Fledglings

A few days ago, we got word that the baby Great Horned Owls we have been watching have fledged their nest, and have been spotted around Honeymoon Island, so we headed down to see if we could spot them Sunday evening. When we got there, we walked ever so slowly down Osprey Trail, looking up in the tree tops for any sign of them. This was going to be tough, for it is hard enough to find the parents, let alone the babies who are about half their size, so we had our work cut out.

We made our way to their nest, and no sign of them, but for a brief moment we heard their call. We searched everywhere up and down the trails, and saw nothing. We walked around the other trails to see if we could spot them for a couple of hours, and since this was harder then we had hoped, we decided to go down to the beach since it was low tide to catch some shots of the wading birds that come in to feed at low tide.

There was a lot of activity along the shores, and saw a Reddish Egret, several Terns, Black Skimmers and numerous other wading birds sifting through the exposed sand picking out tiny crustaceans in the sand. We stayed for some time, as we waded in the water looking ourselves for sea creatures, and found Lighting Welks, Crown Conchs, baby fish and even found several egg cases just waiting to reveal their baby Lighting Welks.

It was getting late, and since the entire day was overcast and we had very little light, we decided to give it one last try as we made our way back to see if we could spot the baby Owls. As we made our way almost to the beginning of the trails, we found them. Way up in the top of a Slash Pine sat one of the little babies, looking down at us. What a sight. This was the same baby we first spotted a couple of months ago when it peaked it's head over his nest and looked like a little white fuzzy Weeble-Wobble, and now here he is out in the world.

As we watched the baby, we saw momma Owl over a few trees. She took flight, and disappeared into the thicker canopy of pines. After a few minutes, something we never expected happened. Daddy Owl whom we haven't seen in quite sometime flew right over our heads, and had a kill in his talons. He landed a few trees over from the babies, and started calling for them. They talked back and forth, and daddy was encouraging one of the babies to fly to him to feed on his baby Egret he had killed.

The baby finally got enough courage to take flight, and we watched as he flew to his daddy, and while he isn't as good as his parents yet, he did pretty good, and it was unreal to witness this take place right in front of us. Daddy Owl ripped up the meal, and ever so gently feed his baby, and it was real tough to take photos at this point, for we just couldn't believe what we were witnessing. It was a strong display of love and affection, and unbelievable to watch as the parents teach the youngsters how to fly through the trees.

Needless to say, this by far was the most exciting day we have had, and something we soon won't forget.

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Ad Campaign

I was commissioned by the Perfect Picture School of Photography to create a new advertisement campaign for the upcoming issue of PopPhoto that is to hit newsstands May, 11, 2006. There are two ads for the magazine, a full page ad and a 1/3 page vertical ad. The ad was very well received, and it even features a photo by yours truly. Be sure to look for it at your favorite newsstand in a few weeks.

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View The Full Page Ad  (Adobe Acrobat Format - 162kb)

Hockey Bay USA

Before we moved to Tampa Bay, we went to a lot of NHL Hockey games. We have been to New York City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Washington, and made regular visits to Pittsburgh to watch the Penguins play. Since we have never been to a Tampa Bay Lightning game, we decided to wait so our first game was a Stanley Cup Playoffs game, and although the Lighting lost to the Senators, we were not disappointed.

It was loud, real loud. We thought it was crazy when we went to several games in Montreal, but the St. Pete Times Forum was rocking. Too bad the home team didn't come to play, and was easily defeated. However, we were able to watch numerous fights break out on the ice, with 129 minutes of penalties handed out. Even with the loss, it was still exciting to see our first Stanley Cup hockey game.

	1	2	3	T
OTTAWA SENATORS	3	2	3	8
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING	1	0	3	4

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Key West Art & Historical Society

The Key West Art & Historical Society contacted me a couple of months ago about buying some of my photos that I took while I visited the Key West Lighthouse last December. Needless to say, I am thrilled to have my photography available for purchase at the museum store.

In a few weeks, 13 photographs will be available for purchase on Note Cards in the Key West Lighthouse Museum Gift Store and available online on their web site at www.kwahs.com.

