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Well, a week later, and I'm finally getting around to posting a few photos from my Florida trip. It was quite a whirlwind tour--started on the Gulf Coast, headed inland for a day, then drove over to the east coast for the remainder of the week. I saw over 50 different species of birds, not including some like starlings, mourning doves etc.
I'd say the majority of them are birds we have here as well, but they are usually much, much less common and take days, weeks, even months to finally track down and get photos of--down there, it was like shooting fish in a barrel! Already planning for next year's trip!
My first day there was Sunday, Dec. 28 and I spent it at Ft. DeSoto beach. What a beautiful spot! Everywhere I looked there were more birds to photograph!
I spent the entire day trekking through the sand, or driving from North Beach to the East beach and back again. I also discovered that if one hasn't worn one's Chaco sandals in months, one should not make a full day trekking through sand and water their first adventure--I wore blisters all over my poor feet! Next year, I'll break the Chacos out about a week before I go, and wear them around the house to acclimate my feet to them again.
Without further ado, Day One photos:
(Note: My shorebird skills are not great, since we don't get a big variety of them around here--so any help with shorebird ID would be appreciated!)
1. Willet in flight
2. American Oystercatcher
3. Reddish Egret on the hunt for lunch
4. American Oystercatcher; I guess the horseshoe crab was easier to catch than an oyster.
5. Snowy Egret
6. White Pelican
7. Err...umm...a Shorebird. A Dowitcher, maybe? EDIT: Short-billed Dowitcher; thanks to Hunter58 for the ID!
8. This one really has me stumped. I'm guessing some sort of Plover, but haven't found a good match on allaboutbirds or in my guidebooks. EDIT: Black-bellied Plover, thanks again to Hunter58 for the ID
9. This is not that great a photo, but what an incredible sight! I wish I'd had my D5100 with the wider angle lens on it, but it was back in the car. This was a sandbar jutting out from the beach. There were at least a hundred pelicans on the sandbar, and tons of other birds. All of a sudden, the other birds took flight, forming two different murmurations. One HUGE murmuration of Black Skimmers were going in one direction, and a slightly smaller murmuration of various shorebirds were going a different direction. They flew around for several minutes before finally alighting back on the sandbar.
There are more images on my flickr page. That's all I'll post here for Day One, but I'll post Day 2 later today or tomorrow.
As always, C&C, general comments and witty banter are greatly appreciated!
I'd say the majority of them are birds we have here as well, but they are usually much, much less common and take days, weeks, even months to finally track down and get photos of--down there, it was like shooting fish in a barrel! Already planning for next year's trip!
My first day there was Sunday, Dec. 28 and I spent it at Ft. DeSoto beach. What a beautiful spot! Everywhere I looked there were more birds to photograph!
I spent the entire day trekking through the sand, or driving from North Beach to the East beach and back again. I also discovered that if one hasn't worn one's Chaco sandals in months, one should not make a full day trekking through sand and water their first adventure--I wore blisters all over my poor feet! Next year, I'll break the Chacos out about a week before I go, and wear them around the house to acclimate my feet to them again.
Without further ado, Day One photos:
(Note: My shorebird skills are not great, since we don't get a big variety of them around here--so any help with shorebird ID would be appreciated!)
1. Willet in flight
2. American Oystercatcher
3. Reddish Egret on the hunt for lunch
4. American Oystercatcher; I guess the horseshoe crab was easier to catch than an oyster.
5. Snowy Egret
6. White Pelican
7. Err...umm...a Shorebird. A Dowitcher, maybe? EDIT: Short-billed Dowitcher; thanks to Hunter58 for the ID!
8. This one really has me stumped. I'm guessing some sort of Plover, but haven't found a good match on allaboutbirds or in my guidebooks. EDIT: Black-bellied Plover, thanks again to Hunter58 for the ID
9. This is not that great a photo, but what an incredible sight! I wish I'd had my D5100 with the wider angle lens on it, but it was back in the car. This was a sandbar jutting out from the beach. There were at least a hundred pelicans on the sandbar, and tons of other birds. All of a sudden, the other birds took flight, forming two different murmurations. One HUGE murmuration of Black Skimmers were going in one direction, and a slightly smaller murmuration of various shorebirds were going a different direction. They flew around for several minutes before finally alighting back on the sandbar.
There are more images on my flickr page. That's all I'll post here for Day One, but I'll post Day 2 later today or tomorrow.
As always, C&C, general comments and witty banter are greatly appreciated!
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