Posts in Category: Florida

Florida! Deadly dance

Snowy Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — After my workshop day in Cocoa Beach at the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, I arrived early at Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, to find the Egrets and Spoonbills feeding avidly in the ponds right behind the entrance sign. Parking is awkward there, but in just 20 minutes I got more photos of Egrets dancing on the water than I had ever hoped to get. Part of it was the OM System OM-1 with its bird detecting, eye-tracking auto focus, and part of it was that I have never seen so much concentrated action in such a small pool. This sequence shows how effective the whole dance-on-the-water thing is for Snowy Egrets…though I still suspect they have more misses than hits. It is certainly fascinating to watch, and I have enough photos from this one stop to share for the next week or more. 🙂 OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight and action modifications. -1.0EV, 1/1600th second. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Cruickshank Woodpeckers

Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — While looking for (and at) the Florida Scrub Jays that are the main attraction at the Cruickshank Sanctuary, I encountered a couple of woodpeckers. One was the very orange variety of the Red-bellied Woodpecker they have in Florida, and the other was a female Pileated. I am always happy to see either as they are both fairly elusive around my home in Maine…or I should say more elusive than our other local woodpeckers. I see them less often. The Red-belled was right against the sun and required a good amount of Exposure Compensation, and then some extra shadow control in post processing. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Scrub Jay at eyelevel

Florida Scrub Jay: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Up and posing nicely! Nothing like Florida light. And really a wonderful bird. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Cruickshank Osprey

Osprey: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Scrub Jays are not the only birds at the Cruickshank Sanctuary. There has been a nesting pair of Osprey there for at least the past five years. I saw them on my last pre-covid visit in 2019, and I saw one of them again this year. While watching this year a local man came up and in conversation he assured me they had been there every year in the interval. Good to know. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Florida! Close up Scrub Jay

Florida Scrub Jay: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Even closer. I squatted down to get closer to eye-level. The Florida Scrub Jays at the Cruickshank Sanctuary have absolutely no fear of humans…and I am pretty sure that is not a good thing, except for photographers. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 400mm equivalent (close close). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Scrub Jays Underfoot

Florida Scrub Jay: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, January 2024 — When I did find the Florida Scrub Jays at the Sanctuary, they were, of course, right underfoot. Curious and gregarious, they come out to meet you from the brush, and I had them looking for bugs in the grass right at my feet. And yes, they do occasionally land on folks’ heads…they have landed on mine during previous visits…but they did not this year. Maybe the covid years and broken that habit. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Reserve, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — I had a workshop to present just after noon at the convention center in Cocoa Beach on my second full day in Florida for the rejuvenated Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, so I needed somewhere relatively close by to bird and photograph in the morning. The Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, with its ready population of Florida Scrub Jays, was the obvious choice since it is right across the causeway from Cocoa. I got there early early as the clock was ticking and I still had to find my presentation room and get my AV set up when I got back to the convention center. My first birds were not Florida Scrub Jays…they were Mockingbirds, making fun of my early efforts. There were lots of Mockingbirds at the Sanctuary, and I saw lots before I found my first Scrub Jay. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Last shots

Great Egret: Blackpoint Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — These are the last two shots I took on my first full day in Florida in January, on my second loop around Blackpoint Drive. Late afternoon. The Egret was fairly close, along the road, and I could not resist. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 506mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. -0.7 EV. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Strike one

Little Blue Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — This is a particularly “reddish” looking Little Blue, and if not for the beak color might be mistaken for a Reddish Egret. While both Reddish and Little Blue are fearsome hunters, both miss more often than they hit…swing and a miss for a strike…and are left looking at the expanding ripples. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 200mm equivalent (this bird was close!). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Florida! Immature White Ibis

White Ibis: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Certainly one of the oddest looking birds in all bird-kind, at least to my eye. It will come into its pure white plumage in good time, but this is the awkward stage we all go through. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 628mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.