Growing Up

The past couple of days, we visited some of the nests of Ospreys and Great Horned Owls around the area to see how the babies are coming along. Our first stop was the nest of the Ospreys at the Publix Grocery Store just down the street from us. The baby Osprey was still in the nest, and getting bigger then when we saw him last, but still sticks close to his parents. He has yet to make it out of the nest, but should be very soon.

Our next stop was another nest of baby Ospreys next to the Dunedin water tower, and just as luck would have it, when we arrived, the babies were getting their flight lesson from momma Osprey. Daddy Osprey sat up on the pole of the nest, watching his offspring fly, circle and dive all around him. Each of the two babies followed their mommy and tried to mimic her moves and she gave them valuable lessons in flight and survival.

In an unexpected sighting, a Magnificent Frigate flew right over us, and flew with the Ospreys for a short time. We have seen this Magnificent Frigate for the past couple of days now around Dunedin, and was a breathtaking sight to say the least.

Our last stop took us to Honeymoon Island to check in on the pair of baby Great Horned Owls. Each week they are looking more and more like their parents, but have yet to make their appearance out of the nest. When we arrived, we only saw one of the babies. We hoped that the other one was deep in the nest asleep and nothing happened to it. It was still early for them to get up and start stirring, so we took a walk around the island checking out the numerous nests of Ospreys, and we even got some close-up look at the numerous crabs that habitat down by the Mangroves.

We made our way back to the baby Owls, and the second baby was now up, so we were relieved that he was safe. Still no sighting of their mom, so we headed back to the parking lot, and then, just before we were off the trail, there she was. She has been hunting way on the other side of the island, looking for Black Racers and other small animals to take back to her babies. She paid us no mind, and she was so focused on her task, we were literally able to get within feet of her this time.

Hopefully it won't be too long now we will catch a glimpse of the babies coming out of their nest, and take their first flight around Honeymoon Island.

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Immature Baldies

A good friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago about a nest of Bald Eagles and their babies at the country club where he plays golf on Saturdays. He gave me the information, and I called the country club to inquire about getting permission to photograph the Bald Eagles on their property. I spoke to the general manager, and he agreed to let me come onto the course and photograph the Eagles.

I was excited, since this will be a opportunity that doesn't come along very often, so I headed out early Saturday morning down to the country club. Upon arriving, I met the general manager, and he drove me out to the 18th green and there they were. The adult Bald Eagles are estimated by the National Audubon Society to be around thirty years old, and are a lifetime mating pair. Although I never saw the adults, the two babies who are just over five months old now were sitting up in the nest.

As soon as I set up my gear and got into position to photograph the youngsters, they took flight. Thinking they may just circle a few times and come back, they were nowhere to be seen on the horizon. I sat under a tall Slash Pine for what seemed an eternity, so I decided to at least get some shots of at least something, so I turned my attention to the numerous European Starlings, Mockingbirds and Northern Flickers that were flying and playing all around me.

While I was busy getting some shots of the other birds, I kept an eye out for the baby Bald Eagles up in the sky, hoping they would return. After about a half hour or so, I saw one way off in the distance, coming back to the nest. He made several circles around the nest, but then left again. Another half hour later, he came back, circled, and left. I saw him perched way off in the distance, probably watching me the entire time. So I thought to myself, I must be in their "comfort zone", and moved back, and hid behind another Slash Pine and waited.

Another half hour went by, and I thought that today wasn't my day, so I began to pack up and leave. Just as I started to walk away, both babies landed onto the nest. I quickly grabbed my camera, and move ever so slowly, inch by inch towards them. I kept as low as I could, and shielded myself from them, using the tops of the pines as my cover. I slowly made my way around them, and stepped out of my cover, and there they were. No hiding now, and this was my chance, so I fired off as many shots as I could. They both stayed calm, seeing that I was no threat, and I kept inching closer. Then, I must of crossed they imaginary comfort zone, and one of them took off. A few minutes later, the other baby took off, and the sound from their huge wingspan and moving massive amounts of air was amazing.

It was an unbelievable sight to see these massive birds so close, and to learn a valuable lesson as well, which was "always stay out of their comfort zone" and "just when you think the day is a bust, something magical will happen if you are patient".

