I''M BACK, I HOPE!

I've been through another bout with lung problems but I'm up and moving again, just a little bit slow. I have some new locations in mind, I need some more pictures!

Rains

Water, water, everywhere! This part of Florida has had a little over a foot of rain this month. I've sort of hibernated through it, can't drag the cameras around in a downpour.
The roadside ditches are brimming, millions of little frogs, snakes and crawfish are on the move, and the wading birds know it. Some stretches of our country roads are lined with hunting egrets, herons, storks and ibis.
I thought I had a good series of shots, then discovered that while messing around with the camera I'd set the ISO to 3200. The only shots worth keeping were a few I took on the cameras auto setting. I'll go ditch cruising again this weekend, the birds should still be there.

SPRINGTIME IN THE SWAMP

I made another visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, got a late start, and the Sun was too high for best exposure. The Wood Stork and Great Egret chicks are big, and loud, constantly demanding to be fed. I still haven't seen all I want to see this year, it will take another visit.

HOME

Water Dancers, My World

Not much sunshine here for taking pictures, as soon as things brighten up I'll go back to the rookery. Many of the smaller herons are nesting now. Here are some of my favorite birds again, with some of my favorite music.

Meant Well, But With Bad Results

Someone said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
The Mottled Duck, Anas fulvigula, is a cousin of the Mallards, but it is adapted to breeding and living in the Southern saltmarshes and does not migrate. It is hard to say just how many remain, and how many of those are 100% Mottled Duck.
Many tame Mallards have been released, and many people have fed migrating Mallards, resulting in a non migrating population of Mallards. Normally, there would be no Mallards here in breeding season, but now the Mottled Duck is slowly being absorbed.
Who knows if the resulting hybrids will be able to succeed in a saltmarsh environment, only time will tell.
Around the pond at the county health center here you will see some strange looking ducks. They are a blend of Mallard, Peking, and Muscovy. they survive well, as long as someone feeds them, but, I doubt they'd last very long at all in a saltmarsh, fending for themselves.

ST. AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM ROOKERY

I spent several hours on Wednesday at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery. It is a paradise for bird watchers and bird photographers.
Breeding and nesting season is at it's peak, and the rookery offers a chance to see and photograph Florida wading birds from up close.
I can't praise the gator farm enough, it is a fine zoological park.
The birds aren't captive, they're wild and free. The rookery provides an ideal place for nesting, and significantly increases our bird population.

FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW

The annual flower and garden show is coming up next weekend. I visited the St. John's County Arboretum yesterday and it is looking great. There are many volunteer hours invested in the arboretum, the gardeners deserve a lot of credit.
I'll try to catch some of the beauty with my cameras, and share it here.

Changing With the Seasons

The young Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea, is often mistaken for a Snowy Egret or Cattle Egret, until the blue/gray plumage starts coming in. The beak, eye and leg colors are the clues to look for.
I'm seeing a lot of the young birds now, the adults are nesting and the young ones are out on their own, getting used to the world.

COURTSHIP RITUALS

If you're a bird, it's time for romance! The male Boat tail Grackles are courting now, the females are gathering nest material, but pretending they aren't impressed by all the posturing.

TIME AND TIDES

I took my lunch down to the saltmarsh and ate it there. I saw that it was only a little after noon, so I leaned back for a nap, I knew rhe birds wouldn't be there for a while. At a little past 1:30 PM a Great Egret came sailing in, then a Snowy Egret, and then a Great Blue Heron. I expected them, that was when the tide was going to start to rise. The tide is the clock the shore birds run their lives by, they know, somehow, where to be, and when. It's an accurate clock, but it changes every day. The birds still keep track of it. The rising tide brings food with it.
I keep track of it too, but I have to look at my watch.

NEW CAMERA

I've made the jump to a DSLR, a SONY A-200. I love my Panasonic FZ30 and old Olympus C2100UZ, but I'm ready to expand the limits. There will still be times when one of the older cameras will be just what I want to use, they are both fine tools.
I've neglected this blog lately, I'm trying to adjust to prescribed meds I have to take, and one of the side effects is that you feel sleepy. I sure can't have that, it's no kind of life at all! I need to get outside and move!
We've had some wonderful rains, the ponds are brimming, everything is greening up, flowers appearing everywhere, and the birds building nests or already raising chicks.
Pictures will be anywhere you look, just be there with a camera, springtime will provide the rest!

WELCOME, AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING

To all the new visitors coming in from Stumbleon, thanks for visiting. Stay for a while, and put in a word or two.
I'm always glad to talk about St.Augustine, and St.John's County wildlife watching, and can tell you of the best places to have a camera handy.

