Rain does not always ruin a birding day. I recently came back from a photographic trip in Florida where the weather started out very iffy. We arrived early on Saturday and went right into bird-mode. One of our stops for the day was Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, which recently opened up last summer. We decided to go there when the skies started to darken. It was the perfect stop for a rainy afternoon since we could stay protected in the car.
Pied-billed Grebe surrounded by rain drops
Most of the birds just continued with their normal routines, feeding in the marsh.
American Coots
This Purple Gallinule came out for a quick view
Common Gallinule with its tail up
Others waited outside of the water for the rain to stop.
Little Blue Heron on the bank
Great Egret waiting on concrete
Soaked Anhinga drying on the rocks
Anhinga waiting for the rain to stop
Drying its wings before jumping down
The rain started to calm down not long after we began the drive, but was still falling enough to get our gear wet if we left the car, so many shots were taken from a higher angle.
Glossy Ibis as the rains calm down
Tri-colored Heron hunting nearby the Ibis
White Ibis drying off
It did eventually stop, however, the skies remained overcast for the rest of the drive. That certainly did not stop us from getting low to photograph birds for the remainder of the drive.
Blue-winged Teal in overcast light
Anhinga with a nice catch
Snowy Egret resting in the water
I was able to get some great photo ops with some birds that I could not get close enough to last year. I took tons of photos of this Osprey and Red-shouldered Hawk, which may end up getting blog posts of their own in the future.
An Osprey with a huge Catfish
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk who gave us quite a show
The Cattle Egrets were tough to photograph unless you stayed in the car
Not all of them were fully cooperative though.
I would rather this photo of the Belted Kingfisher include the tip of his beak
I even saw a life bird on the drive – the Fulvous Whistling Duck. Our first looks at them were all in flight until a single duck flew in, landed nearby, and interrupted our photo session with the Red-shouldered Hawk.
This Fulvous-Whistling Duck came in close for a decent photo op
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks also made a few appearances
I even photographed a new sub-species life bird, the Eastern Towhee with white eyes. The ones I am used to seeing have red eyes. The white-eyed ones are found in the Southeast and Florida.
White eyed Eastern Towhee
Some young birds made an appearance, too.
Young Pied-billed Grebes
We also photographed two American Bitterns out in the open – one was found toward the beginning of the drive and the other at the end.
American Bittern just after the rain calmed down
American Bittern photographed toward the end of the day
And, of course, there were Alligators. I photographed this one below the Osprey.
This Alligator stole my attention for only a moment
I highly recommend this wildlife drive for anyone who finds themselves birding around Lake Apopka. The different habitats bring all kinds of great birds!
I have many great memories from my trip to Florida earlier this year – most of them involve my favorite birds – waders. One that really stands out is a “honey hole” that we ran into on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island. It was a small pond that must have gotten fairly deep surrounded by White Ibis, Snowy Egrets and one of each of a Tri-colored and Little Blue Heron.
Snowy Egrets, White Ibis and Little Blue Heron
When we drove up, a car was already parked at it, so we went in behind and waited our turn for the “best seat.” We were still able to pick up on the action from the distance. The Ibis were foraging at the edge of the pond while the Egrets and Herons wandered around. Eventually, the other car moved on and we had front row seats.
Juvenile White Ibis
Little Blue Heron coming in while we waited
Little Blue Heron pretending to be a Snowy Egret
The little pond was so full of birds that they Snowy Egrets were showing a little attitude towards the others when they got close.
Roused Snowy Egret
The most interesting part, however, was how the Egrets and Herons would go after fish. We watched as they would skim the water with the tip of their toes and reach down to grab a fish.
Tri-colored Heron crossing the pond
Tri-colored Heron going all in
Snowy Egret reaches in
Snowy Egret grabs a fish
They would, for the most part, come up with a fish.
Tri-colored Heron skips across the pond with a fish
Snowy Egret crossing the pond with a fish
At times, the birds would go at the same time.
Two Snowy Egrets with fish
Two Snowy Egrets take on the pond simultaneously
Which led to a few mid-air collisions…
Snowy Egrets collide
Snowy Egret and Tri-colored Heron skimming at the same time
And then they collide
But do not miss a beat in air
I did capture a video of the action with my phone.
Eventually, a bird that we were waiting to photograph flew in – a Roseate Spoonbill!
