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!

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!

The stretch of the Withlacoochee bordering the reservation is beautiful, and was absolutely pristine in the seventies. The river was full of fish and turtles, and there were more birds than you could count. I mentioned this to our counselor, who promptly pointed out several species that I had never heard of, including Limpkin and Anhinga. I responded by indicating a cluster of large white birds near the shore. “Egrets!” I proudly announced.

“Yes, but can you tell me what kind of egret?” he asked.

I was stumped. “There are more than one kind?”

It turned out that there are three types of white egrets in Florida (and in most of the US) and they are relatively easy to distinguish, once you know what you’re looking for. The telltale features are the legs, and the beak. Here, for your enjoyment, I’ll spell out for you the differences that started me so long ago on the path to being an avid birder.

Great Egret

Also known as a Common Egret, and (locally) American Egret. This is the largest of the three white egrets, and as the name would indicate, the most widespread and numerous. The Great Egret sports a bright yellow bill, and dark black legs.

During breeding season, the male Great Egret develops a green color around the eyes, and a beautiful wispy plume of feathers, which drape over its back and well past its tail.  This gorgeous plumage nearly led to its demise in the early 1900s, as the feathers were highly sought as fashion accessories. In fact, the Audubon Society chose this bird in 1953 as its symbol, and it was formed in part to protect birds such as this one.

Great Egrets are common in populated areas, and you are likely to see them grazing in lawns and along hedgerows, seeking insects and reptiles. They are also widespread along coasts and wetlands where they tend to dine on crustaceans and small fish. Great Egrets may be confused with the Great White Heron (see below), but that bird is a rare and local bird in southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret can be immediately distinguished by its black bill. It also has black legs (in the adult) but bright yellow feet, which give it an almost painted comic appearance. My wife likes to comment that they are “wearing their waders.” Snowy egrets are more often found in the shallow waters of wetlands and coastal areas, and they also graze for crustaceans, insects and fish. You may occasionally see them flitting about, skimming the surface of the water and dragging their feet, dipping after their prey.

The Snowy Egret also sports a wonderful wispy set of breeding plumage. These birds, along with the great egret, were nearly hunted to extinction for their feathers, but numbers have rebounded quite well in the US.

Cattle Egret

The third of the white egrets gets its name from its propensity to flock in pastures, where it feeds on insects stirred up by grazing cattle. It is not entirely uncommon to see a Cattle Egret perched directly on the back of a cow, resting from its search for prey.

The Cattle Egret is recognized by its yellow beak combined with yellow legs (although the immature birds tend to have a grey colored beak, they can still be told by the yellow in their legs – unique to egrets). The Cattle Egret also brings a splash of color to its plumage during the breeding season, with adult males sporting a very recognizable patch of plumes the color of Georgia clay.

Great White Heron

As I mentioned earlier, this somewhat rare large white bird is not an egret at all, but it a white-colored morph of the Great Blue Heron. This variety is rarely seen anywhere but the southwest coast of Florida, from the Florida Keys and Florida Bay up to occasionally as far north as Tampa Bay. It is a magnificent bird, but is significantly larger than an egret, and the beak and leg colors don’t match any of the egret’s color configurations.

There you have it! A quick primer on white colored egrets, with some easy ways to tell them apart. Are there other white birds out there besides the egrets and herons? Of course! But, that’s a tale for another day…