Our forth destination within Florida was Fort De Soto Park. It’s the largest park in the Pinellas County park system and occupies 1,136 acres located on the Gulf of Mexico just outside St. Petersburg, FL. The park is a “gateway site” for the Great Florida Birding Trail and very highly regarded by birders and photographers alike. Followers of noted bird photographer, Artie Morris, often hear him mention Fort De Soto and see impressive images he’s taken there. When I spoke with members of my Georgia Nature Photographers Association photo club about places to visit in Florida, Fort De Soto consistently made the top three on everyone’s list. As a result, I originally scheduled 2.5 days of our 10 day trip to be spent there.

Well, as fate would have it, we saw almost no shorebirds and were left underwhelmed. That being said, I know full well that changes in weather and migration can make major differences in the movement of wildlife. The park really looks like a great place for birds but, I suppose we just hit it at the wrong time. Oh well…we didn’t end up seeing exactly what we expected BUT, we didn’t get skunked either!

Our first full day there we stopped at the parking lot near North Beach and saw a guy with a 500mm Canon lens on a tripod pointing it up at a large tree. The tree was completely surrounded by orange plastic safety fence. I couldn’t resist walking up and asking him what he was shooting. Turns out he came from Iceland to shoot pictures of a nesting Great Horned Owl. He read about it on the internet.

Whoa! How cool is that? I rarely see owls in the wild and would jump at the chance to shoot one. Needless to say, I couldn’t get my gear setup fast enough. There we both are, click click clicking our cameras at this adult owl from every possible angle. The whole time the bird hardly moved and never opened but one eye and only then just a slit. I’m still so excited I can hardly keep my camera still.

Then it dawned on me…the guy from Iceland said “nesting Great Horned Owl”. Where’s the nest and are there any chicks? “Sure”, he says. “Look around the other side in the crook of the tree”.

Sure enough, there was a beautiful little owl chick that had not even fledged yet. Unlike mom, this little guy was very much awake and checking out his environment.

All of a sudden Fort De Soto is not looking so bad after all. This little owl is posing for us and I’m burning through memory cards like there’s no tomorrow.

He’s showing us his wing and doing this “Count of Monte Cristo” thing. I expect it will be time for flight lessons soon. That wing looks all business to me.

Check out his dinky little nest. That’s it in the bottom right corner of the image. It looks like something a robin might use…not a mighty raptor! Bald Eagles build nests large enough to hold a grown man. What’s with these owls? Turns out that Great Horned Owls never build their own nest. They simply take over some other bird’s nest or just use a handy nook or crevice. I guess owls don’t have to worry about things like zoning or homeowners associations. Seems pretty lazy but, that’s how they roll.

I ended up getting a ton of great images of the adult and the chick and could have stayed there all day just watching them. I would post another image of the adult but, she hardly moved so all of my images of her look pretty much the same.

After a hard day of owl shooting we decided to strike out and try to find some Rosette Spoonbills. Where can they be?

I looked at the map and decided to check out any nearby parks and wildlife refuges. Our first stop was at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. It’s a nice little place and has an excellent display of rescued raptors. Various eagles, hawks, vultures and owls. They also have some trails and boardwalks. That’s where I snapped this tiny alligator in the lily pads. There’s no shortage of alligators in Florida! Sadly, no Rosette Spoonbills though.

Next I found a place called Cockroach Bay Preserve State Park. I reminded my wife that we had already been to a sewage treatment plant at Viera Wetlands so we had to go to Cockroach Bay just to make our vacation complete. (she failed to see the humor)

As soon as we arrived at the Cockroach Bay headquarters we saw some large pink birds way out in a pond quite a distance away. After speaking with the local park ranger we discovered that the best and closest viewing spot was at the top of Mount Cockroach. So camera, 500 mm lens and tripod in hand we scaled mighty Mount Cockroach. I’m not certain but, the “mountain” looked an awful lot like an old converted trash pile but, I could be wrong. You don’t see many natural mountains in this part of Florida.

Once we reached the summit we could see the spoonbills far below. It took my 500 mm lens, a 2x teleconverter and some heavy cropping on my D800 but, I got some Rosette Spoonbill images.

These guys don’t want to make anything easy! They really are curious  looking. Maybe next trip we can figure out how to find spoonbills that are less than a mile away. Oh well, notch another bird off my “wish list”.