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Day Three: Shark Valley

We didn't have a real agenda today, except that we were going to cross back via the Tamiami Trail, and stop again in Shark Valley. We packed up and left Florida City, but before we made it up to the Tamiami Trail, we stopped at the Florida Everglades Animal Rescue and Rehab Center. They had a nice assortment of animals, and while most are not native to the area, I suspect most were former exotic pets and donated to the center since I don't know many who can care for such animals as Tigers or Lemurs.

We also stopped again at "Robert Is Here" fruit stand and loaded up on Oranges and lots of preserves. While I was strolling around, I saw a display of a fruit called a Tangelo that was imported from Costa Rica. Looking like a small orange, I gave it a try, and WOW, what a unbelievable fruit. I never have eaten anything like this before, and now wish I would of bought the entire display of them.

With our stash of fruits loaded in the trunk of the car, we headed to our final destination, Shark Valley. Along the way, we spotted off the side of the road a large Turkey Vulture that just landed and was gorging on a dead fish that might of been dropped by a fisherman sometime ago. He was very calm as I quietly approached, just tearing into his find.

We made it back to Shark Valley, and took a stroll up and down the road and was quite surprised at the amount of wildlife was just off the path. We saw the nest of three baby Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Anhingas, Common Moorhens, Purple Gallinules, Soft Shelled Turtles, Florida Gar, Halloween Dragonflies and a multitude of other smaller birds zipping in and out of the brush.

In this one lonely tree, we spotted a nice find, an American Redstart that was darting in and out of the treetops, feasting on berries as they are migrating right now from South America on their way north. As we were getting ready to leave, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Red-sholdered Hawk fly quietly out the top of a Palm tree. We stopped and looked up into the Palm, and deep inside were two baby Red-sholdered Hawks sitting in their nest. What a find, and we sat there from a long time observing them as they looked around out into their new world.

It was getting ate, and we had a long drive ahead of us, so we loaded up and headed back to Tampa Bay, and arrived just as the sun was setting over the bay, and the past three days was better then we could of hoped for, and had a great time.

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Day Two: Anhinga Trail

It was going to be a long day today, a real long day. The agenda was to head out from Florida City and head over to the main entrance of the Everglades, and check out the famous Anhinga Trail. We packed up our coolers with plenty of food and drink to last all day, since we planned to see just how much of the park we could see before sunset.

As we traveled to the Everglades, we went though large farms, acres and acres of farms, as far as the eye can see. We saw a fruit stand "Robert Is Here" and pulled over to check it out. Man, what a place, for they have just about every type of fruit or vegetable one can imagine, and even some we have never seen before. Out back, they had a small petting farm, just chock full of farm animals, and we even saw several Green Lizards just strolling around. We made note that we would be sure to stop back before we left the Everglades and load up on some fresh fruit grown right on the farm.

We made our way to the Everglades, and our first stop in the park was the Ernest C. Coe Visitor Center to get trail guides and general information about the park. We made a quick stop in the gift store to get some bird identification guides, and then headed to our first destination, the Anhinga Trail.

I spent a day on the Anhinga Trail back in January, and in just a few months, it looks completely different. The Sawgrass was now coming back to life from their dormant state, and the area is now much more greener then I last saw it. The trail is about one mile in length, and is densely populated with a huge variety of wildlife, including Osprey, Cormorants, Anhingas, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Purple Gallinules, Green Heron, Least Bitterns, Soft Shelled Turtles, Red Eared Sliders, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Grackles, Black Birds, Black Vultures, Red Shouldered Hawks, Great Blue Herons, White Herons, Spoonbills, Anoles, and of course Alligators, and lots of them.

It is simply amazing to walk in the very tiny slice of the Everglades and see such an abundant amount of wildlife, all living in harmony. There were also numerous birds still nesting, and we also saw many of the offspring of Anhingas and Green Herons peeping all over the place. We even got a rare glimpse of a baby Roseate Spoonbill, and was so cute as he slept just feet away from his new neighbors of Alligators.

