Great Egret Takes Flight

One of the must-do's on this trip to the Low Country was to spend a day at Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge boasts several ponds with islands of their own that are packed beak to tail with breeding egrets and herons. The rookery is so dense that it's nearly impossible to even count all the birds there. Snowy and Great Egrets, Little Blue, Green, and Tri-colored Herons, Anhinga, Black and Yellow-crowned Night Herons all cram onto these islands and fight for their breeding space. For a photographer it's a little like shooting fish in a barrel--it's hard not to get good images of birds there. Plus, all the birds are in their breeding plumage this time of year, and doing all kinds of courtship dances and territorial displays, and the sound, as you can imagine, is impressive.

Here's a series of shots of a Great Egret stretching in preparation for take off.

Birds of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

 Not only does the Corkscrew Swamp contain the largest remnant of old-growth bald cypress in the world, it also hosts a lot of birds. Over 200 species have been sighted there, and while that's not as many as you might find on a wildlife refuge in a migration flyway, say, in rural eastern Oregon, it's still a respectable number. What was great about Corkscrew was how dang close those birds were. The boardwalk takes you deep into the swamp and there are literally birds everywhere, sometimes just a few feet from the walkway.

Before heading out onto the trail, we stopped at the visitor's center and checked the board for recent sightings. While I am happy to just go for a walk and take pictures, there's always that part of me that wants to log a new bird. I don't recall now all of the species on the list (I wish I'd taken a picture of the board) but one that stuck out was a Blue-headed Vireo. I'd never even heard of this bird (although it does migrate through Michigan) so we made that our target bird. Wouldn't you know, it would be one of the first birds we'd see, right in the area where the list said we'd find it. I wish they were all that easy!

Blue-headed Vireo in some deep shade. Pretty little bird with a touch of yellow and bold white eye ring.

Lots of little birds flitted about the swamp, including this female Palm Warbler. I wish I'd gotten better shots, but she was clinging to this branch above the water and nabbing insects from the surface. I love watching their behavior as much as I enjoy their sheer beauty.

Female Palm Warbler on the hunt.

The little birds are very difficult to photograph because they move so dang fast, and, in a situation like this, they are usually in the shade, which means slow shutter speeds and, consequently, blurry photos. I was really happy, then, to get a few decent shots of a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher more or less in focus, from tip to tip, with a bonus of a tasty morsel in its beak. I need to practice shooting with a fill flash to help stop movement and bring these guys out of the darkness.

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher with a spider--yum!

I think one of the things I love so much about photographing birds is it brings me closer to them. Not only do I get to study them in the field, through the lens, but I get to study them further at home, months or even years later. And there's always the challenge of getting a better image of a bird I've already seen. It goes like this:

1) Get an image, any image, of a bird seen for the first time
2) Try to get better images of a bird already photographed
3) Finally capture that "OMG I can't expect to do better than that" image that all photographers dream of.

I have very few number threes, which is what keeps me going back out into the field, keeps me shooting. This image is not a level three, but is certainly a number two--I'd only gotten fairly poor images of Great-crested Flycatchers until I came across this gorgeous bird. While its crest is not raised you do get a good look at those rusty primaries.

Good looks were had of a Great-crested Flycatcher.

But the birds who stole the show in the swamp were the wading birds. Holy moly, they were all over, and close. Little Blue Herons were plentiful, and we watched as this one nabbed a tasty treat then paused to scratch an itch.

Little Blue Heron.

White Ibis were everywhere, probably the most plentiful bird in the sanctuary. I was able to get good shots from a variety of angles. I like this one showing its narrow bill and blue eyes.

White Ibis in the soft afternoon sun.

This is not the greatest quality image as this bird was in some deep shade but as you can see, he found himself quite a meal in a large black crayfish. They probe the muddy bottom with that long narrow bill until they bump up against something, then bring it up and inspect it. He swallowed this crustacean whole.

Ibis and crayfish. The water behind the bird is really pretty, I just noticed.

There were a lot of immature Black-crowned Nightherons too, and we watched this youngster stalking prey. He eventually lunged but came up empty.

Imm. Black-crowned Nightheron hunting.

I waffled back and forth about whether this is an Anhinga or Double-crested Cormorant but I have finally settled on Anhinga--the red eye is what finally settled it. Cormorants have green eyes. In any case, it had speared this fish, and we watched as it worked it off it's bill and swallowed it. This is one of the only shots not obstructed by a branch, which is also another challenge when shooting in the woods.

Anhinga and an unfortunate fish.

Did I mention that the birds where really close? This is an uncropped image of a Great Egret who was just below the boardwalk, stalking prey.

Almost too close to see!

The sanctuary boardwalk closed at sunset and we were hungry, so we hustled through the last half mile or so and headed back to the van for a picnic lunch, then went back out to the boardwalk to cover that last bit more leisurely. Much to my delight, right past the visitor's center at the intersection of the loop, was a male Pileated Woodpecker, going to town on a pine tree. Oh happy day! Getting pileated shots is not easy--in most places they are pretty shy birds. But this one, well, he didn't care at all about the people milling about underneath as he searched for insects. I did a piece based on this bird as soon as I had a chance--maybe the fastest I've turned a photo around to art. It sold at the first show it was displayed. Guess I should do some more!

The magnificent Pileated Woodpecker.

White Pelicans at Sunset

 Final Florida, 2013 post

Have I mentioned lately what a lucky girl I am? How blessed to have this life? To be able to spend my time enjoying the beauty this world holds, to capture it with my camera and make art from it, is a gift that is simply beyond my comprehension. Thanks to you for taking the time to share it with me.



My mom and I had had a great day at the refuge, and had seen tons of birds. I think I added nine new birds to my list on this trip, six of them at the Merritt Island NWR. I think just about all the birds we saw were firsts for my mom.

