Fort Desoto

Chris and I spent last night camped in the parking lot at Lazydays again. We waited for overnight delivery of a circuit board for our energy management system. Unfortunately, we learned after lunch today that the part did not arrive, so Lazydays has kindly put us up at the Rallypark across the street at no cost. Hopefully the part arrives Wednesday. In any event, we will stay here until Thursday, when Chris flies back to Ottawa from Tampa. Makes no sense to drive to Thousand Trails in Orlando tomorrow afternoon, only to have to run her back to the airport in Tampa on Thursday.

We were up before sunrise this morning and drove out to Fort Desoto in St Petersburg. We spent a few days here last year on our tandem bicycle and really enjoyed the beaches. Today, we both had our cameras going. I caught this snowy egret on the fishing pier mooching a few scraps of fish from the guys fishing on the pier. We enjoyed a morning of warm sunshine after a stormy day yesterday. The top shot was taken looking north from the fishing pier as well.

Venice Rookery - Part Deux

My new Gitxo GT3541XLS tripod arrived Monday evening around 5 pm via UPS. I set it up with the new Wimberley II head complete with flash bracket and mounted my 5D2 with the 500mm lens. This tripod handles this camera/lens combination with ease. I only need to extend 3 sections on each leg to bring the tripod to my eye level. Can't imagine ever needing the 4th section unless I am in some very difficult terrain.

I scooted over to the rookery in Venice again this morning to put my new set up through its paces. A bit nicer day than the first trip there last week. There was a small photo excursion group already at the rookery. The leader was a girl named Laurie from Oregon and she had a very nice Nikon set up with a wicked frame rate for continuous shooting. I was a little more selective on the pictures I took this morning than the last time. Tried working more on composition instead of just taking lots of pictures. This great blue heron landed about 10 meters away from me. It was foraging for nest material and flying back and forth to its nest for about an hour while we all stood and took pictures. I think the heron knew full well what we were doing.

Weather turned ugly this afternoon. Quite stormy on the way back and then what had been out in the Gulf finally blew into Sebring around 6 pm. Lots of wind and rain. Hopefully the awnings stay on the windows. The power has been out for about 40 minutes so far but I've got the inverter running so no lack of power in our Bounder.

Pond Life

I caught this little guy sticking his head out of the water at the pond down the road this morning shortly after sunrise. And the bird (not sure what kind), sat on a bush for about 5 minutes preening itself. Both shot with my 500 lens with 1.4 converter from the driver's seat while parked (of course).

I played pickleball for the first time in a month after injuring my wrist. Hardly any pain anymore, just the odd twinge every now and then. I still have the wrist wrapped for extra support. I think things went pretty well. Played well and rested lots too.

A bunch of us went out for brunch at Bob Evans.....kind of our Easter dinner and it was very nice. We have a last supper planned for Homer's on April 16th, a few days before everyone packs up and heads for home. I'm running the rig up to Lazydays in Tampa next Sunday and will pick Chris up at the airport later that same day.

LOOKING LEFT, looking left (GET it?)

This a cropped version of the original shot of a great egret and chick on nest I took at Venice rookery the other day. I had to work on this one quite a bit in Photoshop CS4 and am still not totally happy with it. I need lots of practice in CS4. I cloned out a few annoying branches behind the baby's head and also blurred the background more than it was in the original in an effort to put more focus on the two main subjects. I even thought about cloning out the big branches behind the mother but wasn't sure I had the skills to do it without making it looked PSd. So I'm going with this one for now. Let me know what you think please by leaving a comment or two.

By the way, if you look closely, I think there is a second chick in the nest to the left of the one sitting up. It never moved at all during the time I was there so I suspect it may not have survived.

Great Blue Herons

Had a chance to have a look through some more photos from the Venice Rookery yesterday. This pair of herons were busy adding twigs to their nest and going through the usual mating rituals. Neither seemed at all phased by the 3 or 4 photographers poking huge lenses towards them throughout the morning. The fellow below just sat and posed like a good fellow. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to head up to Lake Wales to get my awning sunshade cut back in size just a little. The sunshade is a two piece model made by J+J Sunshade with the smaller top piece channeling into the furrow of the main awning roller. It hangs down about 2 feet from the awning when it is extended. I'd like to cut that back to about a foot if possible so that it can be rolled up inside the awning when retracted. Forgot to check if J+J will be open with the Easter weekend pending, so I'll have to call them first.

