Return to CBBR
April 20, 2024 - Our first visit to Circle B Bar Reserve in several years. Woodpeckers, eagles, and osprey were all getting ready for springtime breeding season
Circle B Bar Reserve
Stalking a Kitty at Circle B
November 30, 2021 - Recent bobcat sightings drew me to the Circle B Bar Reserve, where a Pileated Woodpecker and a Common Yellowthroat entertained my camera
Eagles and a Walk around Circle B Bar Reserve
November 21, 2021 - A November walk around Circle B Bar Reserve yielded my first-of-fall Robin, Bald Eagles, a Black-crowned Night Heron, and Purple Gallinules
Singing in the Rain!
July 29, 2021 - Roseate Spoonbills and Sandhill Cranes on a cloudy June morning at Circle B Bar Reserve - a perfect morning for singing in the rain!
Early June Visit to Circle B Bar Reserve
July 27, 2021 - An early June morning at Circle B Bar Reserve yielded Northern Parula, mating Purple Gallinules, a juvenile hawk, and a Pileated Woopecker
Springtime Stroll at Circle B Bar Reserve
March 2, 2017 - A foggy spring morning at Circle B Bar Reserve yielded nesting Great Blue Herons, a wading bird feeding frenzy, and a flock of mixed passerines
Foggy Morning Walk at Circle B Bar Reserve
January 18, 2017 - Foggy mornings can still be good for photography at Circle B, especially when the birds cooperate with you!
A Quick Stop at Circle B
October 25, 2016 - Winter birds are coming back to the Circle B Bar Reserve. Our quick trip yielded Eastern Phoebes, Common Yellowthroats, and Palm Warblers.
Learning to Climb – Barred Owlet
April 11, 2016 - A Barred Owlet learns how to climb as his parents share precious moments in the trees above him.
A Nice Walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve
March 26, 2016 - Springtime at the Circle B Bar Reserve yields great birds, including a Tufted Titmouse mid-air interception and a nesting pair of Great Blue Herons
Springtime Birds at Circle B Bar Reserve
February 28, 2016 - Springtime birds at Circle B...American Robins, the Barred Owl, Swamp Sparrows, and a huge flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers!
New Bird Blind at Circle B
October 23, 2015 - The new bird blind at Circle B will be great for viewing ducks, but on this morning, my best shot from the blind was a yawning Anhinga!
Long Walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve
January 29, 2015 - My dad and I walked a ton at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Sunday. Great shots of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers!
Annual Search for My Pole-Vaulters
October 16, 2014 - Quiet morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve, in search of my favorite "pole vaulters", the Purple Gallinules on alligator flag reeds
Peregrine Falcon at the Circle B Bar Reserve
January 17, 2014 - On a cloudy day over Christmas break, I started the morning at Lake Morton and then made a stop to look for the Peregrine Falcon at the Circle B Bar Reserve. The Peregrine Falcon had been hanging around for several weeks, and I wanted to get some non-captive shots of this pretty species. It was […]
Finally! Nice Weather for a Walk at Circle B
January 12, 2014 - As you will read in upcoming blog posts, the weather wasn’t so great over my Christmas vacation. So when the forecast called for sun today, I headed for a nice walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve. I wasn’t the only one, either! There were tons of people there. I took the Alligator Alley trail […]
Promise of Eaglets at the Circle B Bar Reserve
December 3, 2013 - On the last day of Thanksgiving break, my dad and I were excited to take his friend Dr. B to the Circle B Bar Reserve. Dr. B has been to lots of fun places to photograph, but it was his first time at Circle B. We arrived just before sunrise and found a gray, nasty […]
Chasing Lifers
November 29, 2013 - Michael Libbe and I had two goals on our recent trip to the Circle B Bar Reserve: to photograph the yellow flowers at sunrise, and to go chasing lifers! A group of Fulvous Whistling Ducks has started to hang out at Circle B, and while I’ve caught a few quick glimpses of them, they would […]
Yellow Flowers are Back at the Circle B Bar Reserve
November 27, 2013 - The yellow flowers are back at the Circle B Bar Reserve! Each year in November, the marsh landscape bursts into color with the blooms of the burr marigolds. These flowers are of the scientific genus bidens, and another common name for them is beggartick. They are native to Florida and grow well in swampy locations like […]
Some Birds, the Moon, and Sensor Dust!
November 25, 2013 - Yesterday at the Circle B Bar Reserve, Michael and I came across a group of White Ibis in my “treasure tree” along the Heron Hideout trail. I’ve had many lifers in that tree, but I almost passed it without a second glance when I saw just a few common White Ibises at the treetop. Then […]
Better Hurry, Alligator Flags at Circle B are Fading!