Roseate Spoonbill Joins the flock
This was the first time we were able to photograph an adult up close. It stayed at the edge with the Ibises.
The Spoonbill stayed at the edge
Foraging Spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill
It stayed for a little while before flying off – I was very happy with this photo session! We photographed at this little spot for over an hour even though the sun was high. What a great spot!
I have been chasing Green Herons since before I was a birder. I could never get good photos of them because they would fly off before I even saw them. The Herons from New Jersey were just too shy!
The only halfway decent photo I had of a Green Heron from 2009
During my trip to Florida earlier this year, I ended up having a few different photo ops with this species in a couple of locations.
Getting closer to the perfect Green Heron photo
I finally got the photos I’ve been wanting! Here are some of the better ones:
In the past, I had far-away looks at the Tricolored Heron during birding trips to the New Jersey Coast. I really wanted to photograph this bird and only really ever had doc shots. I knew that going to Florida could change this. I am happy to share some of these photos with you so you can see this beautiful bird up close like I finally did.
We saw a Tricolored Heron on our first day at Brinson Park. The angle for photo0taking was bad since we were up higher than the bird, but it was much better than any run-in I’ve had with this bird in the past.
Tricolored Heron at Brison Park
We did not get any more good looks of this bird until we went to Orlando Wetlands where a young bird perched behind a Night-Heron that we were enjoying.
Tricolored Heron perched
We also ran into two others who were foraging for some fish.
Tricolored Heron searching for fish
Tricolored Heron almost in breeding plumage
We encountered our first Tricolored Heron in full breeding plumage at Viera Wetlands. This bird was gorgeous! I think it is the prettiest heron species we have in North America.
Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage
Tricolored Heron behind the grass
The next beautiful adult we photographed was at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Tricolored Heron off of Blackpoint Wildlife Drive
Tricolored Heron in calm water
The absolute best photo opportunity came the next morning at Merritt Island in the same location that we previously photographed a dancing Reddish Egret at sunrise. This Heron also had a very animated “dance” that it performed to catch its fish. I made the mistake of underexposing most of my photos, but I was able to salvage them enough to share!
That same day, we found another bird who was hanging out in a small pond with Snowy Egrets. It would skim its feet across the water and grab fish without stopping. It was quite the sight!
Tricolored Heron skimming across a pool
the very last bird that we photographed was a Tricolored Heron before we left Merritt Island. This beautiful adult ended our trip nicely with a private show.
Last December, I realized that I had a lot of vacation days that I had to take – five of which could be transferred to the first quarter of 2015. With those five leftover days, I decided to plan a trip for March to the state that I have drooled over when it comes to photographing birds – Florida. Two of my friends and I took off from work during the third week of March. The original plans were to go to the Gulf Coast, however, that seemed to be where all the spring breakers wanted to go. Since we only planned two-to-three months in advanced everything was booked, and anything left was too expensive. We looked to our friends on Facebook for some help and they recommended locations that would be spring-breaker free.
Our first location was in the vicinity of Orlando where we birded both Lake and Osceola counties. Our friend, Gallus, who is doing a Lake County big year, offered to take us around and show us some birds. I made a wishlist of birds that I would possibly like to see and Gallus weeded out everything that was not possible, let me know which ones would be givens and which we would have to work for. I am pretty sure that we saw most of the birds that were possible – we just had to save some for next time – Gallus did an amazing job!!
We were on our own for the evening that we arrived (Saturday, March 14) and got our feet wet at Brinson Park off of Lake Tohopekaliga. It gave us our first good looks at a Tricolored and Little Blue Herons, White Ibises, Anhingas, a cooperative Limpkin, Wood Stork and others. It was a nice start to what Florida has to offer.
A very cooperative Wood Stork
My first Tricolored Heron close-up!
White Ibis, photographed later in the trip at Venetian Gardens
Limpkin, photographed later in the trip at Venetian Gardens
An Anhinga pops its head up from feeding
On Sunday, Gallus picked us up and we were off for some birding. Our first stop was Clearwater Lake Recreation Area where we were greeted by a singing Yellow-throated Vireo. I am not used to hearing this bird so early in the year! Our goal was to find the nesting Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. On our way to the Woodpecker cavities, we ran into small flocks of migrants and nesters and also saw Pine Siskins flying overhead – this was a great county bird for Gallus since they can be hit or miss. Red-headed Woodpeckers and Brown-headed Nuthatches stole the show – these are birds that us northerners are not used to seeing.
