I started this year with an impromptu family visit with my wife Carol and granddaughter Ava to one of my local favorite spots, Sawgrass Lake Park – a nature preserve located smack dab in the middle of Saint Petersburg. The park has boardwalk trails, a viewing tower overlooking a good size lake, and several waterways (actually canals) surrounding the park. But from a photographer’s perspective, what is has is birds. Sometimes not so many, occasionally a lot. On New Year’s Day, we were fortunate to find a lot! With water levels down, the birds were congregated near the canals and lake, and there were good photos awaiting.

We started out seeing a rather large flock of wood storks, some basking in the grass on the side of the canal and a few foraging in the shallows. With the sun low in the evening sky, and the view of the storks facing fiercely into the sun, it was challenging, but I was able to get some good backlit photos.

Moving on, we spotted a huge variety of water fowl, including several young roseate spoonbills, egrets and herons of all varieties, and even some mallards and marsh hens. But the prize for me was spotting a limpkin wading in the shade of the footbridge, dredging for clams along the water’s edge. Limpkins are local and rare to fairly common in parts of Florida, but aren’t very common in this part of the Tampa Bay area. I was able to get several good photos of him, although I was regretting not having brought my speed light and better beamer flash extender!

All in all it was a good day! For more photos of the birds we spotted, be sure to check my photo stream on Flickr.

mh++

I started at the north end of the North Beach, and walking through the pines near the water, I spotted some interesting shore birds, including this Black-Bellied Plover:

Onward I went, and after much searching, I finally located the Australian pine with the dozing mother owl. I was able to get relatively close and take quite a few pictures:

Suddenly, looking at a branch several feet below the mother, I spotted the fledgling. He was out of the nest, but huddling within a sheltered part of the tree making it difficult to get a clear photo. He was getting large, maybe 2/3 the size of the mother, but he still had a quite fuzzy head:

All in all, a successful afternoon, and some good pictures to go along with it!

The tone was set for excitement as we spotted an 8-point buck near the park entrance. Deer that size are rare in Florida! We proceeded into the sanctuary, cameras ready and with bated breath. Alas, two natural occurrences prevented the day form being everything it promised: due to the cold Florida winter, there had been no wood stork nesting activity in the Sanctuary this year, and due to the unusually wet winter, there was a lot of water everywhere – so instead of the birds congregating in the center of the swamp, there were very few wading birds in sight.

We did manage to see a variety of birds, images below; the list we spotted included pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, swallow-tailed kite, red-shouldered hawk, turkey vulture, Carolina wren, catbird, great blue heron, and a few great egrets.

This Carolina wren serenaded us beautifully from the treetops, then dropped to eye level to pose for a few images:

We spotted several young red-shouldered hawks, and even got to watch one as he stalked, then captured and devoured a small frog:

On the way back, Michael White and I also stopped at the Venice Rookery, where we watched quite a few pairs of great blue herons, great egrets, and anhinga tending to their young. Herons and Egrets in breeding plumage are a beautiful sight to see!

We had a gleeful time watching the antics, and then he stopped directly in front of us, stared, and proceeded to shake himself vigorously. Click! I was able to catch these shots. The light was fading, so there is a good bit of motion blur, but I still like the shots!

These images were processed in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS5. I’d like to give Lightroom 3 a shot at the noise, but I haven’t had time to install the beta version yet.

Tune in tomorrow for some travel photos!

Here are a couple of shots of the spoonbills; I’ll post some of the egret tomorrow.

Beautiful birds, aren’t they? These were processed in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS5, with a tiny bit of help from Topaz Adjust (just an accent). Enjoy!

Over the past couple of months, I’ve presented a relatively complete overview of the heron family. It’s finally time to move on! This week we will take a look at the Ibis family, a very recognizable and culturally important bird, known throughout the world for its large curved bill.

Ibis are a group of long legged wading birds, and in the United States we have a few native species, as well as some wanderers from South America. We’ll cover them all here, starting with our cover bird, shown here, the White Ibis.

White ibis are common in Florida and much of the southeastern united states, ranging from the seashore to the interior wetlands. They can be found in the deepest wilderness and swamps, seeking crustaceans and fish, and can be found grazing in Mr. Smith’s lawn next door, looking for insects and other goodies.

Adult white ibis are nearly all white, with black just on their wingtips. The black tips may be difficult to notice when they are wading or grazing, but are unmistakable in flight. The white ibis has an orange to pink colored bill, long and curved, and legs of a similar color to the bill. The curved bill and black wingtips make for an easy identification, allowing you to distinguish the white ibis from the white egret varieties we’ve reviewed here in past articles.

The juvenile white ibis starts out looking similar to the adult, but is mostly brown. As they mature, the brown fades to white over the first year or so of their life.

