Tag Archives: Common Yellowthroat

A Favorite Place

December 12, 2021Merritt Island NWRamerican kestrel, BPWD, Common Yellowthroat, Green Heron, Hooded Merganser, killdeer, Ospreys, Palm Warbler, Reddish Egret, SpoonbillEd Rosack

I was in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge last Thursday morning and made a number of photos I really like. Today I’ll share 10 that show some of what you can see there at this time of year.

Handsome Hoodie: I spent several minutes watching this Hooded Merganser before he finally turned toward the light. It was worth the wait.

Posing Palm Warbler: iBird says these forage on the ground for insects, but I don’t think I’ve seen them do it before – especially close by, out in the open, and in nice light.

In the Magrove roots: I like this environmental portrait. I haven’t seen a Common Yellowthroat scrambling around like this before either.

Preening Roseate Spoonbill: They were in several spots around Black Point Wildlife Drive. This was the closest and the best photo I made of one. I like the coy over-the-shoulder look.

Reddish Egret and reflection: I spotted 3 or 4 of these always pretty birds too.

Green Heron: It was hiding in the bushes when I first walked by. When I came back it was sitting still, out in the open.

Killdeer and reflection

Osprey and catch: The birds were enjoying a fishing feast alongside Catfish Creek Road.

American Kestrel: I almost drove by this tiny falcon, but saw something out of the corner of my eye to the left on the paved exit road at Black Point Wildlife Drive. The light was harsh and it didn’t turn around while I was there. I like the photo anyway.

Wading Willet: I’m glad to see them back in Central Florida.

Others I spotted: Belted Kingfishers, Greater Yellowlegs, Brown Pelicans, Anhigas, Double-crested Cormorants, a Northern Harrier, many Northern Shovelers, Blue-winged Teals, Alligators, Sanderlings, Caspian Terns, Savanah Sparrows, Wood Storks, the regular herons and egrets and more.

By the way #1: Jim Boland has seen and photographed the Cinnamon Teal again this year – so if you go, look for it along the Wildbirds Unlimited Trail south of the parking area on the south west corner of BPWD. I looked on Thursday, but didn’t spot it. I guess it’s my “nemesis bird” once again.

By the way #2: It was nice to run into Pat H. out there. I haven’t seen her for quite a while. She’s a wonderful photographer – check out her Flickr stream if you get a chance.

In spite of that darn Cinnamon Teal, MINWR is still a wonderful area. So many photos from a single trip! No wonder it’s is one of my favorite places, especially at this time of year. It’s beautiful and the variety of birds and wildlife you can see is amazing.

Header image: “Across the water”. You can view the full photo here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/51759864252/in/dateposted-public/

Sorry for posting so many photos. If it’s any consolation – I could have posted even more!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Please be kind, take care of yourselves and each other – and if you can, visit one of your favorite nature spots and make some photos!

Merritt Island NWR – December 2020

December 26, 2020Merritt Island NWRBelted Kingfisher, birds, black and white, Black Crowned Night Heron, blue hour, BPWD, Christmas, clouds, Common Yellowthroat, Great Horned Owl, landscape, monochrome, northern cardinal, Northern Shoveler, panorama, red-bellied woodpecker, Reddish Egret, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, White Pelican, wildlife, Wood StorkEd Rosack

‘Twas the night after Christmas*

‘Twas the night after Christmas and I sat at my desk,
trying to decide which photos were best.

To the refuge I’d been three times in December.
I was writing a blog post to help me remember.

All of these pictures I selected with care.
In hopes that they’d make you feel like you’re there.

This light on the Fish Camp made me pause for a bit.
When the pandemic’s over, we’ll stop in and sit.

Early morning at the Fish Camp Bar & Grill. On SR 46 at the St. Johns River.

Going into the refuge the river’s reflection,
painted this scene approaching perfection.

Clouds on the Indian River. Just south of Veterans Memorial Park.

Kingfishers on Black Point are loud and brash.
But I managed to catch one, heading off in a flash.

Male Belted Kingfisher in flight

A Common Yellowthroat posed in the brush.
Then he flew away in a very big rush.

Male Common Yellowthroat

Storks in formation soared by above,
A wonderful subject to make photos of.

Three Wood Storks in flight

And what to my wondering eyes should appear?
A pretty pink spoonbill, preening quite near.

Preening Roseate Spoonbill

Other birds to the refuge, they also came.
It’s wonderful to see them and call them by name.

Now Ospreys, Shovelers, Pelicans and all,

Northern Shoveler drake

White Pelican

Now egrets and herons, with all of your calls,

Reddish Egret

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Now woodpeckers, cardinals, eagles, owls and more,
So many birds along the shore!

Red-bellied Woodpecker. “I know I saw a bug in there…”

Male Cardinal in the Mangroves

Nesting Great Horned Owl

Large birds, small birds, short birds and tall,
stay for a while, don’t dash away all!

Ibises and Spoonbills

Ibises and Egrets

And I exclaimed as I turned out the light:
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL,
AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!”

Calm Harbor – Titusville Marina

Note: I ended up visiting Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge three times this month and I had so many unused images from these trips that I decided to re-do a post from December 2019 with updated words to fit the new photos. MINWR is a truly wonderful place – especially at this time of year. I’m very grateful that I live close by!

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope this holiday season brings each and every one of you and your loved ones peace and joy. I know the pandemic has been extra challenging and not being with family is especially hard at Christmas time. Stay safe and take care of each other so we can all enjoy the better times that are on the way for 2021!

This is my last post of 2020, but I’ll be back next Sunday with another one. Until then, have a happy and safe New Year!

*With sincere apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive – 13 December 2019

December 15, 2019Lake ApopkaAmerican Bittern, black and white, Black Crowned Night Heron, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Phoebe, fulvous whistling duck, infrared, landscape, panoramaEd Rosack

If you’ve been a photographer for any length of time, you might be familiar with “new gear jinx”. It seems whenever we get new photo equipment, the weather turns bad for a while so we can’t use it.

The day was dreary and the light was dim. Lots of clouds, some fog and haze, and rain later in the morning.

Kevin M. and I both wanted to try out some new gear and in spite of the poor weather we’ve had lately, decided to defy the jinx and venture out to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive on Friday morning. I’m very glad we did. Here’s some of what we saw.

Fulvous Whistling-duck. There were quite a few. I’d never seen one before, so this was a great addition to my life-list. Thanks Kevin!

Common Yellowthroat. I posted a photo of one a few weeks ago, but this bird is much more colorful.

American Bittern – in their classic frozen statue pose. It eventually realized we could see it anyway and left. By then, I wasn’t paying attention and missed the flight shot.

Eastern Phoebe. This must be a young one – it hasn’t learned to hide from photographers behind twigs and branches yet.

Black-crowned Night-Heron in flight. We saw 4 or 5 of these on Friday. They’ve been on Black Point Wildlife Drive too and seem more common than usual this year.

There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of birds on the water – I haven’t seen that many in a long while. Lots of coots, but also Redheads, Northern Shovelers, Blue-wing Teals, and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks too – among others. We also saw a few alligators, all the other usual wading / water birds along with an occasional Belted Kingfisher, one young Bald Eagle, Red-winged Blackbirds, many Red-shoulder Hawks, and even one fast flying snipe.

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive undoubtedly lives up to its name. If you’re planning to go, it’s usually open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays between sunrise and sunset. That poor light on Friday was a good test of our new gear but I ended up with a lot of photos I like. I think we broke the jinx!

You can look through my blog posts about this wonderful place at this link: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/lake-apopka/. And I’ve collected images from there in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157656060310175. Also please click on the photos in these blog posts to view them in higher resolution on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos -even when the weather’s dreary!

Mother Nature’s rewards

March 10, 2019INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, St. Johns Riverbee, black and white, boat, BPWD, Common Yellowthroat, fishing, infrared, landscape, Northern Shoveler, Red-breasted Merganser, sunrise, Thistle, Wilson's SnipeEd Rosack

I headed out toward Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge with KM and KK last Friday.