WOW, BIG DIFFERENCE

I use a circular polarizer on the cameras for shots near water, and when shooting white birds in particular. It helps prevent blown highlights on the white feathers, and cuts a lot of the water glare.
I thought the filter I had was O.K, but I picked up a Hoya on Ebay and used it yesterday. I got some of the best shore bird shots I ever have, no more muddy colors and blown highlights. I think the cheap CPL filters are just tinted glass, except they aren't that cheap! The price difference isn't that much and the results are worth the cost.
The White Ibis keep showing up around here, I've never seen so many in the 60+ years I've lived here. That's great, I love White Ibis, they're a fun bird to watch.

MASTER GARDENER

A friend of mine, Shirley Barber, is a volunteer master gardener at the St. John's County Arboretum, West of St. Augustine, Florida. Shirley puts in countless hours creating a beautiful place for folks to relax and smell the flowers. It is truly a labor of love for Shirley, she puts all her best efforts in to it.
This video is for Shirley and all the volunteers, and the staff of the St. John's County Agriculture Center.
If you ever visit St. Augustine the arboretum is a great place to spend some time.
If you see an old guy with a camera, it may be me.

Birds and Wildflowers

Nice weather, at least for now. Wildflowers are springing up all over, the birds are nesting, spring is just around the corner.
The Ibis flock is getting used to me, I think I could walk right in and sit with them. They are good natured birds, peaceful and quiet.

Good Morning!

I've been making videos from some of my photos, please let me know what you think about them.

Too many things eating up my time!

I really know I just can't run around with my camera sll the time, but I don't have to like it!
I went to the little freshwater pond near the saltmarsh yesterday. Not a creature in sight, but I sat there and waited. A few Ring Billed gulls and Laughing gulls sailed in and started to bathe. Then came a flock, about 15 birds, of White Ibis, and some Boat tailed Grackles and 4 Fish Crows. They were all busy splashing, and then along came a Little Blue Heron, in full breeding plumage, and it landed right in the middle. I took 235 shots without moving a foot. I can't show them all here, but the ones I've processed are in my Pbase and Photobucket galleries.
I'm ready to go to the Alligator Farm to check out the rookery. The Great Egrets and wood Storks are nesting, the other birds will come along later. It is an experience you have to see to believe, a bird lovers fantasy.
On the way home from the pond, I looked up, the little male Red shouldered hawk that lives around here was posing on an old power pole. Usually he sits on a wire, he must know I don't like wires in my pictures, LOL

WOOD STORK

The Wood Stork, Mycteria americana, is North America's only native stork. They are related to the vultures.
Storks were scarce for many years but are making a great comeback. They've learned to beg from fishermen. This one just sailed in and landed next to me while I was watching a Great Egret. I didn't have anything to share yesterday, but I never mind paying good models.

SUNSHINE and BLUE SKIES

A beautiful day! The little freshwater pond was lined with sun bathing turtles, Mallards and Hooded Mergansers feeding, and songbirds in the trees. Over toward the Atlantic coast many of the herons and egrets are pairing off, some are building nests.
I'm having camera problems, the FZ30 is still working, but it crashes periodically. Time to start saving for a new camera. I take a lot of pictures, can't expect a camera to last forever.

Tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor

I don't see enough of these birds, they are around, but usually far out in the marshes. The spread wings pose is typical behavior, the shade created by the wings makes it possible for the heron to see through the surface glare. This bird was hunting small crabs. The crouch is also typical, they will stand like this until sure of a catch, then strike.
It takes a sunny day to do justice to the colors, today was cloudy with a sea fog coming in. I set saturation for max, it is easier to desaturate a bit than to add colors that aren't there. I'm never as pleased with the rusults, however.

UNEXPECTED BYSTANDERS

I processed this image of a Hooded Merganser, thought there was a stick poking out of the pond, and someone with sharper eyes said "is that a Red eared Slider"? I often see things in my pics that my old eyes missed when I took the pic. This shot is at about 469mm equivalent, handheld, the Leica lens did a pretty good job.
Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, and Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus.

BROWN PELICAN ALTERNATE PLUMAGES

A Brown Pelican isn't likely to be very brown. The juveniles have a definite blue tinge, and an adults neck may be white, or chestnut brown. The colors intensify as breeding season nears. The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the pelicans, and the only one that catches fish by diving. The other pelicans fish while floating, sometimes using teamwork to herd fish into clusters.
The wingspans vary from 6 to 9 feet, none of them are small birds. I've seen pictures of a Brown Pelican swallowing a full grown Marsh Rabbit. No explanation accompanied the pictures, but Marsh Rabbits are strong swimmers, so a rabbit in the water is a definite possibility.