October 21, 2013 - This weekend I had the rare opportunity to visit the Circle B Bar Reserve in the afternoon. I’ve been there dozens of times in the morning, but I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen the sun set over the marshes. It’s always disconcerting to see the dramatically different afternoon […]
Winter Birds Returning to the Circle B Bar Reserve
October 14, 2013 - The winter birds are returning to the Circle B Bar Reserve! My dad and I had a great walk yesterday morning. We saw our first-of-fall Eastern Phoebes, Gray Catbirds, Marsh Wrens, and a surprise flock of American White Pelicans flying over the marsh. It was fun to welcome our birdy friends back to the Sunshine […]
Fall Walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve
October 7, 2013 - Yesterday I finally made it out for a fall walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve. I haven’t been there in months! It felt great to get back out on the trails. I love photographing along the Heron Hideout trail early in the morning on these early fall days. The light is golden and gorgeous, […]
December 2014 will be a Good Month!
October 3, 2013 - I received some good news yesterday. The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program‘s 2014 calendar will again feature one of my images. They picked one of my favorite sunrise shots from the Circle B Bar Reserve. I love how the sky reflects in the water as the sun peeks out through the clouds. Look for […]
Beast Meets Bobolink
May 19, 2013 - I’m so behind on my blog. It’s that time of year when I’d rather be out with my camera than sitting behind a computer! Recently I wrote about my quest to see Bobolinks at the Circle B Bar Reserve. Bobolinks are migratory birds that make a stop-over at Circle B every May during their migration […]
Two Lifers on a Drizzly Circle B Bar Reserve Morning
May 8, 2013 - Last Saturday morning I visited the Circle B Bar Reserve with the hope of seeing my first Bobolink. Bobolinks are migratory birds that pass through Circle B during early May. My dad has seen them several times, but I never have – I’ve missed them every year! I knew Saturday morning would be cloudy, but […]
Sharing the Sunrise at Circle B Bar Reserve
April 10, 2013 - Last Sunday my neighbor and good friend Carla joined me for a walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve. Carla and I enjoy our backyard birds together, and she decided that she wanted to come see some of the places I photograph on weekends. Brave lady – she was even willing to be up for […]
Easter Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve
April 5, 2013 - Easter sunrise, a lifer, and a bobcat…it was a very good morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve!! On Easter Sunday I was out on the Wading Bird Way trail approximately 45 minutes before sunrise. I watched the pale glow of the sun as it appeared over the horizon, and finally burst up over the […]
More Orange Fuzzballs at the Circle B Bar Reserve
April 4, 2013 - Two weekends ago, my friend Michael Libbe asked if I wanted to shoot together at the Circle B Bar Reserve. Little did I realize that I’d later be accused of dragging him on a long hike carrying his heavy equipment! :-p I perhaps should have warned him that I’m on a Sandhill Crane colt craze […]
Foggy Mornings at the Circle B Bar Reserve
March 21, 2013 - On Saturday morning, the sunrise found me out on the Wading Bird Way trail at the Circle B Bar Reserve. I was flabbergasted when my dad also arrived for the sunrise. He’s not a sunrise photographer! As the sun peeked out over the horizon, fog was settling in over the marsh. It was really thick […]
Five Days Cuter at the Circle B Bar Reserve
March 20, 2013 - I spent my off-Friday morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve with the Sandhill Crane family. The babies are so much bigger, and so much cuter, than they were on Sunday. The weekend crowds weren’t there on Friday, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these wonderful birds! As the Sandhill Crane babies grow bigger, […]
Sandhill Crane Colts Crawl into my Lap at Circle B Bar Reserve
March 11, 2013 - I had an absolutely incredible morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Sunday. The Sandhill Crane colts have hatched! This is a very predictable family of Sandhill Cranes that has been bringing the tiny babies up on the trail for the past four or five years. They make wonderful photo opportunities! The nest this […]
Watchin’ the Wheel Go Round
December 26, 2012 - I made this image of the windmill at the Circle B Bar Reserve back in October. I had gone to look for the Snail Kite, and after the sun set, the light levels dropped quickly. As I walked back to my car I looked back and saw the windmill starting to whirl in the breeze. […]
Dreaming of a Swampy Christmas!