According to Wikipedia, ‘The mascot of the University of Miami is an American White Ibis. The ibis was selected as the school mascot because of its legendary bravery during hurricanes. The ibis is the last sign of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to reappear once the storm has passed. Miami’s sports teams are nicknamed "The Hurricanes"’.

Ibis were treated very specially in ancient Egypt, where they were associated with the god Thoth (the local ibis in that region is actually called the “Sacred Ibis”) and ibis were bred, sacrificed and even mummified in vast numbers in religious ceremonies.

White ibis are social creatures, and are often found in groups, even mixing regularly with other wading birds.

Cousin to the white ibis is the Glossy Ibis. Found in the same range as the white ibis, but decidedly less common, the glossy shares the body profile of the white ibis, but with a completely different color palette. The glossy ibis has a more bronze colored body, brownish flecked head and neck, and a light blue, almost white line around the face. The bill and legs are much darker than the white ibis, so it is easy to tell a glossy ibis from a juvenile white ibis – once you know!

Similar to the glossy ibis is the white-faced ibis. Found rarely throughout the midwest, the white faced looks very much like the glossy, but with pink legs and pink around the base of the bill. inside the white face line.

Finally, we have the scarlet ibis. Once again sharing the same overall shape as the white ibis, the scarlet has a neon color that is more like a flamingo than an ibis. A wanderer from South America, most of the birds in the wild are actually escapees from zoos and wildlife preserves. In the wild, some of these have started to interbreed with the white ibis, resulting in a range of colors from white to pink to red.

I photographed this colorful character at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL:

There you have a brief overview of the ibis family… I hope you enjoyed the imagery. Now, get out there, find some local ibis flocks, and get better acquainted with this cultural icon!

Night herons come in two varieties, the Black-Crowned Night Heron and the Yellow Crowned Night Heron. As their name would imply, both are primarily nocturnal feeders, although it is not uncommon to find them out and about in the daytime as well.

We’ll start with the Black-Crowned Night Heron. Small and stocky, these are some of the smallest herons, with a full-grown length of only 24-25” (64 cm). Found throughout much of the US and into parts of Canada, these birds are locally common but, due to their nocturnal habits and their tendency to prefer wet swamps and woods, may be less likely to be seen or noticed by the casual observer.

Note the rather thick bill, and the dark, almost black, crown and back. The wispy white plume, found in mature birds, is longest and most dramatic in the breeding season (early spring through summer).

The juvenile is brown with white speckles and light under parts, and can be told from the young Yellow-Crowned by its lighter colors and paler yellow, thinner bill. The youngster below seems to have barely escaped becoming lunch for a gator:

The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is also a small, slight bird, about the same size as the Black-Crowned, but not as stocky. Note the overall gray body, with the pale yellow crown and cheeks, and the otherwise black head. The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is also locally common, and can be seen regularly along estuaries and bays as well as deeper in the inland swamps.

As with the juvenile Black-Crowned, the juvenile Yellow-Crowned is brown with white specks. Note the much thicker, darker bill, and the generally darker underside.

The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is a persistent hunter, and patience pays off when you find one on the prowl. I’ll end with a sequence of photos of a Yellow-Crowned doing what he does best:

Happy Birding!

So, join me as we apply a little bit of makeup, mascara, and maybe even (gasp) a little plastic surgery as we retouch our bird portrait – and take it from good to great.

We’ll start by looking at this American Egret, who was nice enough to mug for my camera on a recent visit to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

All in all, a “nice” picture – good, but not great. What do we do with it? This is a nice, sharp image, properly focused and exposed, nice color – but it doesn’t reach out and grab me. Well, let’s change that.

We’ll start with a radical crop. I don’t particularly care for the leafy debris on the tip of his beak… we could clone it out, but cropping may be easier. Plus, his image has a nice sharp eye (very important in any photography) and we want to take advantage. So, let’s crop really tight and get right in his face!

Now we’re talking. I like the composition, a little unorthodox but with much more impact than the original. However, now we start to see the blemishes that weren’t as noticeable in the first shot.The image above is reduced for the blog, but if we zoom in to look at his face and head we see quite a bit that could use a good makeover.

We can see that his feathers are looking a little rough this morning, perhaps it was a late night last night down by the river. He’s got a few blemishes on his beak that are distracting as well; we can apply the clone stamp tool to clean this up quickly.

Start a new layer above the original (always do your retouching on a separate layer) and select the Clone Stamp Tool. Set the tool’s opacity to 50% and make sure “Sample” is set to “All Layers.” Alt-click in a clean area and paint away the blemishes in the feathers and beak. Use a relatively small brush and you should be able to leave no visible trace of your retouching.

