Tag Archives: birds

Canaveral National Seashore

August 23, 2009Canaveral Nat. Seashore, INSIDE FLORIDAAnole, beach, birds, fishing, Lizard, reviews, Sandpiper, wildlifeEd Rosack

Intro / Description

Three of us from the Photographic Interest Group went over to the Canaveral National Seashore yesterday to explore. We entered at the north end near Turtle mound. We could only go about 2 or 3 miles into the park, the road was closed after that.

CNS is a national park located on the east coast of Florida, south of New Smyrna Beach. It’s a very scenic place and there are many activities available. The surf was very high yesterday (due to Hurricane Bill?) and there were quite a few people out taking advantage of it.

In the short time we were there, we also saw people fishing:

and canoeing:

There’s a lot of wildlife in the area, but the number of people here at certain times of the year (like yesterday), probably makes it difficult to see much of the animal population, unless you’re here when the people aren’t. We did see some wildlife – here’s a CNS Anole:

And a sandpiper:

We also stopped by the Eldora Statehouse, which is a historic example of earlier life along the Mosquito Lagoon.

Speaking of mosquitoes, make sure you bring some bug spray – they were pretty vicious at times.

Photo Hints

Bring what you have. I don’t like to take my expensive DSLRs into the hot sun near the ocean for long periods of time, but you might if you’re careful. Shorebirds can be small (and fast) – so to get prize winning bird photos here, you’ll need to be lucky or a very dedicated and good photographer willing to forgo other activities. It might be a good place to practice "birds in flight" photos in your spare time – Pelicans often cruise down the shoreline. If the surfs up, that can be fun to watch / photograph too.

One non-photo hint: Be careful where you park. The rangers are rather zealous about enforcing the parking regulations. Parking on the grass is not allowed – even when it isn’t specifically posted.

Summary

The beach is a nice place to take some photographs and CNS is a very nice beach. We originally went there to explore a new place as a bird photography location. We didn’t find many birds, but we only stayed for a short time. I wonder if other times of the year would be more productive? The surfing would have been an excellent photo opportunity if I had been prepared for it (beach clothes, longer lens, etc).

If you’re here to visit the beach, bring a camera – over the course of of your visit, interesting photo opportunities will present themselves.

I have a few additional photos of this visit posted on Flickr .

Website:	http://www.nps.gov/CANA/index.htm
Address:	Visitor’s Center 7611 S Atlantic Ave, New Smyrna Beach, Florida (386) 428-3384
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	Come for the beach – take some pictures too.

Return to Black Point

August 9, 2009INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, Black Crowned Night Heron, BPWD, Flowers, Green Heron, landscape, Spider, sunrise, sunset, wildlifeEd Rosack

The last time we were at Black Point Wildlife drive was back in May (https://edrosack.com/2009/05/16/birds-scarce-at-black-point-wildlife-drive-water-levels-down/) when water levels were down and there were very few birds anywhere around.

Yesterday, we made a return trip to see what the place is like after three months of almost daily rain in the Central Florida area.

We arrived right at sunrise, which was very pretty.
Sunrise reflections

Water levels are much improved: areas that were dry in May are once again filled. However, we were disappointed by how few birds there were in the area. My theory on this (which I didn’t come up with until the drive home) is that the severe drought in the area happened during nesting season and forced birds to build nests in other locations. The nesting season lasts for several months and is just now ending, so it was premature for us to expect to see many birds back at Black Point until chicks have fledged.

I did manage to get nice photos of a green heron:
Green Heron in tree

And a Black-crowned night-heron:

There were also some unusual flowers (1/14/2010 update – I think this is a “Spotted Bee Balm”):
Flower

And some very large (about 2 – 3 inches), horror show type spiders. How would you like to walk through this web in the dark?
Wolf spider?

So, even without a large bird population it was still a nice trip with plenty to interest the Photography Interest Group. And… there’s always Cracker Barrel on the way home!

Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks at Orlando Wetlands Park

July 4, 2009INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando WetlandsAlligator, birds, Flowers, Spider, Whistling Duck, wildlifeEd Rosack

Happy Independence Day !

I was at Orlando Wetlands Park again this morning with a few friends and saw a bird that I hadn’t seen before, there or anywhere else that I remember. Here’s a photograph:

Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck in flight

These birds were different from other ducks I’ve seen in that when we first saw them they were perched in trees. Fortunately, I have a copy of iBird Plus loaded on my iPhone. iBird is an interactive field guide to the birds of North America. It has a search function and by entering the location (Florida), the shape (Duck-like) and the Color Primary (Brown) iBird presented me with a list of 16 possible birds out of the 914 birds in its North American Database that match these criteria.

Scrolling through the list, I read descriptions, and looked at drawings and three photos of the Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck that pretty much clinched the ID for me. There’s also other info like range, similar birds, and links to Birdpedia. If you are interested in birds or bird photography, you should take a look at this app. I enjoy using it.

Here’s a few more photos from this morning. First we had the bird, now here’s the bee:

Bee on flower

A spiderweb:

Spiderweb

And of course, what would Orlando Wetlands Park be without a gator photo:

Calm water gator

Audubon Birds of Prey Center

May 30, 2009Birds of Prey Center, INSIDE FLORIDA, Maitland, OrlandoAudubon, birds, Birds of Prey Center, Eagle, Flowers, Hawk, KestrelEd Rosack

Description

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is located at 1101 Audubon Way – just off of highway 17 / 92 in Maitland, Florida. They treat injured or orphaned birds of prey (raptors), and release a great many of their former patients back into the wild. The Center also provides environmental education to local students, teachers, and visitors. Many birds that are too injured to be released are given permanent homes at the center.

The educational displays and permanent residents present an outstanding opportunity for the photo enthusiast. A visit here will take an hour or two depending on how thorough you are. Below is a photograph of one of the permanent eagle residents at the Center, which I made during a visit in 2007:

eagle

Photo hints

Lenses : Bring a long zoom lens. My 70 – 300 mm on my 1.5 crop body D90 DSLR, gave me frame filling head shots of the bald eagles in the court-yard just inside the main entrance. On the smaller birds (hawks and owls) in this courtyard, you can still get frame filling body shots. Below is a photo of a hawk: hawk

You should also bring a macro lens or attachment if you have one, since there are some very pretty flowers on the grounds of the center. flower

Tripod / Monopod : I believe that tripods are allowed, although I didn’t use mine and didn’t ask. There aren’t usually any big crowds here and there’s no narrow passages where a tripod would cause a problem. I did bring my monopod and it came in handy, although you can probably get by with an ISO boost or by strategic use of gates and other structures to prop your camera on.

Other : A flash would be handy for photos on the porch where there are smaller birds (kestrels, falcons, and small owls). I didn’t have mine with me and opted to raise the ISO on my D90 to 1600, which worked pretty well. Below is a kestrel photo, made on the porch. kestrel

Note that one of the attendants told me that photography “is permitted here as long as you don’t sell the photos.” If you do plan on a commercial use, please talk to someone at the Center about it.

Summary

The Audubon Birds of Prey Center is a wonderful place to spend an hour or two with a camera. You can learn a bit about raptors and your $5 entrance fee supports the center’s work. You can also make some very nice photos of Birds of Prey.

My Gallery (22 total photos):	https://edrosack.com/090524_Birds-of-Prey/
Website:
Address:	1101 Audubon Way Maitland, FL 32751 (407) 644-0190
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	Hidden Gem!

A bicycle ride 'round Orlando Wetlands Park

April 5, 2009INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, Orlando Wetlandsbirds, Great Blue HeronEd Rosack

I’d been to Orlando Wetlands Park (25155 Wheeler Rd. Christmas, Florida 32709) several times, but always on foot and I always walked the 2.5 mile “Birding Route”. (Note: you can see larger versions of this photo in my gallery for this post.)