The beautiful forest of Clearwater Lake Recreation Area
This Pine Warbler was part of the mixed flock
Along the trails, we heard a life bird singing – the Bachman’s Sparrow – many of them, actually. One eventually showed himself so that we could officially add him to our life list.
Bachman’s Sparrow on a nice perch
We made it to the Woodpecker spot were we found three birds who gave us great views. We hung around that spot to watch them some more.
This pair of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were photographed later in the trip
After a successful first stop, Gallus took us to Venetian Gardens for the Purple Gallinule. We easily found these birds and also got great looks at White Ibises and Limpkins, as seen in the photos earlier in my post.
The beautiful Purple Gallinule
Our next stop was Lake Apopka with small hopes of seeing a rare bird, even for Florida, the Groove-billed Ani – I say “small” hopes because the bird had not been reported for two weeks. It was mid day and the trail offered no relief from the sun. The Ani location was almost one and a half miles in. As we were walking, a Grackle-sized black bird with a blunt bill flushed out of the grasses – the Ani!! He gave us nice looks then moved deep into the shrubs. We waited him out a little and were rewarded with even better looks, out in the open.
Groove-billed Ani
All of that walking in the hot sun was totally worth it. We also tried to get looks at King Rails, which would have been another lifer, but they would not show themselves. Our next stop was the Green Mountain Scenic Overlook where we hoped to spot a Short-tailed Hawk. Here, a platform was built over the forest. The view is beautiful!
The view from the platform at Green Mountain Scenic Overlook
Our next target bird was the Florida Scrub-Jay, with the promise of some Florida oranges from a non-private grove. I think it’s safe to say that we had both.
Florida Scrub-Jay with tangerines
We also found our first Loggerhead Shrikes along the road. We ended our day of birding with attempts to find Burrowing Owls. Unfortunately, they did not return to the area we tried. We did, however, get both Least and American Bitterns in one pond. It was my first time hearing them calling.
Just throwing in a photo of a White and Glossy Ibis to end the days trip report
The first day was a huge success. Gallus added four more birds to his big year list bringing his total to 181, as of that day (he has since added even more). To read his trip report, see his blog 2015 Lake County Big Year.
Since we found most of our target birds on the first day, we spent the next day chasing other probable lifers – the Snail and Swallow-tailed Kites, Short-tailed Hawk and Burrowing Owls. Our first stop was Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. Here, we had even better looks at the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and got some great photos of Eastern Meadowlarks. There were a ton of Vultures, some Osprey Eagles and other Hawks, but we did not get any of our target birds.
Eastern Meadowlark singing
Black Vulture in a tree
We tried another Burrowing Owl spot with no luck. We did see a ton of Cattle Egrets Crested Caracaras, Southeastern Kestrels, more Loggerhead Shrikes, Meadowlarks and Ibises.
Cattle Egret and cattle
Sandhill Crane
Leftovers from a Loggerhead Shrike
At this point, we were on a mission to find the Kites and checked out a few more hotspots. Gallus made the joke that we will see one from a parking lot without expecting it. We arrived at Brinson park and sure enough, a Swallow-tailed Kite flew by… while we were standing in the parking lot.
Swallow-tailed Kite
Gallus was pretty sure that he had a Snail Kite in the distance, but it was just too far. We tried our very last location at Lakefront Park – as we were driving, we spotted what looked like Harriers hovering over the marsh – NOPE! – they were Snail Kites! We parked and went over to where we saw the bird. Eventually, five different kites were in the area all at once. We watched as they hunted and even saw one transporting nesting material!
Snail Kite with nesting material
Snail Kite hunting
What a great way to end the first part of our trip! I have a ton more photos to share from the second part of our trip as we headed to the east coast. This part was more birding, the next will be more photography. I am extremely happy with the photo ops I had – I will post them soon!
Every North American birder should try to make it to the tropics at least once in their lifetime, if finances allow it. The beautiful array of birds would be worth every penny. I took my first trip in December 2011 and stayed through New Years and the first week of January 2012. I visited four different locations: the Osa Peninsula, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Arenal Volcano and San Gerardo de Dota. Even though the trip was not based on birding, I racked up 130 life birds.
