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.

Paddling Blue Spring State Park

I'm baa-aaack....!

I am home from my trip to (mostly) sunny Florida and excited to have something to write about!  I have a hard time posting if there hasn't been much going on, and I apologize for the long absences.  But I had a great week in the salty south with my girlfriends and have lots of great photos to share.  But first, a little pre-amble to our trip.

I have been paddling a kayak for about six years.  I grew up with a rowboat and a canoe, so a self-propelled watercraft was right up my alley.  While I enjoy the freedom and ease of paddling in the kayak, I was never entirely comfortable physically.  You are pretty much stuck in one position--there's not much room to re-arrange and you certainly can't stand up in the thing.  My 'yak was only 9.5 feet long and didn't have much room for storage--except behind the seat, where it was nearly impossible to get at anything.  So when I was out shooting, my gear had to go between my knees, making it even more impossible to move.

The storage issue also posed another problem.  If we wanted to backcountry camp with the boats, we were never going to get all of our gear into three 10 foot kayaks.  We had decided our trip to Florida was going to include a night in the Canaveral National Seashore, but we were at a loss as to how to move our gear.  A canoe seemed to be the answer, so I got online one day to see what was for sale and how much we were looking at spending.

What we ended up buying--after selling my 'yak and a bunch of gently-used stuff on Craig's List--is a 12 foot Sportspal canoe, manufactured right here in Adrian, Michigan by Meyer.  We actually drove down to their facility to pick up the boat as we couldn't find a retailer closer than Cleveland who had any in stock.  This boat was designed for hunters and fishermen--at nearly four feet wide it is extremely stable.  In addition, the boat, made out of aircraft-grade aluminum, is lined with 1/2 inch thick foam, and has sponsons on the outside that are two inches thick and perhaps four inches wide.  All of this makes the boat nearly impossible to tip, and it will not sink if it becomes swamped with water--although several reviews I read said that it is very possible to fall out!  I can stand up and move around in it, and it has enough room for our gear.  Also, it weighs only 48 pounds, so I can carry it myself if I need to.

Mine is olive green, but you get the idea. Mine also came with seats and two paddles

So we called ahead and reserved a campsite at Canaveral, but once we got down to Florida I got a little nervous about paddling this canoe for the first time out in the fairly open waters of the Mosquito Lagoon.  We decided then to take our first full day and go up to Blue Spring State Park, one of our favorite places in central Florida, to put the boat in the water so I could get a feel for how it paddles, and to see if I could handle it alone in the wind.

Our course is marked in red.

We put in at the boat launch and paddled across the main river to a little oxbow that seemed a bit more sheltered and away from most of the power boats (see map above).  It was quite breezy, with gusts to 20 mph or better.  Right away I could see I was going to have a lot more trouble with the wind in the canoe than I'd ever had in the kayak.  But for now we were on the lee side of the oxbow, and I puttered around there getting a feel for the boat.

The bow of the canoe, with Lori and Lisa in the background.

Me trying to shoot some coots.  Photo by Lisa with her iPhone.

At the corner of the oxbow we came across a large flock of White Ibis, probably 30 to 40 birds, resting and preening.  I struggled to get shots of them as even the slightest breeze wanted to spin me in circles.

What amazing blue eyes they have!

 
After flopping around and trying to come at them from a different angle they finally got fed up with me and flew off into the trees.  I felt bad for disturbing them.

With a much higher profile I caught a lot more wind, and as we rounded the bend and paddled into the wind I had to paddle backwards.  With no ballast in the front of the boat I became the fulcrum, and I would spin until I was parallel with the wind.  Going backwards was my only option if I wanted to move against the wind.  I'm glad there was no one else around to watch me struggle.  I could see that this was going to be a great workout!

We paddled around the oxbow then drifted back with the wind.  An Anhinga was perched on a dead branch drying out in the sun, and I managed to get a few photos without scaring it away.  Across the oxbow on the north-facing bank there was a thick mat of floating vegetation and much bird activity.  But there were also some active alligators, and I couldn't keep myself from being blown into it while I was shooting, so I had to pass.  I was beginning to realize that if there was much wind involved, there would not be much shooting, especially if I was alone in the canoe.

Anhinga

Once we reached the main channel of the river we decided to head upstream and check out the lagoon, hoping to find some place where we could park the boats more or less out of the wind and have some lunch.

American Coot

Next: Osprey fish the lagoon

Ibis and Egret

After our potty break we continued on around the Black Pond Wildlife Drive. The bathrooms are located at about the half-way point, but I would say that most of the best birding opportunities are on the first half. The second half of the drive is drier and better suited perhaps to the black bear and bobcat that live there. However, there is still water and there are birds to be found.

I had hopped out to shoot this adult Little blue heron, one of the lesser seen residents of the marsh, being far out-numbered by the egrets and tri-colored herons. But I was soon distracted by the two birds to my left.


I glanced over and noticed this White ibis probing for insects in the shallows. Following along behind was a Snowy egret.


The egret made no attempt to feed itself, merely followed the ibis as it moved back and forth through the water.




Egrets are also insect eaters, so one could assume it was just waiting for the ibis to stir something up.


Or maybe the egret, who is more of a stalker of its prey, was looking for a new hunting method.


In any case, the egret followed the ibis round and round....


We saw similar behavior at the end of our trip involving two Brown pelicans and some dolphins, but that is for a later post!