Tag Archives: Spoonbill

A Few Recent Photos

May 7, 2025INSIDE FLORIDA, Mead Gardens, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlands, St. Augustine Alligator FarmBarred Owl, birds, black and white, BPWD, Flowers, Great Egret, landscape, nest, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlife, Wood StorkEd Rosack

I haven’t updated the blog recently (sorry!), but I have made a lot of photos. Here are a few of them with info about each in the captions. Several are from the wild bird rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm – I hadn’t been there for many years.

Looking south along the St. Johns River at dawn. Along HW 50, March 26. (iPhone, ISO 60, 2.22mm wide angle, f/22, 1/45sec)

Distant morning fog (B&W). Same scene / time as previous photo. (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/11, 3.2sec)

Great Horned Owl on nest. Others had seen the owlet, but it wasn’t visible when we were there. Near the Black Point Wildlife Drive exit in Merritt Island NWR, February 21, (ISO 1200, 840mm, f/9, 1/1600sec).

Post bath Spoonbill. Orlando Wetlands Park. It had just finished a vigorous bath and was drying its wings. February 26. (ISO 1250, 424mm, f/8, 1/2000sec)

Inbound bumble bee. Orlando Wetlands Park, near the visitor center. Feb. 26. (ISO 1250, 749mm, f/9, 1/2000sec)

Black Skimmer and minnow. Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island NWR, March 28, (ISO 640, 602mm, f/9, 1/1600sec)

A sleepy, young Spoonbill. St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery, April 22. (ISO 400, 200mm, f/4, 1/200sec)

Great Egret with nesting material. St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery, April 22. (ISO 400, 280mm, f/8, 1/1600sec)

Two very young Great Egret chicks (B&W). St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery, April 22. (ISO 400, 280mm, f/8, 1/1600sec)

Wood Stork with nesting material. St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery, April 22. (ISO 100, 126mm, f/4, 1/2000sec)

Parent and young Barred Owls (in poor light). Mead Gardens, April 25. (ISO 10000, 535mm, f/9, 1/1600sec)

So, yes – Central Florida is still a very good place to make photos!

Blog note:

As of today (May 7, 2025), this blog has been on-line for 18 years, with 793 posts, and more than 2600 comments. That’s a good effort in blog land! It’s more than enough time to express just about everything I can think of to say about Central Florida Photo Ops. So I’ve decided to wind things down here sometime between May and September 2025 when my hosting plan expires. I’m doing some research and hope to archive a copy of the blog somewhere on line instead of completely shutting it down. I’ll let you know what I find out.

I won’t be totally off-line. Even though I’m not photographing as much as I used to, I’ll still be going out and making images as often as possible. If you want to see what I’m up to, you can stop by https://flickr.com/edrosack, where I’ll keep posting.

Until September (and after): Many thanks to everyone for stopping by and reading my blog. You’ve all always been supportive and kind. Stay that way!

Take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!

Two ‘Oldies but Goodies’

April 29, 2024Casey Key, St. Augustine Alligator Farmbeach, birds, black and white, infrared, landscape, panorama, Spoonbill, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I are moving next week, so we’ve been busy and I haven’t been on any recent photo field trips. I did have a little time though to browse through my Lightroom catalog and found two older images that I decided to re-visit.

The first one is a two frame, vertical panorama made with an IR modified Olympus E-PL5 way back in 2015 at Casey Key on the gulf coast of Florida. It’s two Raw frames that I’d ignored at the time. I made it with a 14mm (28mm equivalent) lens at f/5.6, 2.0 sec, ISO 200. Here’s my current work flow:

Initial processing of the Raw file with DxO Photo Lab 6 DeepPrime XD Noise Reduction
Lightroom: color and exposure settings and panorama merge
Photoshop: cropping, final adjustments, sharpening with Topaz Sharpen AI
Lightroom again: B&W conversion and publish

Beach view

I was really happy with the result, especially the detail and how the light looks in the clouds. It was nice to rediscover this one in the archives!

I don’t know how interested you’d be in more detailed processing steps, but I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. Here’s a before and after comparison of the Beach View photo (Raw on the left and final on the right):

The second one is from even further back: A single frame from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in 2010, made with a Nikon D90, at 150mm, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 640. I used a similar work flow (except no panorama merge or B&W conversion).

Spoonbill Touchdown

I’m very happy with this one too. The Nikon D90 was quite capable for its time and the files look pretty good, especially when processed with current software.