THE RAPE OF A LAKE

Maria Sanchez Lake, in St. Augustine, was created back in the 1800s, when Henry Flagler filled in the upper reaches of Maria Sanchez Creek, and built hotels on the resulting land. A dam was built at South street, causing the creek to spread. Over the decades the little tidal lake has developed an ecosystem, providing food for several bird species. It's all about to become history, what little natural vegetation exists will be killed by the concrete seawall, the ecosystem will fail, and the birds will go away.
I can't imagine any rational motive for building this eyesore, any erosion could be controlled at less expense, and with far less damage to the ecosystem, and the human eye!

What Do You Get?

When you take a Swiss cabinet maker, and rifle maker, a couple of Scots highlanders, and a couple of Cherokee Grandmas, and mix them up good? Well, you get ME, a genuine Redskin Redneck!

Big Mess

All of a sudden this blog is a mess, all reader comments have vanished, all components out of order. I don't have a clue, working on it!

Figured it out, I put a "MY WORLD" code on a post, must have done it wrong. I won't mess with it until some geeky type shows up to tell me what I did wrong! I can take a chunk of scrap metal, make a spring out of it, with some charcoal, a hammer, and a file, I can make most engines run, do a whole bunch of things, but this computer code thing is a whole new ball of wax!

My World Tuesday

Osiyo,
Good news from the weatherman, he says 72f and Sunny for Tuesday. I barely caught the last of today's light, just as the Sun went below the trees. I got lucky, a Mourning Dove was waiting at the right time.
I don't know which way I'll head tomorrow, got to check the tide. If I can get to the coast just before a rise begins I'll get some wading bird shots. You can well predict when the waders will appear, if you keep track of the tide.
I've had some success with the solar/lunar tables, at predicting feeding times for the critters in general, but can also just watch my neighbors cows, when they are dozing in the pasture the wild critters are likely napping too.
The natural cycles are just a clock, without hands, or numbers. It is the clock you want to follow, if you would follow the wild things. Our sense of time means nothing to them.
tsiya

Close to Home

Neighborhood birds today, the White Ibis were napping in the pine tops and the female American Kestrel was hunting over a neighbors hayfield. I keep working closer to the Kestrel, but she is shy and won't tolerate much company.

24 f last night, more coming!

Yeah, I know 24f is sissy weather, to y'all, but this is Florida! The good old Sun did finally get to work, bright blue skies aplenty! The Mercury is falling again, as we speak! I just want to sprawl out on the creek bank, in the Sun, with all the other old gators!

Home Territory

I didn't go far yesterday, down to the pond, then to the agriculture center. It was a clear, cool day, the Palm Warblers were spending a lot of time on the warm asphalt road.

REFLECTIONS

On a calm day, if the light is right, Lake Maria Sanchez in St. Augustine can create some great reflection effects.

BLUE SKIES ARE BACK!

Pretty day! Plenty of Ospreys around, I found one that would pose. The cross is on the grounds of Mission Nombre De Dios, next to Hospital Creek. At 208 feet it stands over all of St. Augustine.

Here Comes Winter Again!

Below freezing temps predicted tonight and tomorrow, but the Sun will be visible! Photography inside a cloud bank isn't much fun, all the colors get lost.
I installed a new ballhead on my tripod, the original was poor quality, just wouldn't hold steady enough for long shots. Stabilized optics only do so much, a solid tripod is needed. I often hang extra glass on my cameras, and that makes things even trickier.

It's time to start planning for nesting season at the St.Augustine Alligator Farm. A great way to keep up with what's happening there is http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/birdrookery/?yguid=299677375
You can take pictures that would cost many thousands of dollars in travel expenses, if you actually set out across the boonies, and you'd be unlikely to get as close to the action.

PHOTOBUCKET

I've had a Photobucket account for a long time, I've weathered the changes as they came, even when I didn't like them, and watched as Photobucket moved away from an image host for halfway serious photographers, towards a baby sitter for teeny boppers! Well, they know where the money is, I reckon, but, Photobucket becomes less friendly to me with each passing day.
At this moment the Photobucket Forum is locked, while they make "upgrades", and there seems to be no way to make contact. I have no idea what they are doing, but,I have seen some changes in the way my images link, and if these changes predict the future I ain't looking forward to it!
Once a year they just grab some bucks right out of my checking account, they don't even need to ask, and they don't even need to worry, unless I die, the money will be there!
Oh, well, I wouldn't have needed to post this rant, except that Photobucket has turned off it's ears, who knows, maybe they'll read this blog?