Venice Rookery

I was up early this morning to make the 2 hour drive to Venice, FL south of Sarasota by sunrise and on the road by 5 am. I wasn't really sure what to expect even though I had read lots online about it. The rookery is essentially a group of large bushes located about one hundred feet offshore in a small pond by the Venice Audobon Society offices, just off Tamiami Rd S in Venice. Right behind the Florida Highway Patrol office. It was still dark when I arrived just before 7 am, so hard seeing much of anything. I pulled into the parking lot across from the pavillion and pond and could make out hundreds of birds in the rookery just off shore. Great egrets, great blue herons, ibises, anhingas, cormorants and many others. A pretty amazing sight.

I spent almost 3 hours taking photographs filling an 8GB compact flash card completely. I was alone for the first hour before a couple from Waterloo, Ontario joined me. I picked up a few tips about Gitzo tripods which I have been looking at. Much cooler today than yesterday with a chilly wind blowing but I persevered in shorts and sandals! The sun came out occasionally but for the most part it remained overcast most of the day. Lots more photos to process.

Young Sandhill Crane

Another one from the nearby pond last night. This little guy was very curious as he zipped by in front of me dutifully following his parents along the water's edge . The family made it out to its raised nest in the middle of the pond about 80 feet away, but soon after they reached the nest, a small alligator positioned itself low in the water about 15 feet from the nest, basically between the nest and the reed bed where the cranes came from. Both adult cranes remained vigilent and the gator never came any closer. A lady taking pictures near where I was told me that cranes will actually attack a gator when protecting their young ones. Apparently the cranes try to peck the gator's eyes out. Maybe that is where Alfred Hitchcock got the idea in his classic movie "The Birds". Hope you like the picture.

Sandhill Crane

I went back to the pond down the road again this evening and saw the sandhill cranes again. They must be getting used to me because they walked right between me and the water to get to their nest area and showed no fear at all. In fact, they were so close to me that I couldn't focus on them with my big lens. I stayed there until about 7:30 pm and took a lot of pictures using fill flash today. First time using fill flash with this lens and I think it worked pretty well. No crop on this one just some very minor touch ups in Photoshop CS4. I'm working on a few more of the babies but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Time for a little shuteye.

Canon EF 500mm f4 Lens!

My latest acquisiton arrived today around lunch time courtesy of USPS. I've been looking for a bird and wildlife lens for a few months and found this used one for sale online on http://www.fredmiranda.com/.

Sandhill Crane Chick Chasing Sibling and Parent

Sandhill Crane Family On Nest

Of course it was raining buckets too, so there was no way to get out and test it right away. Finally around 4pm it started to clear, so I packed up my camera and new lens and headed out the door for a Starbucks coffee. On the way home, I purposely drove by the little pond just off Schumacher Rd, looking for the pair of sandhill cranes and chicks that have been nesting there. They showed up eventually but I had lots of other subjects to focus on in the mean time.

Green Backed Heron

This lens is bigger than anything I have ever used on a camera and even comes in its own hard plastic storage trunk. I opted for the 500mm instead of the 600mm because the 500 is lighter and supposedly can be handheld, once the proper technique is learned. It handled well on my Manfrotto monopod while I sat on the bank of the pond, but I may have to look into getting a heavier tripod and a Wimberley Sidekick to handle this bad boy, especially when shooting in remote areas.

Not Sure Yet

(Immature Little Blue Heron?)

Same As Above (Not Sure Yet)

(Immature Little Blue Heron?)

So you can see a few sample photos taken with my new lens above. These are all taken with available light between 5 and 7 pm, and have been cropped. ISO settings ranged from 160 to 3200, shutter speeds 1/160 to 1/500 second. Sorry, but I am a newcomer to birding and can not yet readily identify the subject of the last two shots. Comments on my photos and blog are always appreciated, especially if you know what the last two are. Guess it is time to buy a bird reference book.....but there are so many!

Pelican

I've been laying low these last few days giving my wrist sprain a chance to heal. First time I've ever experienced a joint sprain without a fall, very strange. It feels better after a few days rest but is still a little tender in places. I've been able to swim and bike though with no discomfort, so it shouldn't be long.