Our Fort De Soto visit didn’t turn out at all like I had imagined but, it was worthwhile nonetheless. My original Florida “wish list” had Burrowing Owls and we ended us seeing Great Horned Owls. I can live with that! I also wanted to see Rosette Spoonbills and we did indeed see them. In the future, when I make wishes I’ll try to be more specific: “I want to see Rosette Spoonbills close enough to shoot them full-frame with a 300 mm lens”. Now we’re talking!

More to come from Florida…stay tuned.

Our third stop in Florida was at Gatorland in Orlando. This family owned business has been around since 1949 and was Central Florida’s first attraction. Long before Disney there was Gatorland.

Over the years I’d read several photographer’s accounts of the place but, I’d never been there. To be honest, I was concerned that it might just be a tourist trap and nothing more. Thankfully, my concerns were unfounded. Yes, it’s a family place and has something for everyone but, the big draw for photographers is the bird rookery. In the middle of the park there’s a long narrow pond with a boardwalk running the entire length of one side of the pond. All around the pond are trees and shrubs chock full of nesting birds. This is not a bird zoo and these are not caged birds. All are wild and may come and go at will but, it’s a nice safe place to nest so they keep coming year after year.

The folks at Gatorland recognize the needs of photographers and even offer a special Photographer Pass. During the bird nesting season photographers can pay a little more on certain days and get early access (7:30 am) and stay until dusk. The normal hours are 10am until 5pm so the photo pass makes sure you’re there during the golden hours of light. Since this was our first visit we didn’t get the photo pass and simply entered the park at 10am. As a result we missed the best light but at least we got to scope out the park for next time.

There are several different species of birds but, the Great Egrets were in all stages of nesting during our visit. The Egret in my first image above was not in full breeding plumage. The bird in my second image is in breeding plumage and has the green color in front of the eyes and the beautiful long silky feathers. Finally, this third image shows how the Egrets “display” when they’re ready to mate. It’s quite dramatic and reminiscent of a wedding dress.

It was fascinating to see so many Great Egrets in all different phases of the nesting season. Some were displaying as shown above while others were being lovey dovey and just beginning to mate like these two.

In some ways it’s a challenge to shoot here because there are so many birds that it’s difficult to isolate one or two. On the other hand, you can get reasonably good images using anything from an iPhone to a 600 f/4 with a tripod and Wimberley head. I mainly used a 70-200 hand held and a 300 f/2.8 on a tripod. It’s an excellent place to hone your wildlife shooting skills and several pros do hold seminars here. I can see why. Often shooting wildlife can be hit or miss but, you’ll never get skunked at Gatorland during breeding season.

We actually saw a couple of nests with eggs being lovingly cared for. However, I was never able to get exactly the shot I wanted due to limbs and other distractions always being in the way. By this time the light was getting pretty harsh, too. Regardless, it was still very special to see even if the photos weren’t the best.

Nobody will ever nominate a baby Egret for the cute baby award! They sort of have a face that only a mother could love. They’re pretty aggressive at feeding time as well. The babies will bite their mother’s bill and face as she feeds them. I’ll bet some adults have lost eyes during the feeding process.

Even in the harsh mid-day light, there’s nothing to warm the heart like a family photo.

Gatorland is definitely a place I would return to. The staff was very polite and helpful. They immediately directed us to exactly where we needed to go as soon as they spotted our camera gear. The boardwalk in the bird rookery is plenty wide enough to accommodate tripods and large lenses. We saw several other photogs while we were there so this place is well known.

The next time we visit I will certainly pay extra for early access. This particular image was shot at 10:30 am and was one of my first after we arrived. You can see how much better the light is even at that hour. It’s worth it to have the early morning light and nice to have the place to yourself before the crowds arrive.

I’ve still got more images and blogging to do from Florida so stay tuned!

The second stop on our whirlwind Florida tour was Viera Wetlands. Actually, the formal name is the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands at Viera. Yes, it’s one of Brevard county’s water treatment facilities but, it’s also one of the finest birding spots you’ll ever visit. It consists of about 200 acres divided into four ponds plus a central lake. The primary purpose of the facility is to treat water to a point where it can be used for irrigation or simply released back into the environment. That being said, Brevard county has gone to great lengths to make it friendly for birds, birders and photographers. Several native plant species have been placed here to create a rich and varied environment for lots of different birds. Gravel roads on the top of the dikes dividing the ponds make Viera Wetlands easily accessible by car or on foot. About half of the dikes were open to foot traffic only when we were there.

