Wood Stork

Wood Stork

Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Searching for his favorite foods of fish, reptiles or amphibians at the Thompson Sports Complex in Gulfport, FL.

Wood Storks or as they are sometimes called Wood Ibis, are the only storks in America. They can be found in Florida in swamps, marshes and ponds.

Wood Stork

Wood Stork

This Wood Stork was probing for dinner in the pond at the Thompson Sports Complex Park, in Gulfport, FL. The Wood Stork is the only real stork we have in the United States.

Wood Storks stand between 40-44" tall. Their heads are bare. They fly with their necks extended. Wood Storks can be found on or near the coast, cypress swamps and mangroves. They nest in colonies. Wood Storks are resident in Florida and Georgia and rarely along the coast from S Carolina to Texas.

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

I went to my friend's house in Bradenton, FL yesterday looking for White Pelicans. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any, but I did manage to shoot this Brown Pelican. This guy was very cooperative. It actually was pretty easy because I was on a pier where a fisherman was cleaning his fish. This one was just waiting around for a handout, so I was only a few feet from him.

Brown Pelicans have brown heads in the Summer and are all white in the Winter. They feed on fish, alone or in groups. They make spectacular dives, flipping from their backs just as they hit the water, then going in bill first. They swallow huge fish and you can see it wiggling while they're trying to swallow it while it's still in its pouch.

Brown Pelicans nest in colonies in trees or on mangrove islands. They are resident in Florida and are very common near the ocean, bays, estuaries, and a few wander inland.

Low Tide

Low Tide

This is one of those images I couldn't make up my mind if I liked the colored version or the black and white. The black and white won out because I think I like the drama created from the monotone and high contrast. I wanted to emphasize the light and shadows caused from the early morning light.

This image was captured last January at the South Rest Stop under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The people out in the distance were crabbing, I think. Florida doesn't really have many rocks. The "rocks" in the foreground are recycled from torn up highways, etc.

One thing I liked about the color version is it showed the green algae on the rocks, however, since it was very cloudy, with the sunlight only peeking through, the color was pretty muted. I may or may not post the color version at a later date.

Kiteboarder

Kiteboarder

This shot was made nearly a year ago with my Canon 40D and Canon 75-300mm lens. One advantage of using an APS-C camera is the extra reach obtained by the 1.6X crop factor. So, at 300mm, this lens was reaching out at a whopping 480mm! Plenty long enough to get a great shot of this kiteboarder without having to go out waist deep in the cold water.

I also like the fact that this guy was either unaware of my camera, or didn't care. Most of the guys would ham it up when they spotted the camera onshore.

When I first started out in photography, I covered sports for the college newspaper. Later on, I continued to shoot sports for a few years until I turned my attention on bands, both local and some professional bands, then models/fashion and finally nature. I've been shooting nature since about 2005. I think I've finally found my niche, at least I hope so.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

This was shot about 2 weeks ago from the North Rest Stop on the approach to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, here in St Petersburg, FL.

When you look at the other view I posted showing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, you can't tell just how high it is. The funny thing, now with newer and newer cruise ships, it seems it's still too low. They're trying to figure out if they have to raise it, or to build another port so cruise ships don't have to cross under the bridge.

The bridge is 431 ft high with a vertical clearance of 175 ft. It is roughly 4 miles long.

The Travel Channel has named this bridge #3 of the Top 10 bridges in the world. It is Florida's flag bridge

This bridge also has a dark side, however. It is also known as a popular suicide place. It got so bad, that a radio station even had a jumper pool. As of 2009, 207 people have successfully committed suicide by jumping off the bridge, and 34 others tried it and survived. One man, who had been kidnapped, tortured and beaten was forced to jump at gunpoint; while another man hung himself from the bridge. There are many more suspected with people missing, but no bodies were found. This year in 2014, there have been 7 suicides, 23 possible (no bodies found), 1 survivor, and 2 saves. This bridge is known the #4 suicide bridge in the country and #1 east of California. 