I spent a little time in Photoshop CS4 this morning. Quite a learning curve, but I'm getting there....slowly. Watching lots of video tutorials and reading some as well. Now if I could only remember the steps...... This a cropped shot of a brown pelican from Key West last month. Had to remove some other birds and also played around with curves and levels a bit.

A few of the Peace River pickleball gang are on their way to Tanglewood later this afternoon. May have to swing a paddle...lightly. Best of all, Chris arrives again on Monday for another brief stay. Won't be long before we are heading back north, likely early May.

Pickleball Injury

Yes....they do happen!

Playing yesterday morning, I tweaked my right wrist and may have stretched a tendon. Couldn't swing my paddle without some pain on the lateral side of my wrist. Hopefully, nothing serious, but a few days off will do me good.

Update on the sandhill cranes seen in my last post. I haven't seen them around the pond for the last few days. The pond is drying up fast and usually dries out completely every spring. A tractor mower was seen cutting the grass and reeds right down to the water level a few days ago. The chicks weren't capable of flight yet, so it is hard to say where they may have gone.

Sandhill Crane and Chicks

There is a small pond right next to the road, not far from the back entrance to Tanglewood actually, that has been home to a pair of sandhill cranes for the last two years. They were seen nesting last month. I rode past on my bike today to discover that there are now two chicks in the pond as well. Seems to be a fair bit of bird activity around this pond with quite a few ibises, egrets, herons and grackles in the area. I also noticed a gator in the pond too, so hopefully these cranes are on their toes. Hoping to go back again with my big lens in the coming days to get a better picture.

I was out on my bike this morning doing a couple of loops around Lake Jackson and popped by the pond on the way home. Had my 5D2 in the rear carrier but only with my 24-105 lens on. Not as close as I would have liked.

All comments appreciated.

Early Morning in Sebring

I buzzed down to a public beach at Lake Jackson this morning to catch the sunrise. A few other photographers had the same idea but they were taking shots from inside their vehicles. Spoke to a few of the fishermen who were busy launching their boats. One was a retired policeman from Philly who asked me to watch his boat while he zipped home for his keys. He was back inside ten minutes and to say thanks, invited me to join him for a bird photo shoot on one of the nearby lakes in March. We'll be going out in his bass boat. Sounds great to me!

My Smugmug Page

I've been checking out various online photo sharing services in the past weeks. I was looking for somewhere to display my photos publicly so that people can view and order prints. Smugmug offers an amazing service, including the ability to order prints of various sizes/finishes. It is also the only online photo sharing service that offers downloadable files as well. I'm hoping this will give me a chance to perhaps earn a little spending money from sales of my photos.

To this end, I have put a link to my Smugmug site in the right margin. Just click on any of the galleries and a new page to that gallery should open. You can also simply click on the title of this blog entry above to go to my site. I've also embedded a slideshow here for you to see. First time doing this, so hope it works alright.

Let me know what you think in the comments please.

Gators!!

Yesterday was a beautiful day with temps in the 70sF. The forecast was calling for a cold front to come through beginning today and I am happy to report....for once the weather man got it right! I've learned that gators love basking in the sun when it is nice and hot but on cold days, gators submerge themselves to stay out of the cold weather. I suppose the water is warmer for them. In any event, I packed up my camera after lunch and head back to the bridge and horse trail near Highlands Hammock State Park, where I was the other day. Temps were nice and warm and as it happened, I lucked out when I got to the bridge. Three gators were basking in the sun. Two smaller ones and the big one you see in the top photo. Trust me, this bad boy was easily 12-14 feet long and I was extremely thankful that he was on the opposite river bank.
Only one ibis in a tree by the bridge today but he was quite amusing to watch while perched in a nearby tree. As you can see I caught him with his mouth open. Almost like he was trying to tell me something.
This last picture is a crop from the original I took with my 100-400mm lens. I used a tripod for today's pictures but still had to deal with camera shake because of the length of the lens and also a gusty wind. Tried my 1.4x extender with the lens too but I lose the auto focus with my big lens, so that presented some focussing issues. Extender works fine with 70-200 lens though including the AF. Not sure why the extender won't work on both lens.

Birds

Still a little congested this morning with this chest cold, so I decided to take the day off from pickleball, cycling or any of the other many things there is to do here at Tanglewood. I think I am past the worst of it though. Managed to sneak out to Walgreens for some throat lozenges too.

