Month: January 2024

'scene' along the way, a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, facing facts, nothing's easy, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography

On the way…

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We were late, traffic had been tough and we thought we’d be later than we were. Not that it mattered because they’d start without us. And as we drove I realized that we’d be a little too early for the best sunset pictures as we zoomed down Edgewater Drive. Surely that explains why I failed to put the car window down when I started shooting, because what I was seeing out that window warranted some pictures. With a tiny bit of forethought I’d have liked them more.

She was exactly in the right place.
If I had been trying to line this shot up I wouldn’t done as well.

Every time we drive down this road to meet our group I resolve to ride this path on the bike during sunset one night, instead of shooting out the dirty car window…

a second look, attention to detail, birds, fantasy images, Florida wildlife, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, nesting, perseverance, photography, unintended images

Accidental photos…

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So there I was at the Venice rookery, with my longest lens plus extender on the camera, and all zoomed in on the great blue heron nest, and who should fly by but a great white egret, more than filling the view finder on the camera. Not once, not twice, but all day long. And so I got distracted and started trying to get a nice photo of them in flight, but it was the accidental bird flying into or out of the shots that were by far the sharpest photos.

I thought this egret was flying in front of the cormorants, but she disappeared down into the foliage behind them.
She came and went multiple times, but they stayed put.
Beautiful blue eyes.
All the other great blues looked like this one. Standing and tweaking the foliage in the area, but not appearing to have any eggs so far.
I wonder if this is a baby, it looks a bit like that to me.

All in all this is a nice place to visit, the Venice rookery that is. The Audubon society provides a pavilion and some picnic tables, spot-a-pots too, so you really could make a day of it. I know I said it before, but the breeze under the pavilion was wonderful yesterday. 

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, Florida wildlife, natural wonders, nature, Nature's beautiful creatures, nesting, perseverance, photography, timing is everything

Great Blues…

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Rumor has it that the ideal time to go to a rookery is early morning or later in the afternoon. But when your destination is an hour and a half away that early morning thing is a bit harder to pull off. And the reality is that your later in the afternoon drive home will take twice as long with traffic. But I had just seen a FB memory of mine from a late February trip to the Venice Rookery which had been too late to see Great Blue Heron hatchlings since they had already fledged, and I had sworn to go back in January next time. So off we went, and as we drove my expectation was to see multiple nests with lots of babies bobbing their heads and yelling for food. But we saw only one nest, and in reviewing my pictures I got all the way to #69 before I managed to see a baby at all. We were told there are two in that nest, but I took 496 pictures yesterday and never did see another head pop up in that nest. But we saw one, so that’s good. Great blue herons are everywhere here in Florida, but not as easy to see nesting as some of the other birds who live here.

And here he or she is. Finally popping its head up rather than just looking like a blob of feathers that you hoped was a baby.
Apparently it wasn’t feeding time at that moment.
Was he calling for food or just yawning?
I don’t know what that is in his mouth???
Yes, there were a few other great blues present, but none seemed to be on a nest. 

So it was a long day yesterday, but we did manage to see what we were hoping to see on this trip. The Audubon Society provides a nice covered shelter with a number of picnic tables at this location, and the breeze was delightful once you were out of the sun. We have made it a point to drive past the rookery that is lots closer to home a few times, but we haven’t see any activity there to speak of. But we’ll keep checking.

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, eagles, Florida wildlife, nature, nesting, Owls, perseverance, photography

Expectations…

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I hope you are as happy to see an owl picture as I was to take it. A new pair of owls have nested in the same tree that has held nests in the past. I thought I was a bit late to the party and that there were owlets on the nest, but today I heard that the best shots of that owl is when she gets up to turn the eggs. It’s safe to say that I’ll be back to visit this nest a few more times before all is said and done, but I only stayed for one shot today. But also on the agenda for the day was to head to the eagle nest and see the eaglets I’ve seen pictures of already this year. We had done that first, and spent a long time there, Plus a nice lunch out, so it was time to head for home.