CAST IRON FOG

Things started out bright and blue this morning, but at a little after 1 PM a bank of fog rolled in from offshore, sat down, and started to thicken. No used trying any long shots, you couldn't see them anyway.
I made my rounds, all the usual places, and found a few depressed looking critters to aggravate, they were standing around, almost dozing. The tide wasn't right for feeding, next good tide cycle will be after dark.

Hunting

Osiyo

Recently, on a blog I commented on, I related a story from my younger days, when I hunted. Very shortly, someone else came on and posted a snarky reply. I didn't see it, the blog owner deleted it.
I try not to stereotype, I don't like it when it happens and I am the victim, and I don't expect that anyone else does, either.
Someone obviously doesn't know much about me, or about most of the hunters I've known throughout my life. I'm not a blood thirsty killer, never have been. I don't have any friends who are, either. Whatever I hunted ended up on my families table, as did the clams I raked, the oysters I gathered, and the fish I caught. The creatures I hunted and fished for ended up no deader than like food purchased in plastic wrap is dead, and likely put less strain on our environment than commercial production would have. I know I certainly was more aware of my part in the food chain than had I simply run to the butcher shop. I started with a respect for all life, and I'll end with that respect.
Some of y'all are urban folks, you grew up with an alternate reality, one where you call an electrician to change an electric receptacle, and a plumber to unstop your drain, and you also pay someone else to process and provide your food, well, that's fine, with me. I'm sorry you missed the joy of long days afield, the days when I saw nothing, as well as the days I brought food home, all good days! I'm sorry you missed the pride in doing the plumbing and electrical work for your home. Any difficulty I might have, in understanding just how you can be so dependent on other folks, for so many things, is something I don't talk about much, it's none of my business, and you obviously like things that way. For the most part, I don't talk about it, because it would be rude!
My feelings about our environment are expressed in the pictures I take.
I will make no apology for my history as a hunter. Please take care not to lump me in with the idiots you hear about on the news, they aren't me, nothing like me!
My people, some of them, anyway, were hunting this land thousands of years ago, with love and respect, and a sense of belonging!

Tsiya {otter}

CLOUDY DAY BLUES!

Today started out sunny, but that didn't last. I managed a few shots coming home from grocery shopping, but the light was failing fast. I won't complain too much, I could be up to my ears in a snow bank!

Change of pace.

I pulled some flowers and bugs from the archives, with a couple taken in 2007 with my little old Olympus C2100UZ. The "UZ1" was the first really successful ultrazoom camera. It used a Canon lens assembly, image stabilized, went from 38mm to 380mm equivalent. It's only 2.1 MP, but every one of those pixels sizzles! It handles macro shots with ease, great saturation, yeah, I love this 9 year old camera. I have a junked unit for parts, but with my luck the parts I will need will be broken on the junker. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and take good care of it.

ID Change

Based on the advice of experts I've changed the ID on my most recent hawk capture, from a Cooper's hawk to a Red shouldered hawk.I am always grateful for help, ID can be tricky with young birds.
Thanks, folks!

The Mall Photography Issue Resolved

Dear Bob:



We were sorry to learn of your recent unpleasant experience at St. Augustine Premium Outlets. It was certainly not our intent to prevent visitors to our center from taking photographs as a memento or for personal use. Among other responsibilities, our security officers are charged with checking with photographers who are taking photos at our center. In addition to homeland security concerns, we also need to ensure that photos are taken for personal (non-commercial) use, and that any media who may be visiting our center is properly welcomed and escorted during their visit. While this appears to be a simple matter of poor judgment by our Security officer, unfortunately oftentimes what may appear to be an innocent activity could in reality not be the case. In observing your actions, however, our officer should have simply confirmed that your wildlife photos were for personal use and permitted you to continue. We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention and will review the intent of our photography policy with all Security personnel immediately in order to hopefully avoid similar unpleasant incidents from occurring again in the future. Again, we sincerely apologize for the apparent lack of judgment and for your inconvenience, and hope that you will continue to visit our Center for your outlet shopping needs. Please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions or wish to further discuss this matter.



Best regards,

Terri Mannes

Director of Operations - Southeast Region

Chelsea Property Group

A SIMON Company

BUSTED

About an hour ago I was sitting in the parking lot of the St. Augustine Premium Outlet Mall, and, I took several pictures of a Little Blue Heron and a pair of Hooded Mergansers that were in the retention pond. One of their security guards came up and told me that no one was allowed to take pictures there. I'm not sure how the actual law reads on this, but I won't bother them any more, either with my shopping, or my photography.
I will make sure that every wildlife photographer I communicate with, a considerable number, is aware that while they can spend money at the St. Augustine Premium Outlet Mall, they dare not pull out a camera and point it at a bird!

