Local Wetlands Never Disappoint

For us nature photographers who are lucky enough to live in Florida, when the shorebirds of Spring and Summer all leave their nesting areas, we wait with great anticipation for December, when the season starts all over again.  So December rolled around and as if nature wanted to reward our patience, our wetland areas started filling with our favorite species of birds.  You see, for the most part, except for the smaller birds, such as the warblers, the birds in Florida do not necessarily migrate.  They have their nesting areas or rookeries and then the areas they spend the rest of the year within the state.  When, in December, they start returning to their nesting areas, their appearances start to change. Their colors start to get vibrant and they develop plumage that is shown off during displays to attract a mate and for bonding behaviors once a mate is found.  The first ones to start things off in my very favorite wetlands, The Rich Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera, Florida, are the Great Blue Herons and Anhingas.  These are just a few examples. To view others please visit my main website www.naturesportal.net.

Great Blue Heron Pair

Great Blue Heron Pair

Great Blue Heron Male Offering a Stick at Dawn

Prelude to Mating- Great Blue Heron Pair

Anhinga Pair-  Female Left, Male Right

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The White Mountains In Fall

During the last week of this past September, I was able to spend a few days in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The weather turned out not to be ideal, but the mountains were ablaze with the fall colors. We stayed at The Holiday Inn Express in North Conway. Definitely a hotel I would recommend. There are plenty of B&B's (Bed and Breakfasts), but of course we were up early to be out on the road to get in as much photography as I could, and the Holiday Inn had a nice hot breakfast and plenty of coffee out and ready starting at 6:00 am, which was perfect. There are three websites, that a friend recommended to me, and I will pass on, for they are a wealth of information for the New Hampshire, White Mountains, area, and give great fall foliage reports. They are Yankeemagazine,  http://www.nhliving.com and http://www.visitnh.gov/. 

The roads are excellent and are very well sign posted.  The most well known of the roads is the Kancamagus  Hwy, often referred to as the best fall foliage trip in the United States.  It runs E-W for 34 miles out of Conway through the White Mountains to Lincoln, New Hampshire.  There are many points of interest and trails with places to park along the Kanc, which is what the locals call it.  One could spend from a short weekend to several weeks exploring the many roads that run through the White Mountains, with most having historic little towns that are great for exploring and refreshments before continuing your journey.  We flew into Boston and then rented a car.  From Boston, Conway, New Hampshire is around a three hour drive.  If one was just going to the Conway area, there are flights into Manchester, New Hampshire which would cut the drive in half.  Below are just a few of the images I was fortunate to capture.

 



 

 

 

 

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

 



HOT, But Always Something To Capture

Bird photography in Florida during August and September tends to be relatively slow. Sort of that in between stage after the nesting and fledging has finished and before the migrating birds find their way to us from the north and the cool fronts have any effect at all. It is hot, and the heat and humidity is felt by all the creatures, including humans. Plus, the light gets harsh very quickly in the mornings, so ones time is limited for that nice warm light that brings out the best in all images. But, I like to get out at least once a week to see what there is out there, and yes maybe catch that special moment. Other creatures that might have been overlooked before can pose for some wonderful images. As I always tell people, if you are not out there, you will not capture anything, guaranteed. Here are a few of the images captured over the last few weeks.

Roseate Spoonbill




Tricolored Heron




Needham's Skimmer





Tree Frog




White Peacock

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal  

The Black-bellied Whistling Duck

If you live in Florida, you have just about year around photo ops with the black-bellied whistling duck.  In the USA, it can be found also in parts of southeast Texas, seasonally in southeast Arizona and Louisiana's Gulf Coast.  Florida is one of the rare places, in the USA, that it breeds, otherwise in tropical Central to south central South America.  The black-bellied whistling duck is a mid size waterfowl.  Its length ranges from 47 to 56 cm (19-22 in), body mass from 652 to 1,020 g (1.44 to 2.2 lb) and wingspan ranges from 76 to 94 cm (30 to 37 in).  The males and females look alike.  They are highly gregarious and whether breeding or not seem to stay in large flocks.  One early American ornithologist described this duck as "most un-duck-like", because of its unique waterfowl appearance of an upright stance, long pink legs, and long neck.  Also, it is quite unique among ducks in their strong monogamous pair-bond.  This behavior is more associated with geese and swans.  Both parents share in the raising of the young.  Their nests are mostly found in confines of a hollow tree, but they will nest on the ground when necessary.  The ducklings leap from the nest cavities within two days of hatching, can feed themselves immediately, and stay with the parents for up to eight weeks.  Finally you ask, why "whistling" duck, well, they have a very noticeable and clear whistling call.  I am lucky to live close to one of its breeding areas and and now is the breeding season. Below are just a few of my images of this colorful species or waterfowl.
 
