September 12, 2010 - I keep running into photographers at the Circle B Bar Reserve who complain that nothing is happening. They remember the thousands of pelicans and myriad of other species seen last November through April. There isn’t as much activity now, but there’s still plenty to photograph, especially if you know where to look! The plan this […]
September 11, 2010 - The Circle B Bar Reserve is my favorite place to be at dawn. The landscape is so beautiful with the sun just peeking out over it, and the critters all waking up to a new day. We were treated to an early-morning view of the Black-Bellied Whistling Duck family. They are usually not out until […]
September 6, 2010 - Yesterday at Circle B, Dyeyo and I said that it will be nice when we can go back on the Marsh Rabbit Run trail, where the trees are not as tall and it is easier to get good pictures of warblers. Then Dyeyo teased that a warbler ought to hop down onto my camera lens […]
September 5, 2010 - Dyeyo and I enjoyed a nice walk at the Circle B Bar Reserve this morning. It’s a time of year when finding birds is very hit-or-miss. We felt like we hit the bull’s eye with several sightings of migrating warblers. We got to Circle B at sunrise, and as we admired the freshly mowed (and […]
September 3, 2010 - Gotta love off-Fridays. I went to Circle B this morning to check on the fall migration status. It was a pretty quiet morning. Walking on Heron Hideout out towards Alligator Alley, I enjoyed watching some Glossy Ibises fly over. I got some decent flight shots. Next time I should turn on the fill flash. I […]
August 29, 2010 - We were so excited by the migratory birds that we saw yesterday at the Circle B Bar Reserve that we just had to go back this morning. I was hoping to get better pictures of the migrating warblers, in non-foggy light. But the marshes were very quiet this morning. We saw two American Redstarts by […]
August 28, 2010 - It was a cloudy, foggy, and humid morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve. As we headed out Heron Hideout into more and more fog, we doubted that we would see much. But it turned out to be our most productive species morning in several months. The migratory birds are definitely making their way back […]
August 15, 2010 - Dyeyo and I spent another great morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve today. We went with hopes of seeing some migratory warblers or wading birds. Dyeyo did see a Northern Parula, but our major excitements today were the Yellow-Crowned Night Warbler and the baby Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks! The sunrise was slow this morning. Dyeyo […]
August 9, 2010 - I’ve been meaning to make a map of the best birding spots at the Circle B Bar Reserve. The best places vary with season, of course, so this is primarily a summertime map. Click on the picture below for a bigger version. We’re really looking forward to the re-opening of the Marsh Rabbit Run trail, […]
August 8, 2010 - Finally! We got some rain! Although it cut our morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve a little short, it also kept our hike cooler than usual. And boy did we need the rain! The morning started out darker than usual, due to the cloudcover. We took the Shady Oak trail and got all the […]
July 31, 2010 - Dyeyo and I spent a fun, but hot, morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve today. We got there just before sunrise, and watching the sun come up over Lake Hancock was spectacular. Then the sun went behind some clouds. We saw a juvenile Green Heron down at the start of the Alligator Alley trail, […]
July 25, 2010 - It’s amazing how every day at the Circle B Bar Reserve is a little bit different. Last week we saw lots of juvenile Great-Crested Flycatchers. Today we didn’t see a single one, but we saw five Green Herons (and we usually see one of those per visit at most). Nature’s fun with all its surprises. […]
July 18, 2010 - Dyeyo and I arrived at the Circle B Bar Reserve at 6:30 am to enjoy a nice warm morning of birding! The sunrise over Lake Hancock was gorgeous. Since our favorite Marsh Rabbit Run trail is closed, we took the Alligator Alley trail instead. The breeze down by the lake felt wonderful as we enjoyed […]
June 27, 2010 - Dyeyo and I enjoyed our hike around the Circle B Bar Reserve again this morning. We saw our usual assortment of birds and babies, plus a few surprises… The Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks continue to make Circle B their summer home. Their calls can be heard all over the marshes at all hours of the morning. […]
June 20, 2010 - Dyeyo got an extra Father’s Day gift today when this Anhinga posed for us at the Circle B Bar Reserve. The Anhinga surfaced with a catfish and proceeded to eat it, to the delight of the Birdie Paparazzi! (Hey, Squirt, it’s a catfish!) So if you’ve never swallowed a fish whole before, here’s how to […]