We didn’t see a lot of any particular species of bird but, we saw a surprising number of different species. Almost immediately after entering the compound we were greeted by a couple of Sandhill Cranes strolling around like they owned the place. These large nearly four foot tall birds are known to travel from Wisconsin and further north down to Florida for the winter. I was a bit surprised to see them at Viera but, I now understand that they are often seen there. Sandhills are the only species of crane in the world that are not endangered.

We spoke with a very nice gentleman who lives nearby and frequently visits here. He showed us a couple of birds that are almost impossible to spot. The Sora is a member of the rail family and so small and secretive that you would never know he was there. They live in the reeds and cattails, move slowly, deliberately and mostly stay in the shadows. Getting a decent photograph of one of these little guys is a real challenge.

Only a few feet from the Sora was another bird that is relatively common but, nearly impossible to spot. This is a Least Bittern. It’s a tiny member of the heron family and has camouflage in addition to the Sora’s tools to help hide it from sight.

I had never seen nor photographed either of these birds before and only did it this time because they were brought to my attention. I could have been there all day and never noticed either one. Pretty cool!

Overhead I spotted a large bird flying across the compound. I raised my camera and fired off a few frames as it passed by. To my delight it was a Crested Caracara. One of the birds on my “wish list”. They’re a member of the falcon family but, they act more like vultures. This particular one has some nesting material in his mouth. I never saw where the nest was located. This photograph was taken from a long distance and heavily cropped. Unfortunately, I didn’t see another Caracara the rest of our trip. Oh well, there’s always next time.

The ditches along some of the roads allow you to get pretty close to the birds as long as you shoot from the car. The downside is that you end up shooting down on the bird so it’s not the best angle. I decided to include this image because this Blue-winged Teal is actually showing his signature blue wings. Normally, you can’t see the blue unless they are in flight. Although they range from Canada to the northern tip of South America, I had never seen one in the wild before. Got to get out more I suppose!

Not too far away from the teal I spotted one of the most beautiful Glossy Ibis that I’ve ever seen. These medium sized wading birds primarily live along the US Atlantic Coast. Most I’ve seen were kind of dark and drab but, this one was in good light and had some snap. He was decked out in his full breeding plumage.

Intermittent thunderstorms were in the area during our day at Viera so the light conditions were variable. While the light was fantastic when I took the Ibis image, things were quite different when this hawk landed in a tree down the road. Somehow, I just can’t resist shooting raptors. They are such interesting birds. We also saw a Bald Eagle and an Osprey but, they were too far away and my images of them are marginal.

Several Anhingas were in the ponds.Their beautiful and contrasty wings have amazing silvery patterns offset by their black feathers. This one appears to be in breeding plumage because his neck is a rich brown color. Anhingas have no oils in their feathers so they can easily dive underwater for food. When they swim on the surface only their neck and head is seen above water. That’s why they have been nick-named the “snake bird”. They cannot fly after swimming until they’ve dried their wings in the sunlight.

Across the dike from where we saw the Sora and Least Bittern we spotted another unusual bird that I had never seen before. It’s a Limpkin. We initially thought it was a rail. They are in the same order but, a different family. Florida is as far north as these birds roam.

While we were wandering around Viera marveling at the wildlife this guy drives up beside us. He rolls down his window and says “Psst…wanna see a Kestrel?” Naturally, I said “who wouldn’t!”. It seemed pretty weird but, he told us about a second group of ponds across the highway from Viera and down a dirt road. He said the Kestrel will be at the end of the dirt road on a fence post near the parking area at 10 am.

As far-fetched as the whole story sounds we decided to see just how punctual these Florida Kestrels actually are. Down the dirt road we went to Dan Click Ponds. To our utter disbelief, we got there and sure enough…there was the Kestrel! There was absolutely no way that this little falcon was going to let us get anywhere near him but, he was certainly there flying from fence post to fence post. I took this photograph just to prove he was there.

As we were leaving the Viera Wetlands compound we spotted one last interesting bird out in a field. This is a Wood Stork. It’s the only stork that breeds in the US and is considered endangered from North Carolina down to Florida although it is not endangered in South America. It’s a strange creature with a head and bill that looks prehistoric. Pretty much all storks worldwide are under pressure and most varieties are endangered. I never turn down an opportunity to photograph a rare or somewhat rare bird.

Viera Wetlands was very much a worthwhile place to visit. Great diversity and good access to wildlife. I really wish that more municipalities would take Brevard County’s example and allow access to water treatment wetlands like this. They have created a birding hotspot that’s attractive to tourists while still cleaning the water and giving back to the environment. Ecotourism I suppose.

Well, there’s more to come from Florida. Stay tuned!