North Rest Stop

I chose this file from Tuesday's batch because I like the simplicity. It's a little different from what I usually post, but for some reason, when I look at it, it makes me feel peaceful. It has very little color and with the still water and the shore birds foraging for the night it just gives me that feeling of tranquility.

What do you all think?

South Rest Stop Sunshine Skyway Bridge

South Rest Stop Sunshine Skyway Bridge

I'm off work only 1 day a week, so I don't have a lot of time to go out shooting. I also can't pick the weather. Today, was an overcast, trying to storm all day, type of day. I originally took this in color, but the color was kind of dull.

It spans 3 counties, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee, over the waters of Tampa Bay, which is usually pretty calm, but there were warnings of high surf, so that is why I decided to come here to shoot today.

In this shot, this bridge doesn't look very scarey, but I can tell you, there were high wind warnings, and you don't want to be driving an SUV over it, like I did today. It's definitely a white knuckle drive. This bridge is 4.1 miles long, has a clearance of 175 ft below the bridge and it's vertical clearance is 193 ft. The sides, which is what makes it so scarey are only Jersey Barriers. It has 2 lanes in each direction, so there's no safety in the middle lane. The Sunshine Skyway was named #3 of the top 10 bridges in the world by The Travel Channel. The tubes forming the sails are painted yellow.

I cross this bridge every day going to work. Most times it doesn't bother me, but it took some getting used to. The only time I'm scared at all is in the blinding rain, fog, and during high winds.

Please Help With ID

ID Wanted

I've posted photos of this duck and his/her mate about a year ago. I'm still trying to find out what kind of duck this is. With all the nature photographers out there, I can't believe no one knows what it is called. I've only found one other photo of ducks that look like this through Google and I think it was the same pair. Whoever posted it didn't include the name, so it was no help.

They are so pretty. They hang on a little pond in Gulfport, FL along with some Mottled Ducks, White Ibis, a pure white duck, a few Mallards and a couple of Moorhens. There is only 1 pair of them. They are much larger and longer-backed than Mallards as you can see in this photo.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Sawgrass Lake Park Waterway (Canal)

Canal, Sawgrass Lake Park

Sawgrass Park is one of my favorite places to go for some great images in St. Petersburg, FL. When walking through the park, one can see many photographers out and about both during the week and on weekends.

Sawgrass is a 400 acre park, with nature trails, a lake (Sawgrass Lake), and this canal running through the park. This particular area is along the pathway coming back from the beautiful Oak Hammock Trail. Sawgrass has one of the largest Maple swamps on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The boardwalk is a mile long and there is an additional 1/2 mile dirt trail.

There is also an overlook tower that looks onto the lake. On the lower level of the overlook tower, I have never failed to see and American Alligator or two and huge Soft-shelled turtles in the water. Gators can also be seen along the banks of this canal and other little ponds throughout the park. I have seen Armadillos, many species of birds, including Herons, Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks, Ibis, Eagles and Owls. There are also two butterfly gardens where I have photographed too many species to mention. Of course, I can't fail to mention there are many squirrels, rabbits and racoons as well. Just looking through my past blogs, you'll find many of the things I've photographed at this park.

The park is also along the Great Florida Birding Trail, and this area is right on the migratory line, so it attracts many birders throughout the year. Sawgrass even has an education center. They have many educational activities for local school children.

The greatest thing about this magnificent park is the admission charge: FREE! There are not too many free things to do these days, so if you are ever in the area, check it out!

Salt Marshes

I shot this from a moving car, while we were on the way to Beddeford Pool, where my son used to live. The clouds were so right, the blue sky reflecting on the ground and the perfectly placed rocks made this look at least to me like a beautiful painting. One day, I will paint this one.

It was just too beautiful not to share with all of you.

Safety Harbor Pier

Yes, this is yet another photo of the Safety Harbor Pier taken from the Safety Harbor Marina on our regular Monday Meetup. When I saw this image import from my media card, I couldn't believe my eyes.