I packed up my camera this morning and sat out at the pond along the main access road into Tanglewood. There is a sandhill crane(thanks Lynn for pointing that out) and a bunch of sandpipers who are usually pretty busy on shore and feeding in the shallows. No sign of the sandpipers this morning but I did manage a few nice shots of the crane. I also caught a vulture and osprey flying overhead. I used my 70-200 mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter added on to it. These are cropped shots of the originals. May have to try the 100-400mm at another time.

Let me know what you think of them in the comments field please.

Turtle Sighting

Looks like stormy weather coming to Sebring. Temps didn't drop much below 68F last night and this morning the humidity was very noticable. I even had to sleep with the fan on last night just to keep the air moving. Windy with rain threatening at pickleball this morning and the same again forecasted for tomorrow as well. But..........no snow!

I caught sight of this little guy munching on some grass shoots behind our RV this morning and grabbed a few pictures of him with my new camera. I laid down on the ground in front of him for this one from about 4 ft away. I'm sure he thought my camera was just another turtle. It didn't take long before he had scurried back under the fence and off into the brush.

New Camera

Ok.....for any of you who really want to know....I gave Chris a kiss first before reaching for the camera. Well, not quite actually. I arrived at the airport in Orlando just as Chris's "touchdown" text message arrived on my phone. I decided to drive right to the arrivals area but she was not yet outside. The parking police told me I had to keep circling out of and then back into the arrivals area or risk getting a ticket. Three or four circles later, out she came. She barely had time to throw her carry on bag and my new camera into the back seat before an overzealous parking attendant was threatening us with a ticket. Welcome to Orlando. I wished her a good day and we were off.

We stopped for a quick bite in Orlando before heading back to Sebring via some of the backroads instead of Hwy 27. There is some interesting scenery around here once you get off the beaten path.

We played pickleball for a couple of hours this morning before heading back to shower up and then it was off to Circuit City. One little oversight with my new camera was the memory card it used. I had assumed incorrectly, after talking to the staff at Henry's before we left for Florida, that the 5D2 used the same SDHC memory cards I used in my Rebel XSi. Wrong! Turns out it uses compact flash cards instead. So we hit Circuit City, where I purchased one Lexar 4 GB CF card.

Then it was off to Highlands Hammock State Park. We wandered around the trails and boardwalks there for about three hours this afternoon. Me taking pictures with my new 5D2 and Chris using her new (my old) XSi. We both had a lot of fun. Chris really enjoyed her first in the park.

Presently, the 5D2 pictures are not fully importable into Lightroom 2.1 nor Photoshop CS3. Adobe is supposed to release a LR2 upgrade later this month so photos can be imported into LR2. There will no such upgrade for CS3 however. May have to look at CS4 eventually. The above photo is of a spider we both saw in the park! Focus is a little off because I was hand holding the camera. Didn't want to get too close to this baby either.

Caveside Blog

Yesterday was gorgeous, so we popped back out to a different area of Mer Bleu that has quite a few bird feeding stations. We even brought a suet brick for the birds to nibble on as well. We sat and watched bluejays and chickadees flit in and out for some bird seed that someone else had kindly put out for the birds earlier. None would take the suet though.....until we left of course and then we saw two greedy bluejays attack it. We were entertained for over an hour by an intrepid squirrel who lived in the same tree as the feeders. He chattered at us for standing too close to his home. Once he got used to us, he crawled into one of the feeders and had a feast.

Now for the big news. Chris has started her own blog called "Caveside". I have a link to it in the right margin. Given that I am spending the winter in sunny and warm Florida, she thought it might be nice for all our friends to vicariously experience a cold and snowy Ottawa winter. Check out her blog. She is promising lots of pictures of snow!

Mer Bleu Bog

We decided to check out Mer Bleu early this morning in order to catch the sunrise. Finding it hard to get out of bed while it is still dark though. It went down to about -7C here last night, so everything was covered by a nice frost this morning. On the way in to Mer Bleu we spotted two moose off in the middle of a field about 200 meters from the road. Unfortunately, they were too far away to get any nice pictures. People have told us in the past that there were some moose in the bog area but this is the first time we have ever seen them ourselves. They stood dead still while checking us out except for the occasional twitch of an ear. They were long gone when we left the bog an hour later.

Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning. Lots of frost on the trees in the first shot with the sun peeking through the trees. The second shot is a backlit leaf rimmed with frost. Hope you like the photographs.