June 20, 2010 - The beautiful sunrise this morning was just the start of a happy Father’s Day hike with Dyeyo at the Circle B Bar Reserve. We saw lots of baby birds! Sand Hill Cranes, Purple Gallinules, Common Moorhens, Grackles and Red-Winged Blackbirds, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker… The Black-necked Stilt babies that we have been watching for the past […]
June 13, 2010 - The sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve this morning was magnificent! The drive over from Orlando was very very foggy, and as the sun rose and burned off the fog over the marsh, the light was just beautiful. I looked over at a common bunch of grasses, illuminated by the sunrise. The golden glow […]
June 6, 2010 - I’ve been reading a lot about High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. Camera sensors are not capable of capturing as much dynamic range in an image as our eyes can see; therefore, images lack the full range of tones. HDR attempts to solve this problem by allowing you to combine images of different exposures in software, […]
June 6, 2010 - Dyeyo and I went to the Circle B Bar Reserve at 6:30 this morning to enjoy the early morning light with our birds. Unfortunately, the sun didn’t really come up because it was so cloudy. We still had a good time birding. The first bird we saw was this Little Blue Heron, who posed for […]
May 31, 2010 - The peak bird migration is definitely past, and some would say that this is the “slow period” for birding at Circle B Bar Reserve. Dyeyo and I are finding that the babies popping up throughout the preserve still make our walks very rewarding! This morning we arrived at the Circle B Bar Reserve at dawn […]
May 29, 2010 - The increasingly hot temperatures drove Dyeyo and me to the Circle B Bar Reserve at 6:30 this morning, to allow us time for birding before the heat set in. I was amazed to see the marsh at sunrise. It was like a whole other world, with dewdrops glistening in the rising sun, and the grasses […]
May 16, 2010 - It was very hot but very fun to be back at the Circle B Bar Reserve this morning. Dyeyo and I took a nice long hike and saw some neat birds. I saw my first Eastern Meadowlark! I’ll wait until I have a better picture to post one, though. When we first arrived, we saw […]
April 3, 2010 - When Dyeyo called to say that he’d seen a baby sand hill crane hatch at the Circle B Bar Reserve, I was very jealous. Then a few weeks later he reported seeing the new family at the same place several times in a row. So I had to go and see if I could get […]
March 20, 2010 - The trees at the Circle B Bar Reserve were full of little birds today. The warblers are so cute. This yellow rumped warbler wasn’t sure about the crazy photographer underneath him. There were tons of warblers today (palm, pine, yellow-rumped, and common yellowthroats), but we didn’t see or hear a single blue-gray gnatcatcher. That was […]
February 7, 2010 - The recent freezing weather in Central FL had some devastating effects at the Circle B Bar Reserve. Many of the fish died from the cold, leaving the entire place stinky and littered with dead animals. Then the birds started to leave, probably because their food source was so greatly diminished. So by today the smell […]
January 31, 2010 - Dyeyo, Rich, and I were very cold birdwatchers at the Circle B Bar Reserve this morning. My wool hat from Pittsburgh came in handy! I saw my first limpkins on Wading Bird Way today. Look at that long spear of a beak! The limpkins were fishing for their breakfasts as we watched. This guy had […]
December 28, 2009 - The air was full of American White Pelicans at the Circle B Bar Reserve this morning. A huge flock of the pelicans is roosting on the lake at Wading Bird Way. I took the camera and pointed straight at the sky as they flew overhead: It was cool to hear the “whoosh!” of all their […]
December 23, 2009 - Now that Dyeyo, Rich, and I have discovered the Circle B Bar Reserve, we go there often. Each time we go we see new birds and learn more about them. It’s such fun. The first bird we saw this time was one that I usually don’t like to photograph, a black vulture. There are tons […]
November 28, 2009 - We’re starting to see a few more birds in the yard, but not as many as usual, and no goldfinches yet. There have been a couple of new house finches (I think the darker red ones are migratory…I never see such bright red guys in the summertime), some brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds, the yellow-throated […]
November 28, 2009 - Dyeyo, Rich, and I were so excited about our last visit to the Circle B Bar Reserve, we carefully watched the weather to go back on the next sunny day. But the weathermen deceived us, telling us that today would be sunny, and it was cloudy and foggy instead! Along the Shady Oak path, we […]
November 8, 2009 - After hearing about the Circle B Bar Reserve from people in the Sierra Club, Dyeyo, Rich, and I decided that we needed to check it out. Boy were we surprised! People were not kidding when they said it is a wonderful place for birds. It’s a protected reserve in Polk County, and there are paths […]
