Tag Archives: Bobcat

Daybreak, Bobcat, Boar, and More

October 20, 2019Merritt Island NWRbirds, black and white, Bobcat, BPWD, infrared, landscape, panorama, Pig, ruddy turnstone, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

In the USA, the second full week of October each year is National Wildlife Refuge Week. I visited my local refuge last Thursday to help celebrate.

Moonlit marsh

I decided to go straight to Black Point Wildlife Drive to photograph sunrise. The gate was still closed when I arrived, so I set up by the sign at the entrance and made the image above. The wind was blowing and I like the surreal appearance of the clouds, moonlight, and stars visible in the full res version.

This was the view a little later from the parking area at the southwest corner of the drive:

Golden

And here’s a monochrome infrared photo along the western side of Black Point. I like the low sun angle and clouds.

Out early on a straight road

You might be able to tell from these three photos that I was the first and only one on Black Point Wildlife Drive that morning – which led to the next situation. I stopped at the rest area and got out to scout around. There’s a small observation deck there at the start of Cruickshank trail and as I was just coming off the path to go up the short boardwalk, I heard a noise and then saw a very healthy looking Bobcat jump over the rail and disappear into the vegetation. Even though I had my camera in my hands, set up and ready – I was way too slow to get a photo.

I’ve come across Bobcats several times in the wild. Usually when they see me, they fade away quickly and it’s hard to get a photo. This time was unusual – I wasn’t trying to be super quiet, I can only guess it was catnapping and didn’t notice me at first, or it was hoping I wouldn’t come its way so it could stay comfortable.

I’m sorry I didn’t get the photo for you on Thursday and I know you’re disappointed. So here’s a previously un-published one from March 2017 from very near the same area. It’s typical of the brief and poor look I normally get of Bobcats:

Bobcat

Feral pigs in MINWR aren’t as shy as Bobcats. They typically go about their business when I see them. This one stared me down and when it was sure I was going to stay put, continued across the road – hackles raised. It too quickly disappeared into the undergrowth.

Young wild boar

One more picture to close this out – from the boat launch area at Parrish Park:

#53 – A banded Ruddy Turnstone

I had an exciting day at Merritt Island. Although the winter birds aren’t back in force yet, The Ruddy Turnstones and skittish Belted Kingfishers I saw are migrants – a good sign.

I have many more images from Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157627776386723. And you can click on almost all of the photos on my blog to view them in much higher resolution on Flickr.

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

Morning Glory

March 19, 2017INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, black and white, Bobcat, BPWD, infrared, landscape, Little Blue Heron, panorama, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I had a strong urge to photograph, and at the last-minute decided to drive over to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge before dawn last Friday. My first stop was at a spot Kevin M. Tom M. (3/25/17 correction – I misremembered, sorry. Tom told me about this place, not Kevin.) had mentioned – underneath the east side of the A. Max Brewer Causeway that leads into the refuge.

We’ve had cooler weather here and very clear skies, so I wasn’t expecting much color at sunrise. But this is what greeted me at dawn:

Morning glory

This image is a two frame panorama I made with the Olympus E-M1 II camera in high res mode. Lightroom’s been updated for the camera, and I’m impressed with how it handles these files. And the more I use the new camera the better I like it, especially how it minimizes motion artifacts in high res mode.

I next took a turn around Black Point Wildlife Drive. The water on the first half is as low as I’ve ever seen it – gone in many places.

Cracked. Infrared, B&W

It was exciting to spot a Bobcat. It was stalking slowly through the grass, but I only managed a single (poor) frame before it disappeared. I wish it had lingered for a few minutes so I could get a better shot. I’m guessing it might be a long time before I get another chance for a Bobcat photo as good as the one in this post from 2011.

Bobcat

On the back half of Black Point there was a lot more water and a lot more of the regular birds.

Little Blue

I also took a turn around Gator Creek Road and saw an Osprey close up with an awesome fish. But it grabbed the fish and flew off with it before I could get a photo. Seems like I need to practice my quick reaction shots!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2017, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

The year in review: My favorite 2011 Photos

December 19, 2011VARIOUSAntiques, Arlington National Cemetery, Barred Owl, birds, black and white, Bobcat, BPWD, cemetery, Deer, Eastern Meadowlark, Florida Scrub Jay, infrared, landscape, macro, Mount Blue Sky, Mountain Goat, Mt. Evans, people, reviews, Scrub Ridge Trail, sunrise, watch, wildlifeEd Rosack

I hope that all of you, your families, and your friends have a joyful and happy holiday season!

Photographer Jim Goldstein has an annual tradition of organizing a “best photos of the year” listing. So it’s a good time to put together my own third annual “Favorite photos of the year” post. You can revisit 2009 here, and 2010 here.

Again in 2011, I’ve been blessed with a huge amount of photo opportunities. The 2011 folder on my hard drive takes up about 178 GB of space. Wow – good thing storage is so cheap now days! I’m still using the following system to rate my photos. The numbers in parentheses are the counts for 2011 .

1 star – The photo is interesting (262)
2 stars – The photo is worth showing to others (400)
3 stars – The photo is the best of (or one of the best of ) any given photo shoot (81)
4 stars – My favorite photo of a year (1)
5 stars – My favorite photo ever (none, I’m not done making photos yet!)

Photos without stars are seconds or not so good versions of other photos. I usually keep them, but they probably won’t get any more attention. I’ve been using this system consistently, and it seems to work for me. I’ve reviewed my 2011 photos and selected what I think are my best. Of course, this is all subjective and my opinion only. Feel free to disagree, but I hope you’ll enjoy looking at the ones I’ve picked.

You can click on each of these to go to Flickr and see a larger version. Or you can click this link to go to the set on Flickr.

Here we go. I have 3 mammals, 3 birds, 2 landscapes, and 3 miscellaneous subjects …

November: Bobcat in Tree, Circle B Bar Reserve. I’ve seen Bobcats in the wild before, but I’ve never been able to take a good photo of one. We saw this one resting up on a branch and it posed for a while. In this image, I think it was trying to figure out how to get through the crowd of humans at the base of the tree. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/11/24/landscapes-and-bobcat-at-the-circle-b-bar-reserve/

July: Baby mountain goat, Mt. Evans summit, Colorado. There were several families of mountain goats on the way up and at the summit. This little one posed for me so I could frame him against the out of focus mountains in the background. It’s amazing to watch them scramble from rock to rock and never slip. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/07/10/mount-evans-redux/

September: Young deer at Viera Wetlands. View large and check out the eyebrows and whiskers! More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/09/04/late-afternoon-at-viera-wetlands/

January: Barred Owl watches photographers. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/01/30/catching-up/

December: Eastern Meadowlark, Blackpoint Wild Life Drive. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/12/17/merritt-island-scouting-report-saturday-december-10/

June: Florida Scrub Jay watches us. One or two birds in this Scrub Jay family were real posers. And one of those was a “dive bomber”. It flew at our heads a few times trying to discourage us. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/06/19/a-summertime-visit-to-minwr-blackpoint-and-scrub-ridge-trail/

November: Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/11/24/landscapes-and-bobcat-at-the-circle-b-bar-reserve/

December: It was a little cloudy this morning. Blackpoint Wild Life Drive. I’ve enjoyed playing with an Infrared modified Olympus EPL-1 camera. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/12/17/merritt-island-scouting-report-saturday-december-10/

March: Tomb of the unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery. I’d never been to Arlington before this trip. As a US Navy Veteran and a patriot, I have to admit it made a huge impression on me. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/03/19/washington-dc/

December: Flavia, in color. American Photo Model Shoot, Orlando, 12/3/11. My first time photographing models was a real learning experience. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/12/09/orlando-american-photo-model-shoot-workshop-december-2011/