The trip was suppose to be during the beginning of the dry season, however, it rained for much of the trip. This led to mostly mediocre photos – many of which I never showed anyone else since they are not up to par with my normal work. Despite this, I wanted to share the beautiful birds that I saw, even with sub-par photos. I will also mix in some of the nicer photos – though, they were few and far between!
I’m not entirely sure where to begin, so I will jump in with some of my target birds. The bird names and locations are under each photo.
Resplendent Quetzal, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-crowned Motmot, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Keel-billed Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Scarlet Macaw, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Note that I also wrote a post about the Quetzal early last year where you can see more photos. This was on bird that I had great photo ops with! I plan on doing the same for the Motmot.
As expected in the tropics, I saw many species of Tanagers, most of them were very colorful.
Rufous-winged Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bay-headed Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Golden-hooded Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota
White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Cherries Tanager with a Variable Seedeater, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager, Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-gray Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Palm Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
These birds are also classified as Tanagers, but do not have it in their name. They are still equally as beautiful!
Green Honeycreeper, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bananaquit, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Yellow-faced Grassquits, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-throated Saltator, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I also saw some species of warblers that I do not get in the northeastern US.
Rufous-capped Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Slate-throated Redstart, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Collared Redstart, San Gerardo de Dota
Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the birds were cool surprises.
I nearly jumped out of the car for the White-throated Magpie-Jays, Arenal Volcano
Common Potoo hiding in the brush, Sierpe River
White-whiskered Puffbird, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Slaty Flowerpiercer, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-throated Trogon, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
One of my favorite birds had a great mating display.
Montezuma Oropendola, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I saw a nice variety of different Flycatchers throughout my trip.
Great Kiskadee, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Tropical Kingbird in the rain, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Social Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Yellowish Flycatcher, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Black-capped Flycatcher, San Gerardo de Dota
Possible Mountain Elaenia (still being identified), San Gerardo de Dota
Common Tody-Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Phoebe, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the finches were pretty unique…
Large-footed Finch, San Gerardo de Dota
Thick-billed Seed Finch, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Especially, the colorful ones in the Euphonia family.
Yellow-throated Euphonia, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Tawny-capped Euphonia, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Elegant Euphonias are hidden in this photo, Monteverde Cloud Forest
I did see some nice woodpeckers, including a couple I did not get to photograph like the Pale-billed and Lineated Woodpeckers.
Acorn Woodpecker, San Gerardo de Dota
Red-crowned Woodpecker, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
I also saw some birds from the Thrush family.
Clay-colored Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Sooty Robin, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-billed Nightengale-Thrush, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-headed Nightengale-Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Of course, I did see some parakeets too!
Orange-fronted Parakeets, between San Juan and Monteverde
Orange-chinned Parakeet, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
I did not see many raptors, but I was able to photograph some. Unfortunately, my Owl photos are not even good enough to show on this post and my lifer Crested Caracara is too terrible.
Common Black-Hawk, Cano Island
Yellow-headed Caracara, Sierpe River
Here are a few birds that I found by the water:
Magnificent Frigatebird, off of the Osa Peninsula
Sandwich Tern, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron perched over a waterfall, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Like their North American relatives, some birds were very vocal.
Great-tailed Grackle, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Brown Jay, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Some of the larger birds just chilled and let me get a nice look.
Crested Guan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Guan, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Gray-headed Chachalaque, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
But many of the smaller ones were hard to catch!
Band-backed Wren, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-cowled Oriole, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-hooded Antshrike, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Ruddy Ground-Dove, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
As you can see, this post is lacking Hummingbird photos. I will put up a post specifically about them at another time since I saw so many! For now, and to close this post, I will leave you with a photo of my target hummingbird…
On Saturday, my friend Jon and I visited what I now believe to be the best Warbler hotspot in the area – the Delaware Water Gap NRA Headquarters in Bushkill and Freeman Tract Road, which is nearby and follows the Delaware River. I’ve been reading previous eBird reports from this area and they were loaded with Northern Parulas, Cerulean Warblers, Hooded Warblers and more really good birds. We had to go check it out during prime migration. The trees are tall and the birds stayed up high for the most part, but that did not stop us from seeing good birds and having a great time.