We stopped by the boat ramp at the St. Johns River on US 50 for sunrise. There weren’t many clouds, so my hopes for color weren’t too high. But there was a nice pop as the sun came over the horizon and I zoomed in to capture this moment:

St. Johns Sunrise – a peaceful pasture

I had my infrared modified camera in the car. When I saw these fishermen leaving, I pulled it out and hurried over to make an image. Despite rushing, I like the way it turned out. The clarity that IR brings to this image is nice, and the wake and boat reflection are pretty too. I’m glad I had the camera all setup to go before I grabbed it!

Early departure – Monochrome, infrared

KM is an ace at spotting birds and he called out this Merganser. When I got home, I thought at first it might be a Common Merganser – which I’ve never seen before. But it turns out their range doesn’t include Florida. So this was a Red-breasted – which I have seen, although infrequently.

Red-breasted Merganser

There are a large number of Northern Shovelers around Black Point Wildlife drive. Of course they were mostly far away and when they were close, they seemed to always face in the wrong direction. But patience paid off when this male eventually swam slowly in front of us in good light and dragged his very handsome reflection with him.

Male Northern Shoveler

Thistle plants are also all over on Black Point – this one came with a Bee on it. I made a four image panorama to record the whole subject with higher magnification and resolution. Sometimes I run into issues stitching these together. But this one turned out well:

Thistle and Bee

KK called out this Snipe in the mangroves along the canal and we of course stopped to photograph it. The light was poor, with the sun behind it. When I first looked at my photo on the computer, it was very washed out. I added some dehaze in Lightroom and was pleased with the result.

Wilson’s Snipe

Smaller birds were flitting around near the rest stop on Black Point. I usually find these hard to photograph. The light is bad way back in the reeds and they move quickly. It’s tough to focus on them through all the obstructions. I was shooting toward the sun for this image too and it didn’t look good at first on my computer. Thankfully it’s in focus and there’s a lot of latitude for processing with a RAW format file. I used local adjustments with the radial filter in Lightroom to boost the exposure and visible detail on the bird.

Common Yellowthroat

When we left on this trip, I had no idea what we’d see and photograph. There are no guarantees. I’ve learned though, that Mother Nature usually rewards us when we pay attention to her – in this case with a nice sunrise and several birds that I rarely see. And a little post processing rewarded me with improved photos.

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

Orlando Wetlands Park – 14 Oct 17

October 15, 2017INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, Orlando Wetlandsbirds, Common Yellowthroat, Flowers, landscape, panoramaEd Rosack

Kevin M. and I met at Orlando Wetlands Park Yesterday before sunrise. It was gloomy and raining, but not for long. I liked the way the low sunlight lit up this scene as the clouds were clearing.

Marsh Morning II – This is a two frame, Olympus Hi Res, panorama using the technique described in this post: https://edrosack.com/2011/01/21/two-image-pano-hdr-focus-stacking/

We had a hard time deciding where to go – storm damage and other circumstances are limiting our choices. Many places that we like in Central Florida are closed (Viera Wetlands, Lake Apopka, Mead Gardens, many parts of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Jetty Park, etc.). We ended up deciding between Circle B Bar in Lakeland and Orlando Wetlands (both are open). I hadn’t been to either for a while and Orlando Wetlands is closer, so…

With the sun up and the clouds gone, we walked for a while before it got too hot. This colorful bird caught my eye. I didn’t realize it was a new life bird until I got home.

Common Yellowthroat – A life bird!

There were lots of these flowers blooming. I see them all the time although I’d never looked them up. They’re native to Florida and the Americas.

Pickerelweed flowers

Some other things we saw: a Raccoon, a Peregrine Falcon, Red Shoulder Hawks, Black Belllied Whistling Ducks, a Juvenile Blue Heron and other wading birds, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a Painted Bunting, Red Eyed and White Eyed Vireos, House and Carolina wrens, Palm Warblers, and a Chicken (the Ranger said its name is Chuck).

It was very nice to visit a place with no sign of the recent hurricanes. Lots of other folks thought so too and were out there enjoying the day. It’s a large place – I’ve ridden around it on my bike, but it’s too far for me to walk the whole thing. They have a guided tram ride at 9am (confirm on their website) and it’s worth trying if you’re there at the right time and want to see more of the place with expert commentary. Remember too that the park is open year round now – it no longer closes during the winter. You can see some other Orlando Wetlands Park photos in this Flickr Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157639616792296, and you can read other posts mentioning the park at this link.