June: My Grandfather’s Pocket-watch. After the Orlando Watch Company repaired it, it’s working fine. This is a 1921 Elgin pocket-watch, marked Wadsworth Referee 20 year 5069868. More info: https://edrosack.com/2011/06/25/grandfathers-pocket-watch/

Fotobug Podcast Interviews Ed

December 4, 2011Circle B Bar Reserve, INSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUSBobcatEd Rosack

Jim Caldwell and Fred Rodgers posted episode 40 of their Fotobug podcast today. It’s located here: http://fotobug.podbean.com/2011/12/04/fotobug-elusive-image-episode-40/, and you can also subscribe via iTunes.

One of the things they talk about this time is the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida and they interview me for the show. I got to tell them about my Bobcat encounter from a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a good show – you should add them to your regular listen list.

Landscapes and Bobcat at the Circle B Bar Reserve

November 24, 2011Circle B Bar Reserve, INSIDE FLORIDAblack and white, Bobcat, Flowers, infrared, landscape, Marigold, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

Last weekend, I went over to the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida with Kevin M., Lutfi E., and Frank B. I almost didn’t go – we checked Flickr for new photos from the area and didn’t see much being posted. But I remembered seeing yellow flowers blooming there at this time last year and wanted to see them again.

Early morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve – The yellow flowers are Burr Marigolds. These are all over the Circle B Bar in mid to late November.

Sunrise sure does happen early since the time changed. We met at 5:15am to drive over and arrived just as it started to get light. I find it very hard to predict how sunrise will look. Weather and clouds can shift over the time / distance of the drive. But this morning turned out nice and I managed to make a good image or two.

Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve

The bird population was a bit disappointing. We saw the usual suspects, including Anhingas, Cormorants, Woodstorks, Ospreys, Herons, Egrets, Coots, Moorhens, and Whistling Ducks. I attempted a few bird photos, but none came out blog worthy. Here’s a landscape that includes a few birds:

Tree and Woodstorks

So – I didn’t see any new birds or make any great bird photos, but I did make some landscapes I like. Enough to count the trip as a success. And then…

A jogger came by us and told us about “a Bobcat up in tree about 300 yards away on the right past a palm tree”. That got my photo adrenalin going! I’ve seen Bobcats in the wild three times or so. In one case at dusk I was able to get a single underexposed, blurry photo before it moved off a trail at Orlando Wetlands. In my experience they take a look at you and then they’re gone. You only have a few seconds to make the photo. So this situation sounded exciting.

We took off down the trail – and Frank and I walked right by it! Lucky for us, Kevin was trailing us, saw it and called us back. It was very well camouflaged and it sure helped to have multiple sets of eyes searching. There was no one around at first. The Bobcat looked healthy, and appeared to be resting and watching from about 35 – 40 feet up. I was really happy that I had my long lens and flash with me. It was backlit against the sky and a real tough exposure without flash. We made some photos and moved on down the trail. When we returned, there was a crowd gathered and it was pretty famous on Flickr the next day! Judging from the photos in the Circle B Bar Flickr pool, it’s a good place to see Bobcats.

Bobcat in Tree, Circle B Bar – I’ve seen Bobcats in the wild before, but I’ve never been able to take a good photo of one. We saw this one resting up on a branch and it posed for a while. In this image, I think it was trying to figure out how to get through the crowd of humans at the base of the tree.

So the moral of this story is: You won’t make any good photos if you don’t get up and get out there. You’ll never know what you could have seen if you don’t make the effort to go out and see it. You may be surprised and if you are, I hope you’re ready!

You can view other photos I’ve made at the Circle B Bar in this set on Flickr.

Oh, and have a Happy Thanksgiving. Even with all the problems we have in the economy, country, world, and our personal lives – we can each find many things to be grateful for.

Central Florida Photo Ops

What and where they are and how to photograph them.