 



All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Jewel Of Florida

We are very fortunate in Florida to have many places where the beauty of nature all seem to come together.   The Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands at Viera, though, or The Viera Wetlands, as the locals call it, is my favorite, and the favorite of many nature photographers.  It is a water reclamation area with wonderful surrounds and attracts a wide varity of wildlife.  One of the nicest things about it is that there are roads for you to drive your car on, so that having heavy photographic equipment is not a problem.  The best times to visit are Winter and Spring, but even during the hottest parts of the year there are subjects to photograph. The wetlands consist of 200 acres divided into four cells of about 35 acres each.  The cells are designed to maintain different and diverse wetland conditions.  There are many birds that return each year to nest and many that are regulars.  Deer and otters also frequent these wetlands.  I highly recommend anyone who is interested in nature in any capacity to put The Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands on your list of places to visit when in Florida.  The images below are just a small sample of what can be seen there. More images can be found on my website, Naturesportal.  For more information on these wetlands please click on The Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands.


October Sunset Bald Eagles Female Least Bittern Female Belted Kingfisher Black-bellied Whistling Duck Family Crested Caracara Great Blue Herons All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Precious Moments Shared

On the west coast of Florida there are around 500 black skimmers that return to the same place each year to nest. For us who live in Florida, it is a wonderful opportunity to watch and photograph their mating rituals, nesting behaviors and interactions with their chicks.  This was my third year following this colony.  Black skimmers are a small family of tern-like birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes the waders, gulls and auks. Along with their lower mandibles being longer than the upper, which helps them when they fly low and fast over the water to collect their food, they also have an additional adaptation, slit-shaped pupils. Their bills fall within their field of binocular vision and enable them to carefully position their bill to capture the fish. They usually lay 3-6 eggs in very shallow nests, on sandy beaches, with the female and male incubating the eggs. As with other shorebirds, because of the restricted nesting habitat, with very shallow nests, they are very susceptible to storms and pedators, such as gulls and feral cats. Unfortunately, this colony was destroyed by Tropical Storm Debby, along with many other colonies of shorebirds on the west coast of Florida. Fortunately, I was able to visit this colony twice before the fatal storm. These are a few of the images that I captured during my visits.  To view more of my shorebird images just click  http://www.nelwood.smugmug.com/Florida/Shorebirds/19980346_KV2GGw.




  All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Burrowing Owls, Now With Chicks

My first visit to the burrowing owls in Cape Coral Florida was in March. I saw them making their borrows, choosing their mates and of course mating (My blog entry for that visit http://www.naturesportal.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-visit-with-burrowing-owls.html ). I returned in May to see their chicks and I was not disappointed. The eggs in each clutch hatch at different times so one will find chicks of all different ages in one family unit. Both adults keep very busy feeding their young. Within 45 days the chicks will be finding their own food and after 6 weeks have learned to fly.
All images copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Least Tern's Return to Nest

Rather close to where I live there is an area that least terns return to each April-May to nest. They are a small shorebird with a wingspan of 22-24 cm long. Their nesting colonies appear along marine or estuarine shores, and are not dense. The nests are just small indentations in the sand. Because of the way they nest, the colonies are susceptible to predators, such as gulls, feral cats and ghost crabs. Also, in Florida, their colonies have been disturbed by tropical storms. The courtship ritural starts by the male bringing the female a fish, which if the female accepts, gives the male the ok to mate with her. The clutch usual includes 2-3 eggs. As I have observed, both parents appear to feed and attend to the brooding and feeding. I try and take advantage of every opportunity to go to this colony and capture these lovely birds.
All images copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Blue Cypress Lake 2012 Season

I took my third and final trip to Blue Cypress Lake in April, so I thought I would share a few of my favorites from this season. For those who do not know of Blue Cypress Lake a little background. Blue Cypress Lake is located 18 miles west of Vero Beach, Florida, in Indian River County. The lake is 6,500 acres and has an average depth of 8 feet. It gets its name from the blue appearance of the cypress trees as the morning sun’s rays reflect off the water. Now, of course, what draws me and most other wildlife photographers to this place is the 300-400 nesting ospreys that gather around February each year to the lake. It is also a major bass fishing location, which makes for fine food for the ospreys and great photo ops! The osprey is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a wing span of 180cm or 71 inches. The sexes look very similar, but the male has a slimmer body and narrower wings, plus the breast band of the male is weaker that that of the female. The chicks have orange eyes, instead of the yellowish ones of the adults. The best way to view the lake and all its wonders is by pontoon boat. Joe and Jean Middleton, at Middleton’s Fish Camp, which is on the lake, have boat rentals. One can even have Joe take you on a guided tour of the lake. They have been on the lake for over 48 years, so have some very interesting stories to tell. Along with the ospreys, there are also quite a few barred owls that nest in the woods surrounding this lovely lake. To view my Blue Cypress Lake gallery with more images from this and past years just click on this link  Blue Cypress Lake Gallery. All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Great Find!

Recently I had the great prividege to capture a family of pileated woodpeckes. The nest was not too high and tree trunk it was in had no branches. On top of that the views were totally unobstructed. I had two sessions with them before the chicks fledged, both were incredible! The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in the United States at 16 in to 19 in length for both sexes. The pair stay together year around, but in April the male will start making the hole for the nest. If the male does not have a mate then he will go about attracting one. Both adults incubate the three to five eggs for 15 to 16 days. The chicks will fledge in about a month. The male has a red stripe from its bill to its throat, the female's is black. This particular nest had two chicks. All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal