Tag Archives: baby

Recent MINWR Photos

September 29, 2024Haulover Canal, Merritt Island NWRAlligator, baby, birds, black and white, Black Crowned Night Heron, boats, BPWD, landscape, manatee, sunrise, Wild Turkey, wildlifeEd Rosack

Note: Our part of Central Florida was spared major impacts from Hurricane Helene. Unfortunately, people in many other areas are suffering horribly with injuries, death, and property loss. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.

I’ve gotten behind keeping the blog up to date so today I’ll try to catch up some. These photos are all recent ones from trips to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on July 29th and Sept. 25th.

A fisherman with a view. Rotary Riverfront Park on US 1 south of the refuge entrance. July 29.

One of several Wild Turkeys hanging out near the turn in to Bairs Cove. July 29.

2 or 3 Manatees were making a big commotion in Haulover Canal by the Bairs Cove boat ramp. July 29.

Dawn at the marina – 1. The early morning sky was spectacular looking east from Marina Park. September 25.

Dawn at the marina – 2. The sky was interesting looking west too, but not as colorful – so I converted to B&W. September 25.

A young Black Crowned Night Heron near the rest area on Black Point Wildlife Drive. September 25.

Baby Gators. From the Visitor Center boardwalk. September 25.

The folks at the Visitor Center said there was a Momma Gator and babies in the pond. I walked out and down the boardwalk without spotting them. About to give up, I heard the babies calling. They make a sort of a chirp / gulp sound and I was able to follow their calls and find them. I hoped the babies would be on Mom’s back, but not that day. She was watching over her offspring from a few feet away.

Momma Gator. From the Visitor Center boardwalk. September 25.

Header image: I made that one along the back part of Black Point Wildlife Drive. I’ve always liked those large pine trees and the light that morning and the hazy sky background appealed to me. You can see a larger version on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/53972104178/in/dateposted/

Maybe the Dog Days of Summer aren’t the best time to make photos at MINWR. But photo ops are still there if you go look for them.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos !

Orlando Wetlands – March 12, 2024

March 17, 2024Orlando Wetlandsbaby, Barred Owl, Great Egret, landscape, red-bellied woodpecker, Sandhill CraneEd Rosack

The last time I was at Orlando Wetlands was February 10th. It was a nice walk but I didn’t get many photos I liked, so I didn’t post about it on the blog. Here’s one from that day that did turn out:

Spoonie!

I decided to go again last week to see what’s changed and I’m glad I did. There were many more photos there this time. Here are some of them.

I said hello as I walked by a couple of photographers and they were nice enough to point out this Barred Owl posing on a dead tree. It looks wet, like it’s drying off after plunging into water after prey.

“Who cooks for you?”

A Great Egret in the distance looked like it would head towards me so I followed it with my lens. It was nice to have several seconds to check my settings and adjust a few (especially exposure compensation). Things happen pretty fast and there’s usually no opportunity to do that. It touched down close by and I was able to capture a lot of detail in its feathers.

Graceful arrival

I spotted a single woodpecker staying very close to this hole in a dead palm tree. It was sticking its head into the hole like it might be feeding hatchlings, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark interior. I watched for several minutes and a second one landed on the same tree. After about a minute the first bird left and the second one took over with the same behaviors. Even though I couldn’t see inside, it seems clear they’re a pair and this is a nest. The male (with his red forehead) is on the left and the female’s on the right.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker couple

I got several images with both birds in the frame, but their poses hid one or the other’s face / eyes. In the image above I combined two frames in photoshop to best show both of them.

There’s a family of Sandhill Cranes there with two colts that are about three weeks old. I found them as I was getting ready to leave. The young ones took time off from following Mom around and learning how to forage to have a little friendly challenge match. It only lasted for a few seconds and all ended well.

Sibling Rivalry

The header photo is another view of one of the colts next to a parent.

I try to watch for possible landscape photos as I walk around. This scene near the entrance caught my eye and I photographed it with my iPhone. I shot in RAW mode and made two exposures (I’m still using this technique that I posted about a long time ago: https://edrosack.com/2011/01/21/two-image-pano-hdr-focus-stacking/). After processing and combining in photoshop, I’m pleased with how it turned out. iPhones are very capable cameras.