We knew that it would be a good day when the very first bird we heard when we stepped out of the car was a Golden-winged Warbler. A life bird for Jon and my first time seeing one outside of Ohio.
This was another Golden-winged Warbler that we spotted later on
We birded around the Water Gap Headquarters waiting for the sun to peak through the clouds. The building overlooks a really nice marsh that is full of birds.
Blackbirds, Grackles, Swamp Sparrows and Rails love this habitat
Tree Swallows, Ducks and Warblers seem to be around this part
We found a couple of hot spots that provided loads of birds moving through the trees and brush around the water. Some of them came down low, but for the most part they were distant. We saw and heard 50 species around the marsh.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are abundant
Tree Swallows in a natural nest
Yellow Warbler near the marsh
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
American Robin on a log
Green Heron hunting in the reeds
After exploring a bit up the hill, we made our way down to Freeman Tract Road, with our windows opened. On our way down, we heard a bird sing in the trees and I instantly knew that is was one of our target birds – the Cerulean Warbler. We had a few of them singing in the one spot.
One of many Cerulean Warblers
Down the road, we stopped for a singing Hooded Warbler – another lifer for Jon. He was difficult to find, but we finally spotted singing at the treetops.
Hooded Warbler singing up high
Even though the birds were mostly up high and moving quickly, it was a great time. We had many great birds and really took our time getting down the road. Every time we stopped the car, there was something exciting to see.
Black-and-white Warbler going up a trunk
Blue-winged Warbler singing in the distance
The best photo I could get of this Northern Parula who was foraging off the road
We even caught a glimpse of a snake making its way through the leaves.
Garter Snake in the leaves
Best subject of the day goes to an Ovenbird that Jon found posing down low, showing off his crest.
Our best subject from the trip, an Ovenbird
I also finally got some decent photos of a male Parula.
One of the few Northern Parulas who posed
My bird of the day was still the Cerulean Warbler. It’s my favorite little Warbler and I was so happy to see so many of them in one place!
My friend and I took a trip to Delaware to go to Bombay Hook and Cape Henlopen State Park on Sunday. One of our goals was to both get a life bird in its northern-most range, the Brown-headed Nuthatch.
The day started off with a bang as we were exiting a highway in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I spotted a raptor perched on a utility pole and IDed it as a possible Peregrine Falcon. We pulled into a parking lot to confirm the ID and take some photos.
Spotting a Peregrine Falcon from the road
We then started our long drive to Delaware. This was the first time I visited the state for birding. After my total of a three-and-a-half hour drive, we arrived at the Nature Center at Cape Henlopen to watch the feeders.
Red-winged Blackbirds dominated the area and were extremely loud at times.
One of many loud Red-winged Blackbird
When they quieted down, we could hear a Great Horned Owl hooting in the woods. We did not want to step off trail to find it and instead enjoyed the feeder birds. I took this chance to photograph a bird that I do not see in my new yard anymore.
The Northern Cardinal was common in my NY yard, but not in my PA yard
I also remembered that I have no good photos of Carolina Chickadees and snapped a few of them too.
I only see Black-capped Chickadees near me, not Carolinas
After a little while more of waiting, the bird we were waiting for finally showed up.
Brown-headed Nuthatch at the feeders
We stuck around to try to get photos of them in a more natural setting, but that proved to be difficult since they would go directly to the thick of trees from the feeders. We had up to six of these birds in sight and calling back and forth at the same time. If you’ve never heard their call, I highly suggest you listen to it on Allaboutbirds.org. It is the cutest call!!
This Brown-headed Nuthatch kept posing for us
After a couple of hours, we left to go back up to Bombay Hook in search of waterfowl, shorebirds and possible owls. This part of our trip was a little quiet as far as photo ops went. We did see seventeen species of waterfowl and an early shorebird migrant.
Greater Yellowlegs with a bill that is covered in mud – it is longer than it looks from this photo.
Other notable sightings include a Red Fox, multiple Harriers, our first-of-year Gray Catbird and a couple of Bald Eagles flying in the distance.
Red Fox on the road
Bald Eagle flying over-head
I won’t leave out some of the more common birds that seem to pose nicer than the waterfowl, which I did not take any photos of due to over-bright lighting and distance.
