Ponce Park Pelican Procreation Preparation

Posted on 2013/11/05 by birds n' bugs

Sorry, couldn’t miss taking the opportunity for an alliterative title.  Our local Brown Pelicans are beginning to change into their breeding colors and act in flocks and pairs.  That means that the rookery in the mangroves will be filling up soon and we will have young in another couple of months.  The banner above shows them hanging out near the fishing pier this morning.  They would cluster for a while and then fly off to feed.  Several of them have started pairing and flying and feeding together.

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When paired they even tend to flap their wings or glide and turn in near identical form as the fly.  My favorite shot from this morning was this one

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On the way down to the park, I also discovered this Red Shouldered Hawk hunting in the Mangroves.

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Lee County Nature – Prairie Pines Preserve

Posted on 2013/11/01 by birds n' bugs

Whenever we go to Fort Myers for some reason I notice a sign for the Prairie Pines Preserve on the north side of town just past Del Prado Blvd.  I never had the time to stop off so decided to take a trip to see what was there.  I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the property (2700 acres) and the facilities.  I didn’t have a lot of time so I limited myself the the area within a mile of the parking lot.  Recent rains also made a lot of the trails pretty swampy which was another limiting factor.

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It was also mid afternoon and there wasn’t a lot of activity.  The preserve is very handicap accessible with a hard shell path from the parking lot that runs in a loop around a marsh.  The Great Egret above was seen from the path.  There is a boardwalk over the marshy area and an observation blind just past the boardwalk.  Unfortunately, that was closed due to a swarm of bees on the day I was there.   I found a small alligator in the pond on the north side of the parking lot and a lot of wildflowers in bloom.  Here is a small sample.

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A couple of spiders from Ponce Park

Posted on 2013/10/29 by birds n' bugs

While hanging around waiting for the GBH to do something active, I started looking in the Sea Grape below the nest.  There was a large chaotic spider web there and after looking around a bit I found the spider that created it.  It was unusual so I put the image up on Bugguide.net and found out that it was a Cyrtophora citricola – Tropical tent-web spider.

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It looks like this species might be a real traveller.  It is known in Europe, Africa and South America and has recently been discovered in Florida.  I suspect that it tagged along with european colonization.

If you look at the little stick at the bottom right of the picture above you will find another smaller spider hiding.  You can see the You can see the Tropical Tent-Web spider better in this picture on the left.   I was told the little spider is hard to find so here it is in the right picture.

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I also found a crab-like orbweaver with it’s nice nest near the fishing pier.

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You can see that it leaves the central portion of it’s web open.  To prevent things getting through the bullseye you can see the little markers it puts over the area.  Insects see that and try to miss the obstruction.  Oooops, that puts them right in the trap area of the web.

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Landing Sequence

Posted on 2013/10/27 by birds n' bugs

I visited the Great Blue Herons at the Wildlife Center again this morning.  The light was right for the nest on the pole and the wind was perfect to bring the birds in at a good light angle.  I knew that if I waited long enough that one would return with nesting material.  When it happened, I was able to catch this six shot sequence of a landing.  These five images are all time tagged in the same second.

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On this one notice that the exchange from the selector to the nest builder is taking place even before the completion of the landing.

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Of course, after receiving the stick, the builder spends  a lot of time finding the absolutely perfect position for that stick.  The selector is looking carefully to see what is needed next.

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Just click the image for a larger view.

 

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Punta Gorda Rookery? Maybe!

Posted on 2013/10/25 by birds n' bugs

For the last couple of mornings I have seen Great Blue Heron nesting activity in the area of the Peace River Wildlife Center.  The have an old concrete pole near the compound exit that had a structure on top that appeared to be geared to attracting Ospreys.  Unfortunately, there is an Oak tree that stands close by and higher making this less attractive to the Osprey.  It looks though like a pair of Great Blue Herons have decided that it might make a suitable nest.

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For the pure nature photographer the cut timber and concrete pole means too much ‘hand of man’ for entry into competitions.  It does provide an opportunity for the naturalist to observe behavior though.  In this case, it allowed me to get a very nice portrait of one as it stood on the roof of the center.

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This morning, I noticed another Heron delivering nesting material.  I hadn’t realized that there was a second nest in an Oak tree near the main road.  Because of the location in the tree, it will be harder to get good shots but there is plenty of opportunity for predictable flight shots and perhaps some courting behavior as time progresses.

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Morning is best for shooting at the nest on the pole but afternoon should put better light into the Oak tree nest.  This is the second year so we could be seeing more as the colony grows.

Again, just click on any image for a larger view.  If you go to the area please stop the Wildlife Center and support them with a donation.

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Palm Beach County Nature Centers – Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Posted on 2013/10/17 by birds n' bugs

The Wakodahatchee Wetlands are interesting.  It sounds like an indian name but it is actually modern since Wakodahatchee means ‘created waters’.  The water you see in these wetlands is the output of the sewage treatment plant.  Yuk??  No, the water is actually nice and clean and a good environment for all kinds of critters.  The PB Water authority pumps about two million gallons of treated water into the wetlands every day and the wetlands act as a natural filter.  There is a nice 3/4 mile boardwalk through the wetlands and a number of nesting sites that are closer than you find at the Venice Rookery.  Here are a few of the birds I found the other day.  These cormorants were nesting already.

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I also found a pair of rather tame Egyptian Geese who were happy to pose for you.

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A little further down the boardwalk and I found this juvenile Little Blue Heron.

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I also saw a number of Gators, Grackles, nesting Great Blue Herons and other birds along the way.