Now, how about that eye? Nice and clear, but not dramatic enough. Let’s add some “mascara” and a catch light to make it pop:

Start with the Brush Tool, set to 50% opacity. Set your color to black by pressing “D” then “X” and, using a soft round brush setting, brush in the “eyeliner” around the bird’s eye. You want to cover all the rough and uneven areas, even it out and create as much drama as possible – just as with eyeliner on people:

Looks good. Now, using the same black brush, go over the pupil of the eye to add a little density an remove any variation in the color. We pretty much want solid black. Then, switch to white color (again by pressing “X”), and, with the opacity still at 50%, brush in a small curved catch light. Be careful not to overdo this; a little bit goes a long way.

Now, let’s step back and take a look at the before and after.

Before:

After:

I think you’ll agree, a little make-up and mascara can go a long way towards taking your bird photograph from good to great!

This week, we’ll take a look at one of the smallest herons – the Green Heron. This slight bird, when full grown, measures only about 44cm (just under 18”), and with its small size and variegated color, tends to easily blend in with the background.

Once you spot one, they are easily recognized – from the head, neck and breast ranging from a brownish to reddish color, the greenish feathers on the wings and back, and the bright legs (which range from a yellow to vivid orange color), this bird is not easily mistaken for anyone else!

As with other herons we’ve reviewed in recent weeks, this one is also a resident of the swamps and wetlands. We in Florida are lucky enough to have them all year around, but most of the US sees the Green Heron only as a winter visitor. They tend to summer in Mexico and Central America, and are spotted as a migratory visitor in the southwestern states of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of California and Texas.

Green Herons can be found in both salt and fresh water. They tend to favor mangrove-lined shores and estuaries, and dense, woody vegetation fringing ponds, rivers and lakes.

You just have to love a bird with as much color as these herons have! Note the darker orange legs in this one:

The Green Heron can also seem to change its body shape. By stretching its neck, it elongates its body considerably, but it tends to spend much of its time with neck pulled in – giving it a short and stocky look.

It is a crafty fisherman, stalking its prey in shallow water – and occasionally using bait! Yes, the Green Heron has been known to drop feathers, bits of leaves, and even insects into the water to attract fish – which it then, of course, dispatches quickly and skillfully.

I’m not aware of very many birds out there that actually use fishing gear and bait!

They may hover occasionally in their fishing regimen, but aren’t usually seen engaged in the type of canopy feeding that you see in Little Blue Herons,, Tricolored Herons, and Reddish Egrets.

Small and unassuming, yet brilliantly colored, the Green Heron is a gem in the avian world. Keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re birding near a waterway, and you’re likely to spot them!

I’ve been somewhat remiss in posting here lately – December has presented the dual challenge of getting ready for the holidays, combined with a rather aggressive travel schedule for me. However, I am back on track now, and will finish out this year with a couple of new postings discussing the remainder of the heron family – starting with the Tricolored Heron.

Formerly known as the Louisiana Heron (and I don’t know who changed the name, as I think it was just fine as it was), this is the third blue heron in our lineup. Recall that we have looked at the Great Blue Heron, followed by the Little Blue Heron. This third in line is often confused with the Little Blue Heron, but stick with me here and I’ll give you a few pointers for identification. Once you know what to look for, telling the two apart will be easy. Amaze your friends!

The Tricolored Heron is a small to medium sized heron, similar in size to the little blue – with a length of about 22 in (56 cm) and a wingspan of up to just over 3 feet (96 cm). It is relatively common in swamps and marshes throughout the gulf coast of the US, and up the eastern seaboard as well. It is a regular visitor to Mexico and other parts of Central America, and is also found throughout the Caribbean and down to the northern coast of South America.

These herons are often found along with Little Blue Herons, and at a distance they can be difficult to distinguish. Note the slate blue/gray back and wings, and the dark head (which ranges from a reddish color in juveniles to a more uniform slate blue/gray in adults). However, the Tricolor Heron is unique in that it has a completely white underbelly and white under the wings as well. Furthermore, the front of the neck is white with dark speckles.

It is the white color which is diagnostic with the Tricolored Heron. Neither the Little Blue Heron, with whom it is often found, nor the Reddish Egret, who also shares a gray and dull red color pallet, have the least bit of white. So, spot the white, you’ve identified the Tricolored Heron.

The Tricolored Heron is primarily a fish eater, but will gladly consume any small crustaceans, insects or even small reptiles that it comes across. These birds, similar to the Little Blue Heron, will most often be found wading in the shallows at water’s edge, stalking their next meal. They can often be seen “canopy feeding,” in which they run across the shallows with wings spread to usher small fish to their end,

We’ll take a closer look at canopy feeding in a few weeks when we discuss the Reddish Egret in more detail.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the three types of blue herons, there remains yet another heron to cover – the Green Heron. Stay tuned next week as we review this small but colorful heron. Meanwhile, if you’re south of the freezing weather, get out with your binoculars and maybe your camera, and start identifying those birds! If you’re in the frozen north, come on down, the weather’s fine!