Last Summer, I went to Italy to visit family. I have been there before, but not as a birder. I used Birding Pal to find a local birder who may be able to take me around. Thankfully, I found a very kind birder and also met a couple other local friends of his. Since it was the middle of summer, we went looking for water birds. He took me around Castel Volturno, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon and other areas to the north of Naples.
The first birds we saw were all Sandpipers – Common, Wood, Green – all of which look very similar to me! The most exciting early sighting was a Grey Heron. I was very happy to see the Eurasian counterpart to the American bird that I love so much!
Grey Heron with Eurasian Coots and Black-headed Gulls
The next location was full of Black-winged Stilts, Yellow-legged Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Egret and Moorhens. I also caught glimpses of a Eurasian Oystercatcher, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern. I did manage some [bad] photos of some of the birds.
Black-winged Stilts
Eurasian Oystercatcher with Mediterranean Gulls and Black-winged Stilt up front
Yellow-legged Gulls with Black-winged Stilts
Common Moorhens
We stopped at a beautiful spot, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon, which brought us many more great waterbirds. Here, we saw Redshank and Greenshank, Kentish Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Little Stint, Shelducks, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe and Sandwich Terns.
Sandwich Terns
Shelduck
Redshank and Greenshank
While driving around, I got better looks at some of the birds and saw many others that I did not get photos of suck as a Eurasian Kestrel, Crested Lark, Turtle Doves, Magpies and Night-heron. Some that I did get photos of are below.
Little Egret
Squacco Heron
Cattle Egret with Cattle
Zitting Cisticola
We were staying in Sant Agata were I saw mostly common birds like the Italian Sparrow, Blackbirds, Eurasian Collared Dove and Hooded Crows.
Italian Sparrow
Eurasian Collared Dove
We took a tour to Pompeii and the Vesuvius and saw some other common birds such as swifts, Hooded Crows, Jackdaws and Magpies. The bird I was hoping to see, the Hoopoe, was no where to be seen even though they are known to breed in Pompeii.
Hooded Crow
Jackdaws
Common Swift
Alpine Swift
And on our way back home from that tour, we saw a beautiful Serin above the streets.
Serin (wild Canary)
Other birds were spotted around family’s property including Spotted Flycatchers and, one that I was very happy to see, the European Robin.
Spotted Flycatcher family
European Robin
We took a trip to Trieste to see cousins and were surprised with some good birds in the gardens. Even though these are common birds, I was very happy to see them! They were very attracted to the plum trees which made it easy for me to see them.
Eurasian Jay with a plum
Eurasian Jay
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Blackbird Fledgling
We also saw many colorful Chaffinches while out in the area.
Chaffinch
We made a last minute stop to Isola della Cona, South of Malfalcone. This reserve gave me the best surprise of the entire trip – a bird who was on my must see list that I did not think I would see – the European Bee-eater!
European Bee-eaters
The reserve itself was full of Camarague horses and Cattle Egrets who would hang out nearby.
Camarague Horse with Cattle Egret, Lapwing, Wagtail and Duck
Cattle Egret
Other great birds at this location included Northern Lapwings and White Wagtails. I never did have to go chasing any of the Lapwings who showed up on the east coast of the US since I already saw them here!
Northern Lapwing
White Wagtail
The reserve was also full of many birds I already saw, plus some new waterfowl.
Black-winged Stilt
Northern Shoveler
Mixed Ducks
Graylag Geese
Common Snipe
Black-headed Gull in winter plumage
Common Sandpiper
The sun was strong and heat made for poor far-away photos, but I am happy that I at least got these memory photos. The last good bird here was another common one that I was happy to see – the European Goldfinch.
European Goldfinches
Overall, I saw over 50 life birds, and even though I didn’t get to see a Hoopoe as I had wished, I really enjoyed the birds I did see!
Every bird lover has that one special bird that started it all. In my early camera years I always loved taking photos of animals. When I purchased my first dSLR I was sure to get a telephoto lens right away because I knew that I would want to photograph wildlife. I would visit Colonial Park in Somerset, New Jersey where I started photographing geese and ducks because they were the easiest targets. It was not long before I saw a Heron for the first time. A bird so beautiful and majestic, graceful and proud. In May 2008, I saw the bird that would change everything.