Ailing brown pelicans may be victims of frostbite

FAIRFIELD – Pelican No. 4 has a typical injury for a California waterbird: a puncture from a fishhook in its left wing.

But No. 93 has no visible injuries; it's just weak and hungry. And the condition of a third pelican shows that something is seriously amiss with this weary flock: dead, black skin on its webbed feet.

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1549982.html

AMERICAN KESTREL

The images I posted today aren't what I want them to be, but they are the best I've done yet with American Kestrels. They are tiny and they are spooky, a shoot fast situation. I don't like pictures of birds sitting on wires, but for now I'll take what I can get. The male Kestrel has blue/gray wings, they are pretty little critters, if you can get close enough to notice!

REMOTE FLASH

I do a lot of shooting from a blind under a big Oak in my yard. It is dark under there, but the birds like it, and the seed the squirrels dump from the feeder. The built in flash is often just not enough. I use 2 units that are triggered by photocells, I can set them out where I predict I'll need the light. One is an inexpensive unit, OK, just a bit fragile, the other a Vivitar 283 with a photocell trigger added.
A note on the Vivitar and other older flash units, they often have trigger voltages high enough to fry a digital camera, when in doubt, DON'T use them in your cameras hot shoe. The little Phoenix unit is digital safe, the Vivitar isn't, although newer Vivitar units work just fine.

Sunshine is back!

We had a sunny Wednesday, clear and calm, the ponds were like glass. Not many birds around, I went looking for the pair of Osprey I watch, found them, but couldn't get set with a good light angle. I moved down the creek and there was a young male Osprey sitting on a sailboat mast. The light was about perfect, the bird was calm, and I just sat there taking pictures. The tide cycle will begin to get more favorable as next week goes on, good for finding wading birds.

1.99 inches of rain

Some of the ponds have been low, some even dried up, so, this rain should help freshen things up. The weather service predicts 2 days of cold but sunny weather, then back to cloudy again. Tomorrow and Thursday will find me moving around with a camera, for sure!

Kamikaze pelicans baffling Calif. scientists

Scores of weak and disoriented California brown pelicans have been slamming into cars and boats, landing on highways and airport runways, and turning up dead in back yards and parking lots many miles from their normal coastal habitats.

This behavior is far from ordinary, say wildlife experts. A lapel-grabbing press release from the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro says that something has gone seriously awry with the birds.

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/01/08/kamikaze-pelicans-baffling-calif-scientists/

CLOUDY DAY

The Sun was hard to find today, as were models. I found a small flock of Hooded Mergansers behind a big mall, set my little folding stool on the bank and just stayed a while. I-95 runs just East of the pond, you get reflections from passing cars and trucks, never know what will roll by next.

PICASA PROBLEM

My Picasa album is all messed up, pics will be back later, I hope!

IBIS CONVENTION

I'm no biologist, but I see the massing of Ibis as a sign of the coming breeding season. In the coming days the younger, nonbreeding birds will find themselves kicked out of Ibis social affairs, left to fend on their own. You will find them all over the place looking for dinner. This is a good time to find first year waterbirds in general, momma is going to cut the apron strings to start a new brood. The first year birds aren't as cautious as mature birds, this makes for some great photo opportunities.

Where do I find models?

A couple of times a week someone will ask me where I go to find my models. They rell me that they never see things worth photographing near where they live and work.
My last two photo expeditions were really exotic, a couple of retention ponds behind big shopping malls. You just have to slow down and look, sit still for a while, something is likely to show up.
One of my most productive sites is a retention pond at the corner of a boat ramp parking area, when it contains any water it draws birds from miles around, the sea birds love a bath in fresh water and a drink. It's dry right now, we need some real rain, but when the rain comes the birds will follow.

BALD EAGLE

A friend showed me another access point for the Moultrie Creek Eagles nest. The range is a lot shorter than where I tried last week. It is still long enough to work my camera and lens hard, makes me want a DSLR, but they don't grow on trees. I made this shot in mid afternoon, morning would have been better, with the Sun behind me.
I had the tripod set up on a floating dock, not the most stable place around, but the clearest view. I kept hoping to catch one of the birds on the edge of the nest, all I got was a head shot. The shot is not cropped, image quality just isn't good enough to do much with. A morning shot will be much better.

SILENT VISITORS

TALK TO ME! this blog is getting visitors, but, they take a peek and run! I really enjoy discussion of wildlife, and wildlife issues, and photography, so, say something!