Riding up the path on the trike I spotted the nest before I got to the usual spot to take pictures. Lots of foliage was blowing back and forth, but I just had to take a picture when I saw that the baby was visible. But wait, I think they both can be seen in this picture. Yay.
You know that if I’m standing there then I”m also taking picture after picture.
Shortly after this the babies settled down into the nest.
The mom, or dad as the case may be, looked around a bit before settling down in the nest and out of sight with the babies.
In the meantime the other parent had shown up on the snag not far away. He didn’t do much but look this way and that, and it was a standoff for probably an hour. Then he flew off and we all got excited, thinking the parents would change out babysitting duties any second.
Mom moved to a branch above the nest, and we kept waiting, and waiting.

And that’s where I’ll have to leave the story for this day. It was past time to get some lunch and then we made our stop to see the owls. I imagine that as soon as we left the other eagle came back and gave some lucky photographers some very nice pictures. Once you’ve been there as long as we were there it’s hard to give up and think you missed all the action by minutes. It was nice to have a warm and sunny day to get back out to take pictures.

attention to detail, attitude adjustments, backyard visitors, birds, bluebirds, brainstorms, connections, Florida wildlife, fun, gardens, nature, perseverance, photography

Obsessions…

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I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I bought the Bird Buddy. All I saw was the ability of the camera in it to get decent pictures of birds from a whole new, and impossible to duplicate, angle. And I justified the expense by declaring that I bought it for my guy for his birthday, but I don’t think he’s been fooled since I’ve been obsessed with it from day one. I was thrilled to get birds at all, then one by one each species has worn out it’s welcome to me for one reason or another. But the blue birds, who have only been spotted for the last week or so, are my current obsession. They are so cute, and they pose! They stay long enough to get a picture or five, but they don’t come in swarms like the blackbirds do, and they don’t lay down in the feeders and pig out like the doves do. 

I especially like that they really like that new birdie feeder I bought. I had a choice the day I bought it, this one or one painted to look like a blue bird. Doesn’t it just figure that I didn’t buy the blue one, or both, both would have worked too.
They stay still long enough to zoom in and take a shot.
But then they gotta go.
But after I resisted buying the blue bird specific feed and the adorable feeders that were on display at Wild Birds Unlimited I’ve been regretting it ever since. So I went back on Sunday, and I took my opportunity to say hello to Felix. He made himself at home on the counter on this day, but you will sometimes find him curled up in one of the bird baths also. I think he’s the boss.

We are now expecting a glorious week of weather and have declared that we are going to get out and do something! Anything! Now to just make it happen…

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, Close encounters, Florida landmarks, fun, perseverance, photography, silliness, timing is everything

A chilly, but sunny, day…

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Most of my trips to Tampa Bay Downs have also been on sunny days, but this one only topped out at about 60 degrees. But since we were dressed for the colder temperatures that the weathermen had been warning us about for days ahead of time, it was a perfect day. And this was an FCCP photo walk so we enjoyed talking with some fellow photographers while we watched the races.

The last time I was here I didn’t bother to trek down to the far end of the park, the end that gives you a nice view of the horses as they round the final turn. The horse on the rail had led most of the way, but the gray horse beat him out at the end.
While we were waiting for that first race to begin we noticed this hawk perched on a post. He dove to the ground several times, but we couldn’t see if he caught himself some lunch.
This racetrack worker and his horse caught my eye. They were waiting to escort the race horses to the gates for the race to begin.
It looks like this jockey was about to get a surprise.
I went up into the grandstand to have a view of the horses leaving the gate for this turf race. But I had to move at the last minute since someone blocked my view, but I liked this shot as they came down the ‘chute’. Plus I got the three horses in the center with not a single hoof on the ground.
The view from the grandstand is pretty good, as long as the people in the box seats don’t stand up. It’s nice in the summer since you are out of the sun. Standing at the rail is impossible for me to get photos, I’m too short and the rail is hard to deal with.
When I reviewed my pictures I thought I took this because he was a race winner, but then I noticed how clean he was.
After the race they look more like this guy. I have no clue if he was a winner or not.

I assured myself that it would be fine to bring my 18-150 lens with me, and yes, it was fine. It was especially nice that the camera is so light with that lens attached. But when I saw that hawk I wished I’d had a longer lens with me, because there is always a reason to go back and try, try again.