More signs of spring

     We continue to find new signs of spring as we inch towards the official start of the season later this week.  Our weekend trips out to Viera Wetlands and Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area produced several images indicative of avian amore.  First, at Viera, we found that while in some cases the young of the Great blue herons had already fledged and the nests were bare.  Others palm tree trunks, however, were serving as platforms for the newer nests and in at least one case, we could actually see the eggs of the herons beneath the brooding mother.  Look carefully at the image below to see the eggs poking out from her side.

       Another mom tending to her nest was this Sandhill crane.  As we watched, she arose from her "nursery to be" to roll one of the eggs she was tending to.  Here again, if you look carefully at the next image, you will see her gently moving the egg about with her long bill.  There was probably a second egg in the nest as these cranes generally give birth to a pair of at a time.  Couldn't say if this was the mom or dad as both take turns tending to the incubation chores.  The eggs generally hatch in just about one month's time with the chicks leaving the next within a day or so of being born.  They will then hang out with the parents, learning how to forage and hunt for themselves.

       Some eggs have already been laid, incubated and hatched.  On the outskirts of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge,  Sharon and I found a Great-horned owl occupying an abandoned osprey nest several weeks ago.  This weekend, we were thrilled to see that the mom was no longer sitting on the nest.  She had moved over to a nearby dead tree limb while the nest was now the home to a newborn owlet.

      I must end up this installment with a caveat that all was not exactly joy, peace, and harmony in the avian world of love and child rearing.  Territorial battles are common as birds vie for nesting sites of for the attention of an attractive female nearby.  The next series of shots was taken along the edge of the "Click Ponds" at Viera Wetlands here in Florida.  As several female Boat-tailed grackles looked on with apparent "half-interest", two males with hormones raging engaged in a battle royal in the shallow water of the pond.  At first, there was posturing such that you could almost imaging one of the grackles calling out the second with some phrase like, "You want to mess with me?"

     Suddenly, one of the birds made the first move, pinning the second down in the water.

     This was followed by and explosion of roiling water as each bird violently tried to get the better of its adversary.  

     Within seconds, the battle was over with one of the birds beating a hasty retreat.  When all was said and done, the victor looked around at the audience of females which had been watching only to see that they had all walked away disinterestedly.  All for naught!  Sooner or later, I'm sure the winner will find his true love and will sire offspring of his own.  Apparently, today was not the day.

Spring is on the way

With the official beginning of spring just around the corner, signs of the season are popping up all around Florida.  While weather conditions back home in New York would suggest otherwise, here in the "Sunshine State", the avian community is gearing up for the time of year when seeking out territory, setting up nests, and mating are paramount.  Some of the birds have gotten a jump on the season and are already rearing their young.  The handsome Great blue heron family located at Viera Wetlands is obviously well on its way.

       At the same location, a pair of Anhingas was set to follow suit with their nest construction well under way and Mom possibly incubating her eggs.

     Meanwhile, over on the Gulf Coast,  a new cast of characters was moving in as birds which left their wintering grounds down in Central and South America and are heading into Florida and points north.  One of our favorite first signs of spring includes the Swallow-tailed kites.  This bird is unquestionably the most elegant of our birds of prey.  It's flight is thrilling to watch as it "glides through the air with the greatest of ease".  The nests are built in the highest of trees and are lined with lichen and spanish moss.  It would appear that this gorgeous specimen at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was heading back to its own nest with some of that material in tow.

     While birding the west coast of Florida, we also made a special effort to find one of our favorite targets, the Burrowing owl.  This slim little owl is in danger due to habitat loss.  These Florida birds have to excavate their own tunnels in what is left of open flat sandy ground and this pair has set up home in a vacant lot in Marco Island.  For those of you familiar with that area, you know it is highly developed and the use of these vacant lots by the owls is about the only suitable territory in the area.  While nocturnal during much of the year, the owls become much more visible during the breeding season, often perched out in the open for us lucky enough to be nearby with a camera.

     Finally, we'll end this installment with a photo of one of my personal favorite signs of spring, the Northern parula.  We often hear its distinctive call before we notice the bird, but we soon see it in abundance flitting through the trees low to the ground.   One of our most colorful warblers, we are always thrilled to welcome this harbinger of the season.