I remembered making these photos, but thought they were lost on the card. However, the other night my roommate asked me to take a couple pictures for him, and I used my Canon 20-D, instead of my usual 40-D. Now I know where the photos went! It really stinks getting old. :)

Most of the time at the Monday night meetups I don't shoot any photos. But this particular evening, I just had to capture these amazing clouds and reflections on the still water. This is one of the compositions I made.

Settings used for this shot were ISO 200, 1/80 at F9.0 to get a decent depth of field. If I had bumped up my ISO to 400, I would've been able to use F11, but that would've meant I'd have to deal with some digital noise in my shot. I'd rather not have to deal with it if it can be avoided. The camera was set in Aperture Priority mode and I used partial metering on the sky to be sure it wouldn't wash out. I used my Canon 18-55mm IS lens at 18mm, also to get a good depth of field and a nice wide angle of this scene.

Black Skimmer Landing

In keeping with the bird theme that seems to be very popular this week on our blogs due to a couple meetups that included bird shooting, here's just one more.

Just before sunset every night, the Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls and Terns gather on the beaches to roost. This one, a Black Skimmer is just coming in. It's a pretty amazing sight to see them all lined up--usually facing the same direction roosting on the beaches.

As a bonus, I'm attaching a second image showing more of the flock. There are probably 100 or more birds on this beach just like this.

I've seen them flying at night picking up food on my canal in my back yard. It's amazing to watch how they get their food. If you look closely, you'll notice that their lower beak is quite a bit longer than the upper beak. That's so they can fly (really fast) with their lower beak in the water scooping up food to eat. They have very long wings for their body size. I'll see if I can find a photo where I've caught them swimming for a post later on.

Settings used for these photos are as follows. The shooting mode is in continuous in case one of them or many of them take off, ISO is 200 because although it is nearing sunset, it's still quite bright. The exposure is 1/250 at 7.1, in aperture priority at 250mm with my 55-250mm lens. I used partial metering off the beach so as to not blow out the whites. The shadows were lightened slightly using Lightroom.

Tricolored Heron

This Tricolored Heron was sitting at the edge of this pond the same morning I was out with my friends looking for Deer. Although my trip was primarily to hunt and capture Deer photos, I'm not one to pass up a bird shot.

This fellow was very accommodating. He was so busy gazing out over the water, I don't think he noticed me, because I was able to fire off several shots from several angles before I made him nervous enough to fly to the other side of the water.

The trick to bird photography is pretty much the same as for all wild life. Don't run up on them, instead move slowly toward them. Take a few shots from far away so he sees what you're doing isn't hurting them. Crouch down, as low as possible, so you appear less threatening. As you move closer, go even slower. Try not to appear to be stalking them as a hunter or a predator would. If the bird looks at you, look away and pretend you're not watching them. They'll think you're probably stalking something else. Practice your panning technique before your big hunting day, so you'll capture him in flight should he fly off. Be patient and you'll get the shots you want.

Settings used for this image were: Aperture Priority mode with partial metering on the Heron at 400 ISO for speed in case he flew off, and continuous shooting mode. Shutter set at 1/40th at F7.1, the sweet spot on my lens and 0 exposure compensation at 250mm with my 55-250mm IS lens.

Mother and Babies

We have two pair of Mottled Ducks that come back every year to breed and have their young. This is the first time the mother has taken them for a swim in the lake this spring.

It's always so exciting to see the new chicks. There are so many birds on the lake where I live and I always look forward to the spring when I can meet their young.

She looks so proud to be showing them off for all to see. The Mottled Ducks will be here for about 2 more months before they start to head back to where ever they came from.

I've lived here 2 1/2 years and this is the second clutch I've seen from this pair. They're so adorable, aren't they?

If you like my work and would like to see more of it, check out my website here.

Common Spatterdocks

Today my friend and I went for an early morning walk through Sawgrass Lake Park, here in St Petersburg, FL, looking to capture some bird photos.

While we didn't see many birds, I spotted these Spatterdocks and liked the way the light was hitting them, The reflections of the tree in the upper center frame is just icing on the cake to complete my composition.

Loyce