December 23, 2012 - I’ve had a nasty flu bug for a little over a week now. It’s getting old! The weather is great (cold, but clear) and the birds are here and I’m sitting at the computer looking at pictures I took last year. It’s time to get better. So this is where I’d like to be tomorrow […]
Flight School
November 19, 2012 - The Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks are pretty active these days at the Circle B Bar Reserve. When I visited there last weekend, there were so many ducks circling overhead making their happy calls. I noticed a bunch of juveniles, and I think they were having a little bit of a Flight School as they circled around […]
Circle B Fall Sunrise
November 18, 2012 - I seem to be on a bit of a landscape image kick lately. This is a sunrise image from the Circle B Bar Reserve about a week ago. As the sun peeked up from behind my shoulder, it bathed the marsh in gorgeous golden light. Now all we need are some yellow flowers and a […]
Self Portrait
November 16, 2012 - Before I got serious about photography, I never really noticed the varying positions of the sun throughout the year. Seasons to me were just “shorts or jacket weather?” Now I pay a lot more attention to light. A few weeks ago at the Circle B Bar Reserve, I was photographing birds off the Heron Hideout […]
Waiting
November 15, 2012 - I was leaving the Circle B Bar Reserve on Saturday morning when I noticed this Belted Kingfisher perched on a branch near the Heron Hideout trail. I was surprised that he was perched so close – usually they stay farther away. He let me position myself at a good sun angle, then gave me a […]
December 2013 Will Be a Good Month!
November 12, 2012 - I recently received my copy of the Charlotte Harbor Estuary Program calendar, which features one of my images for December 2013. It was so cool to see my own picture in their calendar! The Circle B Bar Reserve is part of the Charlotte Harbor Estuary area, even though CBBR is so far inland that most […]
It’s About Time!
November 10, 2012 - I’ve been trying to make good images of Limpkins in flight over at least the last year. There are certainly enough Limpkins at the Circle B Bar Reserve that you would think this would be easy. Except the silly Limpkins are very fond of giving me butt shots. As soon as I get ready for […]
Comings and Goings
November 9, 2012 - This morning I took advantage of my off-Friday to visit the Circle B Bar Reserve. I hadn’t been there in a while, and this is the time of year when it starts to get really good. There were no yellow flowers yet, but I did have an American White Pelican fly-over! A group of about […]
Too Close for Comfort
November 7, 2012 - I photographed this Great Blue Heron in awesome morning light at the Circle B Bar Reserve back in May. He wasn’t too sure about his neighbor. Alligators and birds don’t mix well! I seriously need to get out this weekend and take some new pictures! :)
Posing Pretty
October 26, 2012 - On my last sunrise visit to Circle B, I turned around and found this grackle sitting on a post behind me. She looked so pretty with her feathers glistening in the sun. She just begged me to take her picture…and even if she’s “just a grackle,” I was happy to do so!
More on the Snail Kite
October 25, 2012 - I received information today about the banded Snail Kite that is hanging out at the Circle B Bar Reserve lately. According to FWC, After getting in touch with the University of Florida researchers who banded the bird, I found it was born in June of 2011 on East Lake Toho in St Cloud. We’re glad […]
Head Shot
October 21, 2012 - I had a great morning with friends at Orlando Wetlands today. But I haven’t had a chance to go through my pictures yet, so here’s one from Circle B last weekend. This Great Blue Heron’s colors stood out nicely against the brown vegetation surrounding him. I was surprised to see so much brown in the […]
The Snail Kite at the Circle B Bar Reserve
October 19, 2012 - The Circle B Snail Kite is banded, and I was pleased to get a decent shot of the band numbers on Saturday. It’s not often that I use both teleconverters on the Beast! The left band reads “2510” and the right bands read “7Z”. I tried to report this to the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research […]
Snowy Shadows
October 17, 2012 - This Snowy Egret was fishing in the warm afternoon light on Saturday evening at Circle B. I liked how his white feathers contrasted with the shadows behind him.
Everything But the Bird!
October 16, 2012 - Dyeyo and I thought we were being so smart on Saturday afternoon when we returned to Circle B. We’d seen the Snail Kite in the same place two mornings in a row. It’s getting a reputation among birders for being predictable. But the light is all wrong in the morning. This stubborn bird sits right […]
The Calm Before the Coots
October 15, 2012 - Each fall I look forward to the arrival of the American Coots at the Circle B Bar Reserve as a sign that our winter visitors are beginning to arrive. It’s just about time for the first groups of coots to show up at CBBR. Soon these waters will be covered in little black ducks… On […]
Sunrise, Sunset…
October 14, 2012 - …swiftly go the days at the Circle B Bar Reserve! I ended up making three trips there this weekend. Once on Friday morning when I first saw the Snail Kite, then again on Saturday morning to show Dyeyo the Snail Kite, and then Saturday afternoon to try to catch the Snail Kite in decent light. […]