All posts by Ed Rosack

Things are hoppin' at Black Point!

INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, , , , , , ,

This is a truly great time of year to visit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  I’ve gone over for the last two weekends.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I took Lynn, Mary, and Monette there last Sunday – we had a great time and spotted lots of birds.  I told Kevin M. about it and he insisted we go back yesterday with Kevin K.

Why is it so good over there now?  I’m glad you asked!  The number and types of birds in and around Black Point Wildlife Drive are probably the greatest I’ve ever seen.  There are both regular species and winter visitors.  Ducks are there in huge numbers, both in the water and flying overhead in vast formations close enough that the sound of their beating wings is quite loud.  The larger wading and shorebirds are also there in force.  On both days, there were feeding frenzies going on in ponds along BPWD.  The water is full of minnows and the birds are feasting on them.

Black Point Wildlife Drive Feeding Frenzy Video

By the way, this situation is an ideal set up to practice your BIF (birds in flight) photography.  Here’s a photo I made at this same pond, showing an egret with one of the minnows.

Snowy Egret with minnow
Snowy Egret with minnow

And here’s a close-up of the minnows in the water.  No wonder the birds are going crazy!

The reason for the festive gathering
The reason for the festive gathering (photo by Kevin McKinney)

On these two days, we saw close to 40 different types of wildlife.  And I’m sure there were others I either didn’t see, didn’t recognize or forgot.  Here’s a partial list:

  • Alligator, Cows, Deer, Manatee
  • American Avocets
  • Anhingas
  • Belted Kingfishers
  • Black vultures
  • Black Skimmers
  • Coots
  • Cormorants
  • Ducks:  American Wigeon, Blue Wing Teals, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler
  • Egrets:  Cattle, Great, Reddish, and Snowy
  • Grackles
  • Herons: Great Blue, Green, Little blue,  and Tri-color
  • Ibis:  Glossy, and White
  • Mourning Doves
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Osprey
  • Pie billed grebe
  • Red Bellied woodpecker
  • Ring billed Gull
  • Roseate Spoonbills
  • White pelican
  • Wood storks
  • Yellow Rumped Warbler

Cruising White Pelican
Cruising White Pelican – a winter migrant to our area

So two wonderful visits, although we did have some disappointments.  We looked for Florida Scrub Jays and didn’t see them in the normal spot.  And the sunrise photos on both days were a challenge.  Here’s what it looked like yesterday:

Foggy mornin'
Foggy mornin’

 

As usual, you can see larger versions of these images on Flickr by clicking on them. And I have more photos from MINWR in this set and BPWD in this set.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Cracker Christmas at Fort Christmas, Florida

Cameras and Photography, Fort Christmas, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, VARIOUS, , , ,

Sorry this week’s post is a little late – we were pretty busy all weekend. So just a short entry this morning. Yesterday I went over to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge with Lynn, Mary, and Mary’s friend Monette. Lots and lots of birds (a story for another day).

On the way home, we stopped by the Fort Christmas Historical Park in Christmas, Florida. They were having their 35th annual “Cracker Christmas” event. Along with tours of the permanent structures at the park, there were demonstrations of early settler life in Florida and many booths selling crafts. There were also some Civil War reenactments going on. When I saw this group posing in front of an old view camera, I just had to make a photo.

Civil War group portrait
Civil War group portrait: A group of Civil War reenactors pose in front of a view camera during the 2012 annual “Cracker Christmas” event at the Fort Christmas Historical Park and Museum.

It was quite crowded, but definitely worth the time to stop by. To satisfy your photographic curiosity, here’s the “before” version of this photo:

Civil War group portrait: Straight out of the camera, before a few tweaks in Lightroom and Photoshop

I cloned out some distractions, leveled and cropped, tweaked the color, contrast, sharpening, and then converted to a sepia toned B&W. I like the “after” version better. How about you?

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Mead Gardens: Yellow-rumped Warbler

Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Mead Gardens, Winter Park, ,

I met Kevin M. at Mead Gardens Saturday morning for a quick stroll through this downtown Orlando park.  Since the weather was cool and clear, we didn’t think the sunrise would be very good, so we slept in a bit.  It was a relatively short trip, but very pleasant.

We sighted Yellow-rumped Warblers, Palm Warblers, an Eastern Phoebe, an American Goldfinch, American Robins and others.  The smaller ones sure can be difficult to photograph – they’re in constant motion and when they’re still for a moment, it’s always behind a branch.  Here’s one image I did manage to get:

Yellow-rumped Warbler?
Yellow-rumped Warbler – this one was out in the open and still for a moment.

We didn’t see any hummingbirds, although other people have recently sighted both Ruby-throated and Rufous varieties by the feeder.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Thanksgiving 2012

Blue Cypress Lake, INSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUS,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many places in the world celebrate a thanksgiving holiday. In the United States, we pause on the fourth Thursday of November to commemorate our founders and give thanks. The “first Thanksgiving” took place in 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts to celebrate a good harvest. In 1789, President George Washington declared it a national holiday. The date shifted over time until December 26, 1941, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a joint resolution of Congress moving it  from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday.

Thanksgiving dinner can be quite elaborate.  Turkey is the most common main dish, and Thanksgiving is sometimes called “Turkey Day”.  Bread stuffing, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie are also traditional.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey – This Tom Turkey was posing in a field next to the road into Blue Cypress Lake. He was initially so still that we thought he might be a decoy. There were several more on the other side of the road.

Wild Turkeys were endangered in the early 1900s, but are common now throughout the US and in Florida.  I’ve even seen some in my neighborhood (in Central Winds Park).  They’re native to North America and the largest game bird on the continent.  In the 16th Century, the major trade route from the Americas went through Constantinople in Turkey before going on to Britain. They associated the birds with the country Turkey and the name stuck.

I’m a very fortunate person and have much to be thankful for.  I realize this and sometimes worry about the odds catching up with me.  At the top of the list, of course are my family and my friends.  What are you thankful for?

You can read more about Blue Cypress Lake in this post, and see more photos from there in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – be thankful, have a great day, and go make some photos!

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Forster's Tern

INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, , , , , , ,

I think I’ve confessed here before that I’m just a beginning birder.  I enjoy identifying the birds I see, although sometimes it’s tough for me to figure out ones that I don’t see very often. Gulls and Terns seem especially hard.

Anyway, I photographed this bird last weekend at MINWR and it took me a while to sit down and research what it is.  I was pretty sure it’s a Tern, but didn’t know which one.  The red / orange legs were a big clue, although the lack of a black head cap and the dark bill initially confused me.  It turns out (Terns out?) that Forster’s Terns lose their black cap in the winter and their bills turn from orange to grey / black.  Mystery solved!

Forster's Tern
Forster’s Tern

They’re here in Florida only in the winter months – we saw a group of them along BPWD.  They were flying above the water and then plunging in to feed on fish.

In looking back through the rest of my photos from last weekend, the trip was quite productive.  I’ve a number of images that I’m pleased with.  Here’s a couple more:

VAB sunrise. Merritt Island, Florida
VAB sunrise. Merritt Island, Florida.  A four image panorama at 150mm: not my normal landscape focal length

Roseate Spoonbill landing
Roseate Spoonbill landing

You can see larger versions of these photos on Flickr by clicking on them. And I have more photos from MINWR in this set and BPWD in this set.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

U.S. Veterans Day

OUTSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUS, Washington D.C., , , ,

Germany and the Allied nations signed the armistice ending World War I  in 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Armistice Day (later renamed Veterans Day after World War II) was commemorated for the first time on November 11, 1919.

Now every year in the United States, we pause on Veteran’s Day to honor the service and sacrifice of all men and women who answer the call of freedom. To all of our veterans and to those serving today – you have our deepest gratitude. We honor you for your service and sacrifices “in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Statues of GIs crossing a field
Statues of GIs crossing a field – Korean War Memorial, Washington, DC – Black and White Infrared

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. And if you’re a veteran, thank you for your service.
©2011, 2012 Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

MINWR – November 10, 2012

INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, , , , , , , , ,

Yuck – the time changed again.  Sunrise is an hour earlier than it used to be.  An hour earlier than it’s supposed to be – for normal people anyway.  I guess that’s so crazy, get up too early photographers can make images other people can’t.

I was pretty tired on Friday night and really didn’t feel like getting out of bed, but get up I did (at 0430!) and drove over to meet Kevin M. at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  We ended up at a bend in East Gator Creek road where the low tide had uncovered a tree stump.  Muddy tripod legs in the dark are awesome!

Low tide, before dawn
Low tide, before dawn – Looking east from East Gator Creek Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

Except for the early sunrise, this is a wonderful time of year to visit MINWR.  There are lots of birds around, including many winter visitors and if you’re lucky you can see other wildlife too.

Dolphin
Sunlight glints off water drops in a dolphin’s breath

After sunrise, we drove through Black Point Wildlife Drive and then went by the Visitor Center.  In addition to the Dolphin, we saw a River Otter, White pelicans, Roseate Spoonbills, many Palm Warblers, Ospreys, European Starlings, Willets, Green Wing Teals, Northern Shovelers, Bald Eagles on the nest platform near the rest area, a Grey Catbird, a flock of American Avocets, Terns, Gulls, Great Blue Herons, Reddish Egrets, Ibis, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Red-winged Blackbirds, many Belted Kingfishers, Wood Storks, Cormorants, Anhingas, Coots, Pie-billed Grebes, Black Vultures, a Ruby Throated Hummingbird at the Visitor Center, and several other species too.  The birds are definitely back!

Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler on matching flowers.