Birds in flight

     Well, the count for photographed birds as of today (2/8/14) for this year is 93.  The weather here in  Florida has been less than ideal for avian photography, so I'm pretty happy with the numbers up to this date.  I've been concentrating my efforts on capturing birds in flight.  I've cranked up the shutter speed, trying to keep it at no lower than 1/1000 sec and preferring to go at 1/1600 or better.  That being said, the brighter the skies the better.  I've also been opting for the Auto setting on my ISO settings, meaning the brighter the skies, the sharper the image.  It also means that I'm not losing as many shots as I did in the past by having the ISO set too low.  With the newer bodies (I'm now using both the D300s and a newer D7100), higher ISO settings still deliver decent shots where as in the past, high ISO meant more grain or "noise" in the photo.  Sorry to bore the non-photo enthusiasts with the details, but figured I mention this for those interested in the settings I'm using.

       In the past couple of weeks, I've been fortunate enough to capture several of my favorite birds doing what they were meant to do.....fly.  The first is a Barn owl which has been my "nemesis bird" for many years.  Not only had I not photographed one in the wild (I had decent shots of captive birds in flight), but I need this bird for a lifer!  Fortunately, while out on a trip with fellow birders from the one of the local Audubon clubs, I was able to grab a few frames of this beautiful owl as it exited an old building on the grounds of the Lake Apopka Preserve here in Florida.  The light was subdued, but I was able to shoot at 1/1000 of a second with the shutter wide open.  The auto ISO set itself all the way up to 1600, and yet there is remarkably little "noise" even though the image was cropped and enlarged.  Have to love the new technology!

       My next favorite shot of the past two weeks was taken along a gravel road through Shiloh Road on the property of Merritt Island National Wildlife Reserve.  I had been searching for the American avocets we had previously seen while birding this venue.  It was getting later in the day, so the light was at my back with the waters of the marsh in front of me.  No sooner had I found a flock of around two dozen birds of the desired species along with a good number of Blue-winged teal, then the entire group exploded into flight.  I looked for and quickly found the reason for their quick departure.  A young Bald eagle had flown overhead, putting the fear of the bird God in their hearts.  I quickly got on two of the birds and fired away.  With much better light, I was able to shoot at 1/1000 of a second with a much preferred low ISO of 160.  The aperture was a bit smaller, affording me more depth of field so that both bird heads were in sharp focus.

     I still had time to back off on the zoom to capture not only the avocets but also the beautiful Blue-winged teals flashing their brilliant blue upper wing coverts.  It's not often you get the opportunity to capture striking images of two gorgeous birds in the same frame.  Just have to be in the right place at the right time.

          One of the great advantages of capturing birds in flight is that no only is the subject so much more interesting and dynamic, but also you are often afforded a better look at often latent patterning hidden when the subject is at rest.  The next image is an example of the case in point.  This shot was also taken on the same day at the same location as the previous ones.  The subject is a Bonaparte's gull, a species which has made a sudden incursion into the area.  In the shot of the bird shown here, the patterning on the wings, not normally seen at rest, is obvious.  

       While the weather has not cooperated over the past week or so, the forecast is for brighter skies and warmer temperatures here in Central Florida.  Stay tuned and I'll bring you the latest updates on our newest quest.

New beginnings.....

It's the beginning of a new year, and as has been my habit for the past number of years, I like to take on a new self-imposed challenge at this time.  This year is the "Year photo list".  I've decided to see how many birds I can photograph in a year's time.  My main thrust will not just be the image, but to capture a more dynamic image of each bird.  Rather than a "field guide" portrait of a Sanderling like this earlier shot.....

     the newer version will attempt to be more of a documentary, portraying some aspect of the bird's life activities.  I am totally guilty of imparting human emotions on my subjects, even though I taught against this practice for years as an educator in Environmental Sciences.  I've spent too many years in contact with the avian world to totally ignore behaviors that make you ask, "What was that bird thinking?"  So when I captured this year's new Sanderling photo, I could hear the sanderling on the right asking itself about the strange actions of it's partner in the surf.

       The second challenge will be to capture more images of birds in flight.  One of the toughest shots I've found is to get a Painted bunting away from the feeder.  Even worse, try capturing one of these beauties in flight.  And so, this addition to the new "Photo Year-list" was a welcome triumph in my digital world.

     Capturing birds-in-flight has become a bit easier for me as I recently acquired two new pieces of equipment.  The new 80-400 mm Nikon AF-S lens has much faster focussing capabilities and paired with a new Nikon D7100 body, I find it much easier to capture decent pix (proper settings being the key).  This latest flight shot of a Laughing gull over the pier at the Naples Beach in Florida is an example of the shots I hope to gather this year.

       And so, I'll be posting updates throughout the year as to how many species I can capture will sample images.  For more images, you can visit my new Flcker site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/111343143@N02/ for a more complete collection.  Meanwhile, as of today, January 22nd, the count stands at 70 species photographed since the beginning of 2014.  I hope you'll follow along during the course of this year and that it will prove to be an exciting year of  birding for all of us.

Snowy egret