

There were other birds in the pond feeding and flying around close to shore – great conditions for BIF (Birds-in-Flight) photography practice! Several Roseate Spoonbills flew in (toward the camera for a change!) and posed beautifully at nearly perfect angles. We also enjoyed watching a Redish Egret, a very pretty Tri-colored Heron in breeding colors, and many other birds feeding.

Roseate Spoonbill, landing

After the excitement at BPWD, I didn’t think it could get any better, but I was hoping to show Larry a Florida Scrub Jay since he hadn’t photographed one before. We drove to Scrub Ridge Trail, parked and walked north along the path where I’ve seen them, but they weren’t there. Feeling a little let down, we walked back to the parking area and a very pretty Scrub Jay was waiting there to welcome us. We each got several photos in different poses / locations.

Our last stop was the Visitor Center. I was hoping that the Painted Buntings would still be around, but they seem to have moved on.

By the way, the 50th anniversary of MINWR is coming up on August 28th. If someone ever asks you about benefits from the US space program, you can mention the establishment of this extraordinary refuge. See this article in Wikipedia for more details.

I’ve rambled on for too long so here’s one more landscape from the morning to close this out:

Dock and pier at dawn, IR B&W

I had a great time showing Larry around the area and he brought a lot of photo-luck with him! You can click on any of the photos above to see larger versions. You can also see more photos from MINWR in this set on Flickr, Black Point in this set, Birds in this set, and Florida Landscapes in this set. And I have many older posts on the site about MINWR – you can browse through them from this link. Larry posts to Smugmug and you can see his bird photos (including ones from this trip) at this link.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos! And take a friend!