I wanted to explore the rest of the park, so yesterday I went back out there with my bicycle and rode around the perimeter. It was a very pleasant 5 or 6 mile ride. The dirt roads are very well maintained – no problems at all getting around with the bicycle. The scenery was similar to what I was familiar with around the Birding Route, although there seemed to be more wildlife – perhaps because there’s less visitors out there. The wildlife did seem more wary. I don’t know if it was because they’re not used to seeing people or bicycles.

In addition to what you see in the photos I posted on my website (gators, Great Blue Heron, Anhinga, Ibis, Bobcat (?), and flowers) I also saw a large turtle, and many other birds, including ducks, grebes, and many black vultures. The park ranger was anxious to close the gate at 7:30 so I had to leave before the sun had completely set, which was a very minor disappointment in an otherwise very pleasant late afternoon visit. I wonder when they open the gate in the mornings? It’s always been open when we get there before sunrise.

My photos for this post are here.

Driving home from the Leo Kottke show

January 25, 2009INSIDE FLORIDA, Techniquebeach, birds, Great Blue Heron, landscape, treeEd Rosack

We had tickets to see Leo Kottke at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart Florida on Friday night. It was a wonderful show – the first time I’ve ever seen him live, although I’m long time fan. In addition to some great guitar music, he told a few very funny stories and we were both sorry to see the evening end.

On Saturday morning we took our time coming back and drove the first part home on A1A up the Atlantic coast, stopping at a few places to look for pictures. I had my photo backpack and tripod with me, and Lynn was a very good sport and even carried tripods and lens hoods for me and helped me scout for photos. She noticed this interesting tree (I think it was a seagrape ) along the beach at one place we stopped at. The early morning sun shining through the combination of new and old leaves and branches on this seagrape tree against the bright blue sky was very colorful. (You can go to my gallery to see a larger version of the photos in this post.)

On the other side of these trees was a little play ground with what I think were some Parrot Fish toys to play on. They were also very colorful in the early light.

Further on up the road, nearer to Port Saint Lucie we stopped at another little park called “Bear Point Sanctuary ” and walked out a dirt road along a canal. This little park is along the Indian River lagoon, and I didn’t realize it stretched this far down the coast. We saw several birds – even though it was almost lunchtime, some calm, scenic water, and some pretty mangroves:

Canal, mangroves, sky (with polarizing filter)

There are a lot of little parks like this in Florida, and if you have time when you’re driving around, it’s worth stopping and wandering around with your camera. You can almost always find a photo or two hidden away.

I used my polarizer filter to make the photo above. One of my friends asked me why they should get one and I wanted to show the effect, so I made a second version with the polarizer rotated 90 degrees. That’s my shadow at the corner of the dock. You can see a pretty dramatic difference between the two versions. Carry a polarizing filter. It’s one filter effect that is very hard to duplicate in post processing on the computer.

Canal, mangroves, sky (without polarizing filter)

The birds were pretty shy and flew off whenever we tried to get close enough for a good picture. (I just had my 16 – 85mm with me).

All in all, a pretty nice photo excursion, and an unexpected bonus well worth the little time we invested.

I posted these photos and a few more on my website here .

My Summer Vacation around Central Florida

July 4, 2008INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando, Orlando WetlandsAlligator, Biolab Road, birds, BPWD, fishing, Great Blue Heron, sunrise, vacation, Wekiwa, wildlifeEd Rosack

My summer vacation – Day 1 : A visit to Wekiwa State Park and a solo canoe trip down the Wekiwa river where I attempt to paddle, navigate and make photographs, all at the same time, and where success is measured by returning without once falling overboard, with all the gear I left with, and with all my body parts still attached and undamaged (although somewhat sore).

I’ve been to many of the springs in the Central Florida area, but just never got around to going to Wekiwa, so with a few days off, I thought it was about time. I’ve heard a lot about this park and there is a lot of info on the web. You can find out plenty at their main web page . I had visions of capturing “The Shot”. My vision was this: The camera half in the water as a massive gator swims toward me and I make photos from the safety of my canoe. To prepare, I purchased a WP-DC21 underwater housing to protect my Canon G9. See the results below of my search for “The Shot” (go to the galleries to see higher resolution versions of these photos).

What happened you ask? Well, life is a journey, not a destination, and so is photography. I’ll try again for “The Shot” another time. I haven’t been in a canoe for many years – paddling while handling the camera and staying out of the trees is trickier than I thought. And I forgot my raw chicken to lure the gators within camera range. Wekiwa is a great place. Photo tips: Bring an assistant to help paddle. Take sunscreen, you’ll need it. Get there early of course for the best light and to avoid the crowds. Going on a week day will help avoid crowds too. I didn’t see anyone when I got on the river at 9 on a Monday morning, but by the time I came back around 10 or 10:30 there were a few people in canoes and kayaks. You’ll see lots of birds, turtles, gators, fish, and river otters. The river otters move pretty fast so be alert – I almost fell out of the canoe trying to get a photo of them. Here are more of my photos from day 1 .

My summer vacation – Day 2 : Another day break hike through Orlando Wetlands Park

When I made a return visit to this wilderness located 20 miles from downtown Orlando, Florida I was the only human there and once again I felt like I was in a different world far away from everyday concerns. Just what I was looking for. I strolled through a primitive Florida landscape and visited with some varied wildlife including possum, deer, gators, and various birds including herons, hawks, and egrets. It’s close enough to my home so that I can get there by dawn, even in the summer and the sunrise can be very pretty. Here is a link to the first blog post I did about this park. It has some more information and photos.

Here are more photos from day 2 .

My summer vacation – Day 3a : A return visit to Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

I’ve been to Black Point Wildlife several times, and although spring time seems to be the best time of the year for viewing wildlife, it is still very pretty in the summer time as long as you go early in the day. I was a bit disappointed at first since I didn’t see much, but to make up for it there were no other people there at all. Toward the end of the drive there were a lot of birds including a flock of spoonbills, although they were far away. Mike Thomas has a blog entry (no longer available) about this place and he mentions gators big enough to eat a Volvo. That should be enough to motivate you to go over there, even if gas is $4! I haven’t seen those particular gators (although I was driving a pickup truck, not a Volvo), but I have seen their little brothers. Here’s a link to a map of the drive.

Here are more of my photos from this part of day 3 .

My summer vacation – Day 3b : A drive down Bio Lab road along Indian River lagoon, where I survive repeated attacks by bloodthirsty monsters!

This is a really pretty drive along the Indian River north of the cape. Lots of birds, gators, and mosquitos here. Make sure you take insect repellent – I didn’t have any and I never even set up my tripod because I couldn’t stay out of my truck long enough. I was swarmed by mosquitos and bitten within a minute or two whenever I got out of the truck. This is a dirt road, but it is pretty well maintained although I did get my truck muddy! Here is a link to a map of the area.

Here are more of my photos from this portion of day three .

the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Bird Rookery

May 28, 2007INSIDE FLORIDA, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farmbirds, Tri-colored HeronEd Rosack

For my birthday this year, Lynn gave me a photographer’s pass to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. While you can take photos of alligators, the special thing about this park is that they’ve expanded the Alligator Swamp exhibit. The extra area includes a boardwalk where you can stay safely above the monsters in the water and get within feet of nesting birds. These wild birds have learned that the gators keep predators out of the trees, and as a result the park has become one of the largest natural bird rookeries in the state of Florida.

From March 2 – July 18, the annual pass allows you to enter the park early (~8 am) before it opens to general admission. May is the prime time for nesting and breeding. Lynn and I have been back several times.

Since they’re accustomed to people, you can get quite close to a variety of birds, although you’ll still get the best results with a long telephoto lens and a sturdy tripod. I get by with my 70 – 300 zoom, but there are people there with monster glass! Many use flash with a “Better Beamer” magnifier for greater range.

There’s an annual photo contest, with the winners used for a calendar sold at the gift shop.

For more information, visit the St. Augustine Alligator farm website .

My bird rookery photographs are here.