Wetland morning

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, take a walk around a park close to you. And make some photos!

Another baby bird update

May 23, 2020Downtown Orlando, Orlando Wetlands, Winter Parkbaby, birds, Black Crowned Night Heron, black-necked stilts, chick, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, Mottled Duck, Mute Swan, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

It’s still baby bird season here in Central Florida. I thought I’d update you on several I’ve been following.

Lake Cherokee Mute Swans

As of May 23rd, there are three surviving cygnets at Lake Cherokee (this photo is from May 17th). On April 25th, I counted 6.

Lake Davis Mute Swans

There are only two cygnets left at Lake Davis (this photo is from May 17th too). On April 25th, there were 5. They seem a little bit larger / older to me than the ones at Lake Cherokee.

There’s a lot of wildlife in and around Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee. One neighbor’s seen owls, hawks, eagles and otters there and it wouldn’t be surprising if there are alligators too. Life for these young swans is dangerous.

All of the remaining ones seem to be healthy and growing. Hopefully they’re big enough now to avoid any more predation.

Winter Park Ospreys

Wing exercise – These two chicks are still in this nest. In this photo (also from May 17th) Mom and sibling duck out of the way as the other one exercises its wings.

They’re growing fast and getting stronger. I don’t think it’ll be too long before they fledge.

Bonus baby birds

Here are a few other young birds I’ve seen in the last week. These are from a stroll at Orlando Wetlands Park.

Black-necked Stilts: Mom and chick

A young Night Heron in flight. I think this one is a Black-crowned Night Heron. They’re much more common around here than the Yellow-crowned ones.

Family cruise – Mottled Duck Mom and ducklings

Okay – that’s all of the baby bird news I have. Now for a more serious subject.

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Memorial Day

Here In the US, we celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday in May (the 25th). It’s a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. Every one of us owes them a debt we can never repay.

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Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Hang in there, stay safe, and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. And if you can – make some photos!

Baby Bird Brief

April 25, 2020Orlando, Winter Parkbaby, birds, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, Mute Swan, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I dropped off some things today at MK’s place. On the way home we checked on the Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis swans and then went by Winter Park to see how the Ospreys are doing.

Lake Cherokee Mute Swan and cygnets

The swans at Lake Cherokee seem to be fine. But last time I counted 6 cygnets and today I only saw 5. I hope one was hidden in the grass or behind the tree on the right.

Lake Davis Mute Swan and Cygnets

The Lake Davis swans seem fine too and I counted 5 cygnets there, same as our last visit. If you’d like to see a few more photos of these birds, one of my Flickr friends (Kathy B.) posted a few in her Flickr photo stream.

We only saw one very small chick in the Winter Park Osprey nest two weeks ago. It turns out it was the only one poking its head up at the time – there were two more hidden in the nest. This visit we saw all three and they’re much larger already. All the hungry babies were loudly begging for food and Momma was busy feeding them pieces of very fresh fish.

Momma Osprey feeding her three chicks

As we were getting ready to leave, Lynn asked if I’d made a video. And of course I hadn’t remembered to, so I went back and recorded a little bit. Thanks Lynn! The chicks in this remind me of mini dinosaurs.

Mary D. posted a comment on the last Osprey post. She saw a worker up there and hoped he was placing a wildlife camera. I looked and couldn’t see any sign of one.

You can read other blog posts about Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis at this link: https://edrosack.com/?s=lake+cherokee. And here are some more about Ospreys and Winter Park: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/winter-park/

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are staying healthy and safe out there in pandemic land. Take care of each other and if you can, make some photos!

Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis Swans

April 18, 2020Orlandobaby, cygnet, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, Mute SwanEd Rosack

When we posted about the Lake Davis ducks a couple of weeks ago, I got a question in the comments about the swan on Lake Cherokee.

Lake Cherokee Cob

lbphoto23 had only seen one swan there and asked if we’d seen two. I answered at the time that “Yes, there are two on Lake Cherokee. If you don’t see them together, you can usually spot the second one somewhere on a different area of the lake.”