I often return from a photo op with too many photos. I’ll delete the obvious bad frames or duplicates. But I try not to delete too many because it’s a little hard to predict what the processed versions will end up looking like. Sometimes I’m very glad I saved images – even 9 and 14 years later!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you have time, make some photos – or at least process an old one!

MINWR Again – 2/16/24

February 25, 2024Haulover Canal, Merritt Island NWRbirds, black and white, BPWD, flamingo, forster's Tern, landscape, Lesser Yellowlegs, Merlin, Painted Bunting, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I realize I’ve been posting a lot lately about Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but I have a good excuse: there’s a lot of activity there right now. This post is just a bit more encouragement in case I haven’t already convinced you to check it out!

Kevin M. was in town and wanted to go there, so we went on the 16th after lunch. I usually go in the mornings and wasn’t sure how much we’d see in the afternoon, but it turned out we saw plenty. Most of these images are from that trip, but I’ve included a few from my February 2nd trip that haven’t been in the blog.

Hidden wonders in a beatuful place: It doesn’t look like it in this photo, but Black Point Wildlife Drive in MINWR is full of birds and wildlife – especially at this time of year. (2/2/24)

Flamingos are found in Florida, but usually only in the Everglades. In late August / early September of 2023, Hurricane Idalia displaced Flamingos from the Yucatan to all over the eastern US. These four are still hanging out off the west end of Haulover Canal in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They were about 1/2 mile from the kayak launch where we were standing – so it was a pretty tough shot with quite a bit of atmospheric distortion. I’m glad it turned out even this well. I might have gotten a better pic if we still had our kayaks.

If you click on the image, you’ll open a higher res version on Flickr. Then click again once or twice to zoom in to see the flamingos a little bertter.

For the record…

There were mostly Great and Snowy Egrets in this gathering, with some Spoonbills, Woodstorks, and a few Grackles mixed in. They weren’t going after the fish very hard so most of the fish were gone or the birds were full.

A great gathering

I wasn’t looking closely enough and didn’t notice this Great Egret until Kevin pointed out its bright green lores and breeding feathers (aigrettes). Thanks Kevin!

Fancy Feathers

Terns were busy fishing along the west side of Black Point. We watched them swooping, hovering, and diving for several minutes.

Forster’s Tern after fish

Kevin also found this Merlin near the Black Point exit. Zoom into the Flickr version and you’ll be able to see the dragonfly in the Merlin’s left talon.

Merlin with prey

A lady Painted Buntings was enjoying the seeds at the visitor center feeder. There was a male there too, but I wasn’t able to get a photo.

Lady Bunting

We spotted other birds: Kestrels, Hawks, Ospreys, Skimmers, Hooded Mergansers, and several species of duck. Keven also saw Florida Scrub Jays. A very good trip!

Here’s two final photos to close out.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Wading near the shore (2/2/24)

The header image is an early morning (2/2/24) iPhone photo near the entrance to Black Point Wildlife Drive. That was a good trip too!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog . Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, check out a NWR close to you. And make some photos!

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

January 11, 2024Haulover Canal, Merritt Island NWRbirds, Black Point Wildlife Drive, BPWD, Dolphin, Greater Scaup, Kestrel, landscape, Little Blue Heron, Mottled Duck, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I hope everyone had a wonderful time during the Hollidays and that you’re all having a great start to the New Year! We had a lovely (and busy) time with lots of family here at our home.

But … December is a very good time to visit MINWR. I wanted to stop by before most of the folks arrived. MK was already here and wanted to go too, so we took off early one morning to see what was going on.

It was chilly (to a Florida person anyway) and very clear. Sunrise wasn’t nearly as good as the last time I was there (https://edrosack.com/2023/08/13/5-photos-in-45-minutes/). I struggled a bit trying to make a landscape image with such a clear sky and this is the best I could do:

The day began beyond small distant clouds with a chill in the air, ripples in the river, and the click of a shutter:

There was a lot to see in the refuge though. Many birds were around, but for some reason they all seemed to be a long way off – proving a common belief that you can never have too long a lens when photographing birds.

Chilly Heron

I did get a lot of practice with a variety of birds in flight.

White Pelican

Spoonbill

Mottled Duck

Kestrel

And I managed to photograph one species for the first time (at least I’m pretty sure these are Greater Scaups).

Greater Scaups(?) Trio

We also saw Ospreys, Herons, Egrets, Vultures, a Northern Harrier, Hooded Mergansers, and a variety of other ducks. But no gators on this trip – they were huddled somewhere waiting for it to warm up. We did see manatees and dolphins (at Bairs Cove). This dolphin was making quite a splash chasing fish in Haulover Canal.