My first Great Blue Heron, cropped with a lower quality lens
After taking countless photos of waterfowl, this was the bird that I wanted to get a great photo of. When I went home, I found out that it is a Great Blue Heron. A very common bird, yet I never remember seeing one before. It was not until August that I finally got fairly close to one.
My second Great Blue Heron, shot with a Canon 55-250 lens
I spent two hours watching the bird, enjoying his beauty. I hoped that he would fly so that I could try a flight shot, but he wouldn’t budge. It turned out that I had to leave the bird! The next time I went to the park was after work, so it was already late. I did not find a Great Blue Heron until it was near dark, but I did find another interesting relative.
Green Heron
A much smaller bird in the Ardeidae family, the Green Heron. I soon found that this one was even more difficult to get close to. Most of the time I would only see them when they were spooked away by me walking by. They were just too quick!
The following weekend, I photographed both birds at the same park. I was getting closer to the perfect shot, but was still not quite there yet.
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
A couple of months later, I found another beautiful long-legged bird. This one was all white and gorgeous as ever. The Great Egret became a new target bird, along with my other Heron friends. My first sighting of it was in a tree only for about a minute. I later found it perched along the bank.
Great Egret
I would often go to the park after work, so I lost lighting quickly for bird photography. I started to become a bit creative with my photos.
Great Blue Heron Silhouette
But most of the time, I would end up getting photos of a bird who was flying away.
Great Blue Heron flying away
The next time that I would see a Great Blue Heron was in the middle of winter on a nice February afternoon. Some of the water was frozen over and I enjoyed watching as geese and ducks would slide around on top of the ice. The Heron quickly stole my attention when it landed on the bank right next to me.
Great Blue Heron
I enjoyed watching him fish for twenty minutes until he flew off in the other direction. An hour later, I caught back up to my feathered friend and watched him fish some more. He must have been hungry! He tried to grab an already dead fish that was much too large for him.
Great Blue Heron with a large catch
He fished in the open and searched under bridges for whatever he could find in the recently thawed waters. Pickings seemed to be slim.
Great Blue Heron
The only fish he caught were very small, so he had to keep going at it.
Great Blue Heron with a small snack
This was my chance. The Heron did not care that I was right there next to him. He would walk right up to me and right past me, continuing his search for small fish. I patiently stayed still and watched him, enjoying every bit of the show he gave me.
Great Blue Heron
He was so close, that I could get shots of his head that filled up the entire frame.
Great Blue Heron
And shots that were too close for the frame!
Great Blue Heron up close
My earliest target bird dream had come true. I had the perfect photos of the perfect bird, shot with my new Canon 70-200mm F4 lens… yeah, he was close! You do not get this type of opportunity close-up in central New Jersey off the coast very often.
Great Blue Heron
It was hard to top that experience. I never got that close again. My next great experiences happened at new location at Johnson Park in Piscattaway. Here, I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron for the first time!
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron
A couple of weeks later at this park, I found myself passing by more Herons and Egrets that were not disturbed by my presence.
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron perched above the trail
Young Great Blue Heron
My journey for better photos of Great Egrets also proved to be a success from different locations.
Great Egret at Boland Pond in Binghamton, New York
Great Egret at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
Great Egret in Cape May Meadows, New Jersey
I also found two very interesting Herons abroad. In Costa Rica in the Corcovado Rain Forest, we came across a Bared-throated Tiger Heron who was perched above a waterfall.
Bared-throated Tiger Heron in Costa Rica
And in Italy, near Naples I found a bird that I really wanted to see – a beautiful Squacco Heron!
Squacco Heron in Italy
I also saw two types of Egrets in Italy, Little Egrets in the same area as the Squacco Herons and many Cattle Egrets in Isola della Sola.
Little Egret in Italy
Cattle Egret
My most recent exciting Ardeidae experience came during a drive through Nummy Island in New Jersey this past fall. We had five different types of them in one location! Great Blue, Tri-colored and Little Blue Herons along with Great and Snowy Egrets. This was my first time photographing Snowy Egrets up close and they certainly did not disappoint me!
Snowy Egret in flight
Snowy Egret chasing off another
Herons still fascinate me and will always hold a special place in my birding-heart. One day, I would love to go to Florida and be able to photograph them up close. I also really want great photos of my next target Heron, a Tri-colored Heron!
Great Blue Heron
If you made it this far, please comment and let me know your “gateway” bird!