Well it turns out that there are actually eight swans on Lake Cherokee! MK spotted her new neighbors this week paddling around with mom and dad.

Lynn and I had to drop some things off for MK, so I brought my camera and made some photos as we drove around both lakes on the way home. The Lake Davis Swan family is also doing well – there are ‘seven swans a swimming’ there.

Lake Davis Mute Swan Family

I’m happy that both families are starting out so well. Last year, the Lake Cherokee family ended up losing all of their cygnets one by one. Hopefully this year they’ll do much better.

Lake Cherokee Mute Swan Family

MK has notice quite a few people swan watching. If you do go see them, make sure you don’t get too close – give them some space!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. We’re doing OK here and socially isolating as much as possible. I hope all of you are staying safe too – take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families. And if you can, make some photos!

Mother’s Day 2019

May 12, 2019INSIDE FLORIDAAlligator, baby, birds, Great Horned Owl, limpkin, mother, Mother's day, Sandhill Crane, Spoonbill, wildlifeEd Rosack

Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms far and wide!

To help celebrate, I thought I’d share some photos I’ve made of Florida Mothers and their babies. These are all wild animals / birds and they’re from several places over several years, so I’ll include where and when in the captions.

Momma gator guarding her nest and 4 (blurry) babies. Along La Chua Trail, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Gainesville, FL, December 2006

Momma Sandhill Crane and chick foraging at Viera Wetlands, March 2017

Spoonbill Mom returns, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, May 2010

Great Horned Owl Mom and chick in the nest, Circle B Bar, March 2018

Momma Limpkin and baby, Circle B Bar Reserve, October 2013

Great Egret Mom and chicks, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, April 2011

It’s amazing how devoted Moms are, and it’s fascinating to watch them raise their babies.

You can click on these images to see larger versions on Flickr. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go spend time with your Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

May 11, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Park, VARIOUSbaby, birds, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

To all Mom’s everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!

Momma Osprey and baby – found while kayaking along the north shore of Lake Dixie In Lake Louisa State Park. The nest looked empty at first. Then Mom flew in and baby popped up.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go tell your Mom you love her!

Circle B Bar Reserve – October 5th, 2013

October 13, 2013Circle B Bar Reserve, INSIDE FLORIDAbaby, birds, chick, landscape, limpkin, sunrise, youngEd Rosack

Three of us from the Photography Interest Group visited the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida last weekend. The Circle B is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from where I live, but it’s well worth the drive. I haven’t been over since last October – so I was eager to see what’s going on. We managed to get there before sunrise and were greeted with this scene:

Before Sunrise

We saw a lot of the regular resident wildlife including: Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Ospreys, Red Shouldered Hawks, Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, Red Winged Blackbirds, Ibis, a few Alligators, lots of Apple Snails and eggs, lots of Dragon Flies, lots of Spiders, and a horde of hungry mosquitos! OK, I didn’t actually see the mosquitos – but I sure knew they were there! There were also a great many Limpkins, probably due to the abundance of Apple Snails.

Strolling Limpkin – I loved the light on this bird and the background. If she’d only turned her head just a bit more toward the camera. I guess some models are still learning “the moves”.

I was surprised to see baby Limpkins too. I didn’t realize that they breed year round. It was a treat to watch Mom feeding her chicks and see the chicks moving around trying to find snails for themselves.

Limpkin Chick – This little one climbed up on the reed and then had a hard time getting back down. The other three chicks stuck close to Mom. I think this one will be trouble.

In the not so usual category of wildlife, we saw a pair of Bald Eagles, a Fox (darn, too dark for a photo!), White Pelicans (they apparently stayed through the summer), and many small hard to ID Warblers (passing through on migration?).

It was a good visit. Much better than the foggy one last year when I hurt my foot. Now that cooler weather is starting to come through Florida we’ll have to go back more often.

You can read other posts I’ve written about the Circle B here. And you can see more photos from the Circle B Bar in this set on Flickr,

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

Central Florida Photo Ops

What and where they are and how to photograph them.