At one point, we saw circling a Swallow-tailed Kite, and it was a magical sight to behold. After eating lunch, we decided to take a drive further into the Everglades, but at the first stop on the journey, we decided to head back to the Anhinga Trail and stay until sunset, since we were having so much fun there. On our way back, we spotted two Swallow-tailed Kites circling the sky, and landed in a Slash Pine just about a hundred yards from us. We pulled off the road and got just a couple of shots as they took back off into the sky.

We made it back to the Anhinga Trail and stayed there past sunset, and had a great time, despite being out in the scorching sun all day, and getting a great tan, this was one day that will be remembered for a long time to come. We packed up our gear and made it back to our hotel in Florida City for one more day of adventure, and couldn't wait to see what the new day will bring.

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Day One: Tamiami Trail

With the Rainy Season only a few weeks away, we decided to head down to the Florida Everglades to check out the action before the hot, humid, wet and miserable bugs arrive. So we packed up for three days of adventure as we mapped our route to take us across the middle of the Everglades via the Tamiami Trail. On our way down I-75, between Naples and Ft. Myers, a 18-wheeler jackknifed across the entire southbound lanes, and we were stuck in an eight-mile backup, but made some new friends as we all just got out of our vehicles, and some even had a quick picnic on the side of the highway.

Traffic was restored about an hour later, so we made our way down to Naples onto the Tamiami Trail to our destination in Florida City. All along the route, we saw numerous birds, but mostly Black and Turkey Vultures soaring high overhead in search for food. The western side of the Everglades is completely dry, and the earth looks like deep cracked mud for miles, with dormant seas of Sawgrass as far as the eye can see. We stopped at the smallest post office in Ochopee, that was at one time just a tool shed out in the middle of nowhere.

It was getting late, so we decided to stop in Shark Valley to have a picnic and to see what wildlife we can seek out in tis little slice of the Everglades. We got there late, and the park was closing, so we pulled over outside the main area, and set up a picnic area by a pond on the side of the road. We saw all kinds of birds in this little area, but the main attraction was Alligators. In the pond on each side of the road where we parked, numerous Alligators sat in silence, just peeking their head out of the water, watching.

One of the Alligators was very curious to our presence, and swam slowly to the edge of the pond, watching us. Then, all of a sudden, he came right out of the pond, right after us. He was watching us eat our picnic of turkey sandwiches, and must of decided he would like to join us. He came right up over a steep embankment and stared us down, onto the road we retreated to. I don't have to stress what a panic this was to have this huge creature bearing down on us, and fear overtakes your every emotion.

There were two men fishing in the other pond across the road from us, and saw what was taking place, so they grabbed a few fish they had caught and threw them in the direction of the Alligator so we could retreat to a safer distance. The Alligator went crazy for the fish, as he twist and turned his large head, almost in a death roll, gobbling up the fish as they bounced around on the road, and paid us no more attention as we got to a safer distance. After eating a several of the fish, the Alligator decided he had enough, and went back to his pond to resume his activities. This made one heck of a welcome to the Everglades needless to say.

We wrapped up our first day walking down the trails at Shark Valley, walking through huge swarms of Halloween Dragonflies, finding a nest of three baby Great Blue Herons, Anhingas, Baby Green Herons, Adult Green Herons, Purple Gallinules, Black Birds, Crows, Warblers, Cardinals, Red Wing Black Birds and numerous others.

We stayed until it was completely dark, and what a sight to see. It was completely dark, only the soft glow from Miami could be seen way off in the distance, and not a single sound could be heard, except for some crickets and frogs. It was the most peaceful feeling to be in such an amazing place. We jumped back into the car to finish off our drive to Florida City to rest up for a full day in the Everglades.

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The Florida Everglades

We just got back from a jam-packed three day adventure in the Florida Everglades. It was hot, exciting and non-stop action. I have (as usual) 500+ photos to go through and process, so I'll be adding some of the photos I shot over the next several days.

In the meantime, the lesson learned from this trip was: "Never eat a turkey sandwich when standing within sight distance of an Alligator". The story behind that lesson to come, but the photo above is a preview of what took place. Stay tuned...