We had good light early, but a lot of clouds moved in later, which made for some nice IR photos.  I had to leave early and get home to help with errands, but Kevin M. had an “all day kitchen pass”, so he stayed and visited several other places at the refuge.  He photographed a Scissor Tailed Flycatcher, that’s been hanging around about 3/4 of a mile from the gravel lot on Shiloh Marsh Rd. as well as a Florida Scrub Jay.

Clouds move in
Clouds move in

All in all, a great day for photography!  You can see larger versions of these photos on Flickr by clicking on them. And I have more photos from MINWR in this set and BPWD in this set.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

 

Sandhill Cranes at the airport

INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, ,

The Orlando Airport has a very convenient cell phone lot where you can wait for arriving flights. We often see a family of Sandhill Cranes hanging out there.  Another reason to always have your camera with you!

Sandhill Crane Portrait
Sandhill Crane profile

Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane

The birds are obviously used to having people around them.  But if you’re photographing them (or  other birds or animals) – please be respectful and don’t harass or stress them.

By the way, I’ve finished a first pass through the Blog Categories and Tags.  I think they’re better organized now.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Blog Maintenance (and another camera)

Cameras and Photography, VARIOUS, , ,

Just a short entry to let you know that I’m working behind the scenes to re-organize Categories and Tags used on the blog.  Since I started writing “Central Florida Photo Ops” in May of 2007 they’ve grown a bit too haphazardly, and now it’s time for me to get organized and efficient.

So I’m restructuring the Categories to serve as a Table of Contents.  The main ones are location-based so that a visitor can quickly see all the entries about a given place.  You can reach the Categories from the pull down widget on the right.

The tags will function like the index in a book.  For instance, when I’m done, you’ll be able to click on “Bird” in the tag cloud on the right and see a listing of all posts that mention various kinds of birds.

I’ve already started working on this, although it’ll take me a while to go through all 236 published posts and update / correct each one.  But as I work on it, it’ll gradually improve and when I’m finished it’ll be better than it was.  As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

And just so we don’t have a blog entry without a photo, here’s a couple of images of another camera acquisition.  It’s a somewhat well used, Leica IIIc 35mm camera made in the late 1940s.  I need to clean it up a bit, but I’ve already run some film through it and it works pretty well.

Leica IIIc 35mm rangefinder camera
Leica IIIc 35mm rangefinder camera: front view

Leica IIIc 35mm rangefinder camera
Leica IIIc 35mm rangefinder camera: top view

NOTE: Added in Jan. 2021 (and Dec. 2023). This site has a serial number reference for these cameras: https://www.cameraquest.com/ltmnum.htm and shows this one was made in 1946/7. You can find other sites with serial number lookups for both camera and lenses if you search the web (e.g https://reddotcamera.net/leica/serial-number-tool/). My lens is a Summar 50mm f/2, built in  1937.

You can see other photos of collectible cameras in this set on Flickr.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Jetty Park – Cocoa Beach, Florida – 10/20/12

Cocoa, INSIDE FLORIDA, Jetty Park, , , , ,

I took a quick sunrise trip to Jetty Park yesterday morning with fellow Photography Interest Group member Keith H.

The sky was pretty cloudy when I first went out, but by the time we arrived it was starting to clear up.  There was still enough color left to get a few good photos.  In this one, I like the way the light on the walk draws my eye to the bottom left and then the rail and the jetty lead to the sun rays coming up from below the horizon.

Pre-dawn Jetty
Pre-dawn Jetty

A little later, I noticed this boat speeding around the inlet, sometimes with flashing lights and a siren and wondered what was going on.

The Coast Guard patrols
The Coast Guard patrols: This small Coast Guard patrol boat was very active.

I should have realized what was happening before I saw this next boat coming out of the inlet:

On the way out
On the way out:  Close up of a ballistic missile submarine leaving Port Canaveral, Florida.  The presence of bow planes instead of sail planes show that this is a British boat, the HMS Vigilant.

This was pretty exciting for me.  Many years ago, after college, I was in the Navy and served aboard a sub like this one.  Just before I got out, I was stationed at the Naval Ordinance Test Unit at Cape Canaveral.  After submarines go through refit, the Navy sends them down to NOTU for a missile test. They load a special dummy warhead missile and then test fire it down range from the Atlantic off the Cape.  The tall mast behind the sail is added to transmit instrumentation data during launch while the sub is submerged.

We watched the boat turn south after leaving the inlet, and rushed to set up our cameras for a photo as it sailed under the sun.

Submarine sunrise

 Submarine sunrise: This is a unique Florida sunrise scene: The British Trident ballistic missile submarine HMS Vigilant leaves Port Canaveral, Florida just after dawn. 

We hung around for a while after this to photograph shorebirds including Brown Pelicans, Gulls, Black Skimmers, Terns, and others. But the highlight of the trip for me was the sub.  As a former submariner, it brought back a lot of memories and I really enjoyed the show.  Quite a bonus for getting up early!

10/31/12 update:  The HMS Vigilant successfully launched a Trident II D5 missile on 23 October.  Read more here (sorry, no longer available).

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.