It has again been awhile so I apologize. I made the mistake of letting school get in the way of making it out to do any photography, I promise it won't happen again.
Started off the year with a bang. My cousin Grant and I packed up the car after the family Christmas and booked it down to Florida for a little birding and photography. After staying with some family on the way down, we started our Florida extravaganza at Merritt Island NWR.
At Merritt we immediately picked up about 15 life birds with Florida specialties like the Florida scrub jay and painted buntings. The buntings were a little difficult to photograph at some feeders but the scrub jays did what they are most notorious for, being brazen. At times the big blue/grey birds were hopping too close to focus. The next morning before sun up at Merritt we came across a bobcat hunting around the saltmarshes. We stopped with the headlights still on and watched him for about 15 minutes sneaking up and down the road and even attempting to pounce on some unsuspecting furry little critter.
We then started our trek towards the Everglades stopping at Viera Wetlands and Loxahatchee NWR which still had plenty of birds but was not as productive.
As we reached the Everglades we started glassing every high soaring hawk and quickly picked up a broad-tailed hawk. Life birds and alligators seemed to be every where. We managed to get some up close shots of an incredible number of birds and alligators along the Anhinga Trail. Only downsides were the number of people and car trim eating vultures that did a pretty good number on the rubber around our sun roof. The next day we woke up early and rented a kayak. Unfortunately they would not let us load it on the car so we were stuck to a well traveled canal. We paddled around 8 miles to see nothing save for two possible white crowned pigeons. After a little sweat and a bag of trail mix we made it back to where we started only to find a large endangered American crocodile. Snapped some photos from the kayak until he decided to head towards us causing my motor whom will remain nameless to head the other direction.
After the Everglades we headed up the west coast checking out Ft. Myers Beach, Fort De Soto, and a few other great shorebird spots. Managed to find snowy and piping plover as well as get some shots of some other cool birds.
A couple thousand miles later, a little bit of a snow storm, and several scudsy hotels we were back in Chicago. Of course the single digit temps couldn't keep us from stopping there so we went out to do some more birding. We managed to find a snowy, long-eared, and short-eared owl as well as some photogenic coyotes.
The trip was incredible. Thank you to everyone who let us crash at their place and who offered help and advice. And of course thank you for everyone's prayers, it is the only explanation I can offer for how neither of us got chomped on by an alligator.
Please check out the entire Florida gallery at: http://www.ryanaskren.com/Nature/By-Location/Florida
Started off the year with a bang. My cousin Grant and I packed up the car after the family Christmas and booked it down to Florida for a little birding and photography. After staying with some family on the way down, we started our Florida extravaganza at Merritt Island NWR.
At Merritt we immediately picked up about 15 life birds with Florida specialties like the Florida scrub jay and painted buntings. The buntings were a little difficult to photograph at some feeders but the scrub jays did what they are most notorious for, being brazen. At times the big blue/grey birds were hopping too close to focus. The next morning before sun up at Merritt we came across a bobcat hunting around the saltmarshes. We stopped with the headlights still on and watched him for about 15 minutes sneaking up and down the road and even attempting to pounce on some unsuspecting furry little critter.
We then started our trek towards the Everglades stopping at Viera Wetlands and Loxahatchee NWR which still had plenty of birds but was not as productive.
As we reached the Everglades we started glassing every high soaring hawk and quickly picked up a broad-tailed hawk. Life birds and alligators seemed to be every where. We managed to get some up close shots of an incredible number of birds and alligators along the Anhinga Trail. Only downsides were the number of people and car trim eating vultures that did a pretty good number on the rubber around our sun roof. The next day we woke up early and rented a kayak. Unfortunately they would not let us load it on the car so we were stuck to a well traveled canal. We paddled around 8 miles to see nothing save for two possible white crowned pigeons. After a little sweat and a bag of trail mix we made it back to where we started only to find a large endangered American crocodile. Snapped some photos from the kayak until he decided to head towards us causing my motor whom will remain nameless to head the other direction.
After the Everglades we headed up the west coast checking out Ft. Myers Beach, Fort De Soto, and a few other great shorebird spots. Managed to find snowy and piping plover as well as get some shots of some other cool birds.
A couple thousand miles later, a little bit of a snow storm, and several scudsy hotels we were back in Chicago. Of course the single digit temps couldn't keep us from stopping there so we went out to do some more birding. We managed to find a snowy, long-eared, and short-eared owl as well as some photogenic coyotes.
The trip was incredible. Thank you to everyone who let us crash at their place and who offered help and advice. And of course thank you for everyone's prayers, it is the only explanation I can offer for how neither of us got chomped on by an alligator.
Please check out the entire Florida gallery at: http://www.ryanaskren.com/Nature/By-Location/Florida
Keep on sharing your experiences and photos.....you are gifted (and blessed).
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