Up On A Pole

Florida is so full of wildlife, one doesn't have to go to some exotic location to see it, sometimes you just have to look up on a pole. In Dunedin next to the water tower, we spotted an Osprey nest a few days ago, and they had babies in the nest. It was too dark by the time we spotted them to get any good photos, so I headed back in the evening light to get some shots of them, since this would be the first time we have seen baby Ospreys.

When I got there, I saw two in the nest, and one sitting on a pole next to the nest. At first glance, I thought it was mom, dad and baby, but mature Ospreys have yellow eyes, and immature have orange eyes, and the two in the nest had orange eyes. As I looked through the viewfinder, I saw mom Osprey was sitting up on the pole, and there were two babies are in the nest. Their wing feathers are also very different then their parents right now too (they have a lot more white "stripes"). While I was across the street getting the shot, dad Osprey snuck up behind me to see what I was doing, directly on the light pole behind me. They are VERY protective right now of their off-spring, and will chase anything away that comes close to them.

I then went to another location, a Publix Grocery Store parking light, where another baby was spotted, so I finally got a shot of him and his mom. This little baby was very timid however, only peeking for a minute over the nest, almost as if he was trying to figure out why I would want to take "his" picture. Just a few light poles away, a Great Blue Heron landed, just sitting up there watching the sunset.

Shortly after, the Black Vultures began to come back to their home, slowly making their way across the sky a few at a time, until about two-dozen landed high up in an old dead tree behind Publix. Momma Osprey didn't like their presence however, and she took flight after them, driving them further back into the woods and out of sight of her nest. Just goes to show that even in an urban enviornment, you sometimes just gotta look up, and may be surprised what one sees.

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Dry Season

It's now getting pretty serious, for we haven't seen rain since early February. It is very dry, and many authorities are getting concerned about brushfires, and several have already been reported, but not very widespread as of yet. It did rain in some parts around the bay area last night, but nothing to really soak the ground.

Once again we took a drive out to Honeymoon Island to have lunch, and later to take a walk down Osprey Trail to see how the two little Great Horned Owl babies are doing. Along the way, we saw numerous Anoles, Gopher Tortoises, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Warblers, Herons, Ibis', and even Mallard Ducks.

Just on the trail, we came up on momma owl, just sitting on the side of the path, not very high up in a Slash Pine. She looked very tired, almost as if the two little ones are keeping her busy all night. She sat there for quite a while, then took off across the island to a higher perch. The cool thing is when they are in flight, they make absolutely no sound, for their feathers are soft, almost like polar fleece to the touch. This helps to deaden the sound of air rushing over the feathers while the bird is in flight. Also the front edge of the first primary or wing feather is toothed like a hand saw. This helps wind pass over the wings and keep the bird's flight noiseless.

Shouldn't be too long before the babies come out of the nest, for they look almost identical to the adults now, minus the size and ear tufts. On our way out of Honeymoon, we saw an Osprey nest that had babies in it, but it was getting too dark to get good photos of them, but we'll go back in daylight to get our first look at baby Osprey's.

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Baby Season

It's springtime and that means babies. The activity is growing with each passing day, and we have noticed a shift of the types of birds we are seeing now, for a lot of the sightings are of birds that we have never seen before.

One of the most interesting finds was in a ditch that sits in between a busy main road and a strip mall. There is a literally a ditch that has run-off water, and to our surprise was a new family of Mallard Ducks and their ten babies. They sit comfortably in this little ditch, while cars, trucks and motorcycles zoom by, but the babies are more curious about trying to catch little bugs and following momma around.

It seems in just about every body water now has activity, for just on the other side of the road, we came across two very friendly Muscovy Ducks. They paid us no attention as we walked right up to them, for they were too busy pruning their feathers to pay us any mind.

The beaches are also becoming crowded, and not just with beachgoers. Large flocks of Terns can be found now, from Royals, Leasts, Forster's and Sandwich Terns. Also mingled in are Black Skimmers and the ever present Laughing, Ring-Billed and Herring Gulls. It's pretty amazing to witness all of these different types of Terns, Skimmers and Gulls sitting together in huge groups, all getting along.

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