As we stood on the observation deck watching a few herons and egrets, I noticed a white pelican flying in from my right. I hurried and got the camera on it as it approached us.

White pelican.

 I was thrilled when it changed course and flew in a circle right in front of us!

Just eight or ten years ago digital cameras would never have been able to capture this shot, a white bird on a dark background. The whites would have been completely blown out. Imaging technology has come a LONG way in a decade.

Then, it continued on in the direction it had been heading, off to the north.

To my further amazement, a group of about five birds flew past shortly after, and did the exact same thing--banked around and flew in a circle right in front of us. They were so close I couldn't get them all in the frame!

 I had thought that the white pelican was a threatened bird, but I looked them up on the Cornell Ornithology site and they are a species of least concern. Huh. At any rate they winter along the Gulf coast but breed in the Central Plains and into Canada. They are fresh-water birds, compared to their cousin the brown pelican, who feed in both fresh and salt water. They are astoundingly graceful fliers, often soaring without flapping on those huge, black-tipped wings.

I have seen white pelicans on many of my trips to MINWR but never at such close range. My heart pounded while I photographed these magnificent birds.

 They too circled around and continued off to the north. What a rush!

We stopped at the restrooms to take a break before finishing the drive and heading back to my grandmother's house. I was exhausted but exhilarated. Some clouds had moved in and sprawled across the sky, obscuring the sun.

Sunset over Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

While I enjoyed the sunset, a flock of 27 great egrets rose up and flew across the pale sky. I had never seen such a thing, so many of these birds together, and I thanked them for this parting gift.

Great egrets.

And with this I conclude the posts from my Florida trip--back in January!! None too soon, either--mid-April in Southern Michigan is migration time, and we are seeing many birds returning, or passing through. The girls and I did a little birding around our area yesterday and saw buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, TONS of yellow-rumped warblers and ruby-crowned kinglets. We also appear to have a pair of brown thrashers nesting in a brush pile on our property--a pile I nearly burned this winter. Glad I didn't, as I hope to document some of their family life this spring.

As always, thanks for reading--there's more good stuff to come!

American Avocets!

 (Florida 2012 Continued)

After the thrilling sighting of Painted Buntings at the Merritt Island NWR Visitor's Center, we drove out to the Black Point Wildlife Drive.  As I mentioned before, the whole point of going to Florida in February was to be there before the marsh was drained so we could see scads of waterfowl, like I had several years ago when I made a solo trip down south.  Several lakes and ponds along the main road were chock full of ducks, but there is no where to stop, so we continued on to Black Point.

Right inside the gates a gorgeous Tri-colored Heron was fishing in the shallows near the road.  It was still quite windy, and his plumage was blowing in the wind.

Not too far into the drive we came upon ten or so cars pulled off to the side and a large group of folks with glasses and cameras pointed toward a pond on the right side of the road.  We pulled over and joined the group.  I didn't see many birds here, some teals and shovelers and a handful of herons, and this cluster of birds which, at first glance, I honestly thought were seagulls, proof that I am an amateur birder. In my defense I did think it odd that the gulls were there--I'd never seen gulls in the refuge before, but for whatever reason I am not all that interested in gulls and so did not look very closely or for very long.

Notice how the wind, blowing from left to right,
has flattened the backs of their heads.

I took the above picture, then watched some of the other birds for a while.  I was still perplexed, however--what the hell were these people looking at?

Then I saw one of the "gulls" walking near a small group of snoozing sandpipers. I noticed right away its long legs and slender, upturned bill, and realized my error.  

These were American Avocets!

I have always wanted to see an avocet.  The long, up-curved bill, white body and buffy head, powder blue legs....  Just a well-put together bird I guess.  I was so excited to add this bird to my life list.  I won't bore you with a bunch of photos, as they weren't really doing much, but oh what a treat!

The late afternoon light, filtered through the smoke of
wildfires in Brevard County, was perfect.

We eventually began making our way along the drive.  We had a ways to go and it was already getting late.  I caught this American coot walking across the mud in front of an immature Tri-colored Heron--I've never seen a coots legs before! 

I had to include a shot of this Great White Egret.  How absurd they look with their necks extended.

We came across a few more avocets, but the bird in the back with the big white breast and brown head caught my attention--a Northern Pintail tucked amongst the teals.  I have a hard time with Latin names, but I think Anus acuta will stick with me.

We found this pair of Blue-winged Teals off by themselves.  The female snoozed while her mate showed of his name-sake blue wing.

 We saw a lot of wading birds but not much in the way of waterfowl.  I was very disappointed.  I wonder if the mild winter kept them from having to come so far south, or if they had left already.  At any rate I was happy to have seen the avocets, and it was a beautiful evening to be out enjoying the birds, regardless of their heritage.

As you come close to the end of the drive you enter alligator alley.  I think perhaps the water is deeper here in the channels next to the road, and there are always sizable gators.  This day was no exception as I saw one of the biggest gators I've ever seen at the park, a stout ten footer resting in the evening light.

As I shot the alligator I noticed a few coots swimming directly towards it.  I thought we might see some drama but the coots noticed the gator in time to give it a wide berth!

 Next (and last Florida) post:  Roseatte Spoonbill up close!

Tri-colored Heron

The silences in the marshes of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge where vast. No quacking ducks, no peeping coots, no wind, no disturbance. The sky was devoid of clouds and the only ripples on the water were made by the birds as they hunted in the shallows.

A Tri-colored heron plied the marsh, looking for lunch.








Down the road a piece we came upon a Great egret. Interesting how the light has passed through its eye, sending out a spark at the bottom.


And this? This is just absurd.