I took last week off from work to enjoy some springtime bird photography in Central FL. Now I’m way behind on my blog posts! Rich keeps telling me it’s good to have a healthy backlog. :) Here’s a preview of coming attractions…
Stay tuned for the stories behind these images!
On the same afternoon that the Roseate Spoonbills played musical trees, a number of other birds were active at the Orlando Wetlands Park rookery. Here’s the Part 2 post from that afternoon, with all the non-pink feathered fun!
The Black-bellied Whistling-ducks were active that afternoon. I checked on the Sandhill Crane nest, and when I didn’t see colts, I settled down on the far side of the bank to watch the whistlers. Their happy calls are one of my favorite things about visiting the wetlands.
I meandered over to the boardwalk, where I noticed a number of blue feathers in the air. The Tricolored Herons and Little Blue Herons are building nests in the same place as the Roseate Spoonbills. Birds definitely understand the concept of safety in numbers. The blue birds are fun to photograph because they dart in and out of the vegetation so quickly. Here a Little Blue sits on top of the Wood Stork’s favorite tree to pose in the setting sunlight.
A few minutes later, this Tricolored Heron flew by. He’s showing off his blue lores and breeding colors. He promised to bring nesting material the next time I come!
The stars of the evening — besides the spoonbills — were the two tiny Great Egret chicks. They couldn’t have been more than a day or two old. Mom stood protectively over them and regurgitated a nice dinner. This nest will be very popular with the photographers once the babies are a little bigger.
Too soon the game of Musical Trees was over, and I packed up my camera to leave. I was glad that I stuck my short lens in my vest, because the sunset was gorgeous. As usual, these are bracketed exposures that I merged using HDR software. By dialing in a small aperture (large f-number), I got the starburst effect from the sun.
Just one more. The sun played peek-a-boo with me from behind the trees as I walked the boardwalk back to my car. Images like these always make me want to go back the next day!
My first afternoon visit to the Orlando Wetlands boardwalk was pure magic. I hope you like the color pink! The Roseate Spoonbills are nesting at the wetlands in an island of trees surrounded by stumps. Black Vultures stand guard at the tops of the trees, and the Spoonies vie for the remaining perches. It’s a bird flight photography paradise!
This was a visit at the very beginning of March. Nesting was well underway. I didn’t see or hear any chicks yet. Nest construction was a high priority in the early hours of the afternoon.
Sometimes after you bring in a lot of sticks, you just need a rest! Luckily there are lots of high branches that serve as perches for these beautiful birds.
As the sun dropped in the sky, the birds emerged from their nests to stretch their wings. That’s when the game of musical trees really started. It was the perfect combination of golden light, perfect wind angle, and energetic subjects.
Note the difference in the light quality between the spoonie above and the very first one in the post. The first image was taken at 4:45. This image was taken at 5:45. Sunset that evening was around 6:30 that evening. What a difference an hour makes!
This spoonie almost seemed to grin for my camera after chasing a different bird away from his perch!
The Black Vultures had been hanging out in this tree all afternoon. The spoonies came in with a rush of flapping wings…and evicted the previous tenants!
Here a vulture is indignantly displaced by a spoonbill. Vulture take-offs are far less graceful than spoonbill landings!
“I didn’t do it!” says this adult male. “I have the wings of an angel!”
The poses of these birds make me laugh. “Excuse me, I like your perch, will you please leave?” The poor juvenile spoonie on the left is no match for the adult spoonie on the right!
Here we have the triumphant pose of the victor of the palm tree. His feathers gleam in the beautiful golden light as he claims his rightful throne.
With all the commotion came amazing opportunities for flight shots. The sky was full of golden-pink feathers and my camera shutter was going nonstop!
Here the bird was coming in for a landing on the Vulture Tree. If I remember correctly, this bird landed politely without chasing off any others.
…or maybe he did chase off a sleeping vulture after all!
Stay tuned for more springtime bird photography fun from Orlando’s Wildlife Playground! :)