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Palm Beach County Nature Centers – Hypoluxo Scrub

Posted on 2013/10/16 by birds n' bugs

This was the park I used as the terminus of my morning walk.  The days are getting shorter so it was fairly dark when I arrived.  The Hypoluxo Scrub Park provides both paved and sand trails for exploration and would be great for the mobility impaired.DSC_3439acr107

In the scrub it was too dark for shooting handheld and I didn’t have any support with me.  I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife at the time but it was clear that the scrub was full of it from the tracks and scat from the previous night.  It was too cool and early for other activity too.  There is an abundance of plant life and quite a lot was in bloom.  Here are a few.  On the left Curtiss’ Milkweed and on the right Sandhill Jointweed.

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Left Narrowleaf Silk Grass and an unknown on the right.

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The unknown one turned out to have another interest.  As the sun finally made it above the treeline, I was able to see that the park hosted multitudes of spiders.  This is the web of a Tropical Orb Weaver – Eriophora ravilla.  If you look directly above the center of the web at the juncture of two flowered stems, you will see a little olive shaped, green area in the fork.  That is the spider.

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After taking this shot, I tried to get closer with Leitz ELPRO VIa but that little spider played peek-a-boo better than a mangrove crab.  No matter where I tried to get a shot, it was on the other side.   The best I could get was the image on the left below. I finally gave up on it.  On the way back, I also found a Golden Silk Spider – Nephila Clavipes in a higher bush.  It had suffered some damage but was still hunting.

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Palm Beach County Nature Centers – Green Cay Nature Center

Posted on 2013/10/15 by birds n' bugs

We took a long weekend trip to Palm Beach county for a bit of sightseeing and to visit friends.  I had planned to visit the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge but, it was closed as were many other federal sites.  It turned out to be not much of a loss though.  I discovered three other interesting areas funded by local government.  These were the Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach, the Wakodahatchee Wetlands and the Hypoluxo Scrub Park.

The Hypoluxo Scrub park was just the right distance for my morning walk with the Nikon V1.  The other two just a short drive from our hotel.  All three offer circular boardwalks or paths which means you can find a decent sun angle morning or evening.  These shots were taken at the Green Cay Nature Center.  There wasn’t a lot of traffic in the evening when I went the second time.  As I walked on the short trail I noticed a Tricolor Heron – Egretta tricolor on the boardwalk rail.  Like the Yellow-crowned I found in Ponce Park, Punta Gorda, I decided to try to get as close as possible for a portrait.  The first here was my insurance shot with the Nikon D300 / Nikkor 70-300mm VR combination at full 300mm extension.  Over a period of a few minutes I managed to get closer for this nice portrait at 145mm.  In the first, the heron fluffed up to look like a big bad bird.  This was a warning that I had gotten close enough.  It took a while of looking like I was hunting in the reeds to get it to feel comfortable enough to share its space.

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I also found a Pie-billed Grebe – Podilymbus podiceps feeding on another leg of the boardwalk.  They catch fish ‘flying’ underwater like a cormorant.  I have always liked these birds as subjects.  They are really cute and fast.  In the second picture you can see the bird beginning a dive.  I got subject blur at 1/200th of a second while the water droplets on the back were undisturbed.

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And the final bird for this post was a Killdeer – Charadrius vociferus near the exhibit building.  Their big eyes always make them look a little sad.

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As usual you can click on an image for a larger view

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Hunting bugs

Posted on 2013/10/06 by birds n' bugs

This morning was bright and sunny and the insects were very active.  I started looking out for them on my walk as I went along the mangroves.  I found this nice damselfly near the city soil storage area on Colony Point Dr.

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Damselflies and Dragonflies look very similar.  They are both of the order Odonata and hunt bugs themselves.  In both the aquatic nymph form and as an adult, they consume large quantities of smaller insects.  In fact if you are walking and see a swarm of dragonflies you are also going to find a swarm of mosquitoes or no-seeums.

You can tell the difference between them by the placement of the eyes and the way they hold their wings at rest.  The damselfly rests with its wings parallel to the body and it’s eyes are seperated and on the side of the head as you can see above.

Dragonflies rest their wings in a extended position and their eyes are much closer together and meet above the ‘face’.  You can see the difference in the dragonfly below.

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The damselfly and I were not the only bug hunters out this morning.  I also ran across this small brown anole stalking a small fly too.  If you look closely at the tail you can see that this hunter has also been hunted.  The tail is being regrown after a loss.  That was most likely from one of our local herons or egrets.

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Nikon V1 and 70-300mm VR in the field

Posted on 2013/09/29 by birds n' bugs

After some comments on various photo boards in regard to the Nikon V1, FT-1 and 70-300mm combination I decided to spend some time using it.  I headed up to the Celery Fields nature reserve in Sarasota County and stopped off at the Venice Rookery on the way back.

Recent rains had made for some changes in conditions.  There was heavy flow in the Celery Fields and many of the marshy areas were immersed.  The birds were pretty well scattered as a result.  I did manage to find this Limpkin at the Celery Fields and two pairs of ducks at the Rookery.

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The 70-300mm VR is larger and heavier than the 55-200mm VR that I usually walk around with.  It’s enough that you feel that you are carrying a lens with a camera attached rather than a single unit.  Since it also reaches an effective 840mm at full extension the extra weight and need for steadiness meant that I completed the rig with a monopod.

Since I like using the 55-200mm for closeup work, I tried the 70-300mm for the same purpose.  I don’t think it measures up to the 55-200 in this regard but the results were acceptable.

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As I was preparing to leave the rookery I noticed something in the water.  This is a straight from the camera shot with a tight crop of the same image.

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In summary, I like the combo but think I really would have preferred a tripod to a monopod at 840mm equivalent.  The problem is that once I get to lugging that kind of gear, the D300/D90 and their associated gear start to become more attractive.

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