Hunting Dolphin

A very nice visit! Winter is a fine time to see MINWR – you should go. Maybe next time I’ll try when they’re forecasting a few morning clouds.

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

Orlando Wetlands Follow-up

May 15, 2023Orlando Wetlandsbirds, Black Vulture, black-bellied whistling duck, Blue Iris, Caracara, Florida Cooter, Flowers, Great Blue Heron, horaltic pose, Pig Frog, Pileated Woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, red-winged blackbird, Spoonbill, turtle, Water Snake, White Peacock Butterfly, wildlifeEd Rosack

I’ve visited and written about Orlando Wetlands several times this year. Now I’d like to follow-up and show you some of the things that haven’t been in the blog yet. Sorry for including so many more photos than usual – I need to catch up!

A group of Vultures resting in a tree or on the ground is called a ‘committee’. I’ve seen single Vultures pose with their wings spread before, but this was the first time I’ve seen so many, all doing the same thing, on top of identical palm trunks. It really caught my eye! It was almost like the ‘committee’ was taking a vote! If you search for “horaltic pose” you’ll find some info about this. They often do it in the early morning to warm up.

An unusual committee of vultures

Wildflowers and butterflies (and dragonflies too) have been plentiful.

Blue Iris Bloom

White Peacock Butterfly

You may spot a snake catching some rays among the Lilly pads.

Water Snake

But the snakes have to be careful or a Great Blue Heron might spot them too.

Formidable Hunter

I’m not sure what the plants around this frog are, but they add some nice color and texture to the photo. I’m also not sure how these frogs survive in a lake with such a large population of Alligators.

Pig Frog

Turtles are plentiful too.

Mossy back turtle. Florida Cooter(?)

This Caracara was strolling along the path leading to the boardwalk. I followed at a distance until it turned and I could get an image of it in profile.

Out for a stroll

Red-winged Blackbirds are courting and staking out their territories.

Singing Red-winged Blackbird

I heard this Pileated Woodpecker knocking from at least a quarter mile away. It kept on as I walked and the sound led me right to it.

Follow the knock

The header image is of the same bird flying toward a new place to knock. There’s a larger version here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52883882765/in/dateposted-public/

I didn’t hear this next one knocking, but its red highlights stood out and made it easy to find on this palm tree.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Posing ducks are hard to resist.

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks on the railing

And here’s one more Spoonbill photo. Fledglings were practicing their flying skills and learning how to get around and feed themselves. Landing on a railing is tricky!

Young Spoonbills, exploring the world

Migrant birds were also passing through Orlando Wetlands this spring. I found a Painted Bunting, a Cape May Warbler, and a European Starling – although my photos of them aren’t very good. And there’s a story over at https://birdersjourney.com/2023/04/30/life-bird-what-a-delight/ about spotting a Blue Grosbeak! So it’s been a glorious place to wander around with a camera this year. I think I’ll keep checking on it every once in a while.

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

Nature and Nurture

April 10, 2023Orlando WetlandsAnhinga, birds, Common Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, Spoonbill, wildlife, Wood StorkEd Rosack

I met my friend Lutfi at Orlando Wetlands Park last Saturday morning. I was a bit worried at first since I didn’t see as many birds around as on my last visit in early March. The Whistling Ducks seemed to be hiding and there were fewer Spoonbills in the trees and flying around. I also couldn’t find the nest that’d been near the boardwalk.

Then I did start to see some things. There was a Sand Hill Crane Family foraging in some shallow water near the south Lake Searcy shore.

Sand Hill Crane colt and parent foraging

A Common Gallinule family foraging close by the boardwalk.

Common Gallinule chick and parent foraging

There was also a lot of noise coming from the Cypress stand to the east of the boardwalk – baby birds squawking and begging to be fed. I’m glad I had a long lens and teleconverter since they were quite far away.

Two Anhinga chicks in nest Wood Stork chick and parent in nest

This Spoonbill fledgling was by itself when I first saw it. Perhaps it’s from the nest that I couldn’t find? A parent soon arrived in the tree and fed it. It won’t be long before it’s taking care of itself.

Hungry youngster

A lot of change out there in just over a month. Nature in action nurturing a new generation of birds. What a thriving rookery and what a fantastic Central Florida Photo Op!

I made all of the photos in this post last Saturday except for the header image, which is from my previous visit. You can see a larger version of it at this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52792040905/in/dateposted-public/

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

Photos with a new camera

March 12, 2023Cameras and Photography, Cocoa, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlands, Osceola County, St. Johns Riverbirds, black and white, Eastern Meadowlark, Flowers, landscape, panorama, Raccoon, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlife, Willet, Wood StorkEd Rosack

I haven’t posted in a while, so it’s about time. And I have been making some photos lately. Here are a few that I like – all made since my last post.

Another quiet morning on the St. Johns river.

(February 17; Boat ramp on HW 50 at the St. Johns River; three frame panorama; merged in Photoshop.)

Warm light on a wading Willet.

(February 17, Gator Creek Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, single frame, cropped.)

A wary Raccoon.

(February 23; Orlando Wetlands Park, single frame, cropped.)

Forest flowers.

(February 24, Central Winds Park in Winter Springs; Focus Bracket in Camera, merged in Photoshop.)

Through the trees.

(March 4; Orlando Wetlands Park; single frame; cropped.)

Nesting Woodstork.

(March 4, Orlando Wetlands Park, single frame, Adobe enhanced resolution, cropped.)

Ruffled Feathers.

(Eastern Meadowlark; March 7; Joe Overstreet Road; single Frame; cropped.)

A river runs through it.

(March 10; Leroy Wright recreational area along SR 520 at the St. Johns river , Cocoa Fl; Sony Pixel Shift Multi Shoot (16 frames), merged in Sony Imaging Edge; Converted to B&W in Lightroom.)

I made all of these (and more!) while trying out and setting up my new camera.

In late October of last year, Sony announced the latest version of their high resolution model line: the A7R V. There’s a lot of info available on the web about it. I read a great deal of that over 3+ months before finally deciding to upgrade my faithful A7R III (which was announced way back in October of 2017). I packed up quite a bit of my existing camera gear and traded it in for the new one. If you’re interested, you can read a lot of the same info I researched on-line, so I’m not going to repeat any of that here. I’ll just summarize some things and give you my first impressions to go along with the images above.

6 years is a long time in the camera design universe. These are changes that I really like:

The native sensor resolution is slightly higher – nice for landscapes and very helpful for wildlife photos. The pixel shift multi shot capability now seems to work very well (it didn’t on the A7R III and I never used it). For static subjects where you want huge resolution files, I think it’s a better implementation than even the Olympus EM 1 MII version that I used a lot when I had that camera.
Focus capabilities are immensely improved. The human eye auto focus on the A7R III convinced me to buy that years ago. The A7R V AI auto focus is much better and will be wonderful for many subjects, not just people.
Image Stabilization on the A7R III was not a standout feature. On the A7R V it is.
The A7R V has a huge image buffer. You can shoot continuously at the highest frame rate for up to 1000 frames (using CF Express cards). Even using SD UHS-II cards (slower than CF Express) it will still shoot over 100 frames before the buffer fills.
Many RAW Image formats are now supported. You can choose compressed / uncompressed as well as medium or low resolution RAW files if you don’t need the full resolution.
Video is much improved (although I should study this and use it more often!).
The Electronic Viewfinder and the back LCD are both improved with higher resolution and frame rates. The LCD also tilts and swivels – very useful.

Other things have changed, but they’re minor (for me). In summary I like everything Sony did with this camera and I hope to use it for a long time to come. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to try and answer them in the comments.

By the way, nesting activity at Orlando Wetlands is still in full swing. It’s a good opportunity to observe several species creating new life.

Click on any of these photos to see higher resolution versions on Flickr.

The header image: Great Egret Fly-by (higher res version here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52719484820/in/dateposted-public/)

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

Spoonbill Update

February 11, 2023Orlando Wetlandsnest, SpoonbillEd Rosack

A short follow up today: A couple of weeks ago I wrote about visiting Orlando Wetlands Park and how many Roseate Spoonbills we saw (https://edrosack.com/2023/01/23/orlando-wetlands-park-jan-20-2023/). I said then “they seem to have established a thriving colony” but “I haven’t seen any nests yet”.

I stopped by again yesterday – there are still a large number of Spoonies – and they’re actively nesting!

Nesting Spoonbill

And it looks like it won’t be long before there are even more!

Nesting Spoonbills

I only spotted one nest this time, but I’m sure there are more. Over the next couple of months there’ll be lots of nest building / repair, egg hatching, baby birds, fledglings, and young spoonbills to observe. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see nature in action with these beautiful birds. I plan to check in on them.

You can see a larger version of the header image at this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52682475313/in/dateposted-public/

If you plan to visit, be aware of the festival next weekend – it’ll be crowded then (February 18th). Check their web page for details (https://www.orlando.gov/Parks-the-Environment/Directory/Wetlands-Park).

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, let nature show you some amazing things!

Orlando Wetlands Park – Jan. 20 2023

January 23, 2023Orlando Wetlandsbirds, black-bellied whistling duck, Caspian Tern, Green Heron, landscape, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlife, Wood StorkEd Rosack

The city of Orlando is adding a boardwalk, equestrian trail, and visitor center at Orlando Wetlands Park (OWP). The new 2200 foot board walk across Lake Searcy opened recently, and the Visitor Center looks like it’s almost finished. I’ve wanted to get back out there and see the changes and when Mahesh suggested a trip, I readily agreed. I met him and Lutfi there last Friday. The boardwalk provides some lovely new perspectives and viewpoints of the wetlands. Here’s a nice one, looking east past a cypress dome.

Daybreak from the newly opened boardwalk

The eBird website lists 258 species observed at OWP and we saw a few of them.

Green Herons are fun to photograph. I like the geometric patterns in their feathers.

Green Heron

Wood Storks are fun to spot too, especially in good light.

A couple of Storks

That eBird bar chart shows that Spoonbills are observed there all year, and I see many photos online of juveniles from OWP. I haven’t seen any nests yet, but Jim Boland has spotted some – they seem to have established a thriving colony! We saw twenty to thirty of these charismatic, rose-colored birds on Friday morning and if you’d like to see them in the wild, this is a great place to go look.

Backlit Spoonbilll in flight

I first saw (and heard) Whistling Ducks at Orlando Wetlands and they’re a reliable find there.

Seven Whistlers and a Blue-wing(?)

We saw plenty of Alligators although I didn’t make any photos of them. And mammals are around too. We saw tracks (Racoons?) and I’ve seen Otters, a Bobcat, and Deer in the past.

The header image is a Caspian Tern that was searching for fish – but didn’t find any while I watched. A larger version is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/52641238677/in/dateposted-public/

OWP is a wonderful place – I really must go more often. The one complaint I have is that the gate opens “at sunrise”. I like photographing in pre-dawn light, so I wish it opened a bit earlier.

You can look through all my posts from OWP at this link: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/orlando-wetlands/. And you can review images I’ve made there in this album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157639616792296

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are doing well. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!

Merritt Island NWR 12/8/2022

December 11, 2022Merritt Island NWRBelted Kingfisher, birds, BPWD, feeding frenzy, landscape, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I spent a few moments before sunrise last Thursday morning at Scobie Park (just south of Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville), watching the pre-dawn clouds reflecting in the calm Indian River water. Oh, and I had a camera with me too – I made 6 frames to stitch together into this image:

The day begins

After that I wandered over to Black Point Wildlife Drive and one of the first things I saw was this:

Large numbers of birds were going after minnows concentrated in this small pond along Black Point Wildlife Drive.

These “feeding frenzies” don’t happen all the time, but when they do they can be great photo fun.

At first glance, they look like a photographer’s dream – all those birds in a confined area – taking off, landing, chasing minnows and each other, just waiting for you to snap the shutter.

It turns out it’s not so easy. They’re crowded together against a cluttered background. They move quickly, change directions unexpectedly, and in general make it hard to pick a subject and compose deliberately – especially if you’re looking through your viewfinder with a long lens on your camera. I often keep the camera away from my eyes so I can see what’s going on. Then I can sometimes anticipate the action and make a photo when they all decide to move at once:

Exodus

I also like to study the scene for a while and try different vantage points and lenses. I chose a spot where the wind was at my back and most of the birds were taking off and landing toward me. It helps to keep looking around so you can spot them as they’re coming in. I noticed this spoonbill a long way out. Since I knew where it was headed I could track it as it approached and make several frames when it landed. This side lit one is my favorite:

Landing Spoonbill

There were lots of Roseate Spoonbills around. The header image at the top of the post on the web is another one I like from the trip. That pair was wading in a less busy part of the drive.

I also had some good luck with this female Belted Kingfisher. She ignored me and kept gazing out over the water as I crept closer. I stayed in the car, moved slowly and tried to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn’t bother her. Most of the time, they leave as soon as you point a camera at them, but she wasn’t concerned at all. This is one of the closest photos I’ve made of one (the EXIF data says I was about 19 meters away). She’s very pretty and quite regal, I think.

An Unusually Calm Kingfisher

It was a short visit, but a wonderful one. This is an excellent time of year to visit the refuge, get out in the midst of nature, and enjoy some of the things you can see there.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are doing well and that you have a joyful holiday season with your family and friends. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make a few photos!