Spruce Creek Park in New Symrna Beach

Piers and sunsets are my favorite subjects. Unfortunately most of the parks close right at or before sunset. After hearing a horror story about being locked in I was going to make sure to leave before that happened. I found the Spruce Creek park and pier to be very scenic. Fearing that there would be crowds of people on the pier was unfounded. I arrived early to scope out the best angles and get in some early shots of the pier with the beautiful afternoon light. The pier has a nice angle to it and can be shot while on the pier or at ground level with the marsh in the foreground. Next time I need to bring a red kayak! The sunrise didn't disappoint but it reached its peak as we drove out of the park and down Route one.

Twenty Four Hours on the Connecticut Shore

A birder I met on my last trip to Massachusetts recommended Hammonasset Beach for a great birding spot . Since I was going to visit my Dad in October anyway, I added an extra day to check out Connecticut shore spots. After a frustrating start with a rental car that had push button start I made it to Guilford and checked into the Comfort Inn. Mid afternoon I found my way to Hammonasset Beach State Park. To my delight, the rather steep entrance fees were suspended. I headed south to Meigs Point first. The weather was heavy overcast and drizzle. The beach has some elevation and rocks to add to the interest. I expected more shore birds but only found seagulls. Opposite the beach is a salt marsh and some hiking trails. The most birds I found were in the grass parking lot where the Canada Geese and a few kildeer were congregating. The park closed at 6:30 pm so I spent most of my time at the beach side.

 The following morning I was not hopeful for good weather but decided to drive towards the the State Park again and looking for a spot for sunrise. The State Park didn't open until 8 am but I found a small park off of Route 1 named East Wharf Beach Park. There was a small beach area and a rock pier. The sunrise was not spectacular but the clouds were interesting not as overcast as the day before.

Back at Hammonasset Beach State Park I waited for the gates to open and then headed back down to Meigs Point. There was lots to explore but I concentrated on the beach with the rocks and then the marsh areas. I took a short hike to look for birds and was lead to a barred owl sitting in the open by a friendly birder. Saw a few warblers, downey woodpeckers, cat birds and hundreds of barn swallows.

The red plant is glasswort that turns bright red in the fall.

How many ways can you process an image....

 This version was made after watching Scott Kelby's course on Landscape photo processing. The first version was too yellow, the second was too flat. I try to not overprocess my photos but usually don't go far enough.

Sunrise at Marineland

The beach at Marineland is pretty unique in Florida due to the coquina rocks that are scattered about. As the seasons pass and the weather and tides change, so does the beach. I have been there a half dozen or more times and everytime it's looks like a different place. It's about an hour and a quarter drive from Orlando so the best time to go is when the sunrise is not too early. I chose a time when the tide would be high so the water would be flowing around the rocks. Long exposures work best when the water is flowing in and out showing the movement. Before sunrise, I used an ND filter that is about a three stop, but switched over to the Lee Big Stopper after the sun rose and it was getting brighter. The Lee Big Stopper gives the photos a bluish cast that has to be fixed in lightroom. Today I ordered an inbetween ND filter of 6 stops and will be anxious to try it out.

Feeding Frenzy at the Refuge

The day could not have been more perfect at  the Merritt Island NationalWildlife Refuge. We left at "0 dark thirty" in hopes of catching an awesome sunrise. Mother Nature did not disappoint this morning. The colors were spectacular and the wind was calm so the color was reflected in the water. After four days at the Spacecoast Festival the week before with not the best conditions, I was planning on returning to finally get a sunrise and also practice more birds in flight photography.

Sunrise at Black Point

After the sun had risen, we continued on Black Point Drive to find some birds. The majority of the subjects close enough to shoot were on the back side of the drive. As we approached you could see in the distance a substantial line of cars pulled over to the side. Looks like this is the place. As this group of photographers were "shooting" photos of the birds, you could hear in the not so distance hunters firing off shots at the waterfowl that we love so much.

It was the largest gathering of roseate spoonbills, white ibis, glossy ibis, snowy egrets, great white egrets and a few others that I have seen all in close range. The photographers with the 600mm lenses were scrambling to change to a shorter focal length. Not a problem that I was having. I could have stayed there all day but I had two more goals for the day.

The next stop was the Refuge visitor center for both a pit stop and to check on the Painted Buntings. They were there and flying back and forth to the feeders. What beautiful birds and posing so nicely! Only one more goal was left to fulfill after a brief snack stop at the Sunrise Bread Company in Titusville. I have now been there four times in just over a week. They serve coffee drinks and have an onsite bakery. The muffins are baked fresh, along with an assortment of breads. I have to resist the temptation to bring home a full loaf of bread.

The last stop was back over the bridge to Parrish Park. There, the black skimmers were hanging out on the shoreline. They were not feeding right then, but as a car or people would get close they took flight as we started snapping photos. The water was fairly calm and the light was perfect. I will try to get back over soon just before sunset and take some more photos. It was an incredible day and lots of images to sort through.

Spacecoast Birding & Wildlife Festival

After many years of hearing about this festival I decided I would go this year. It's only about an hour away so I commuted each day. I wasn't considering how early I would have to get up when I signed up for 6:15 AM workshops. I did a mix of birding field trips and photography workshops. The weather was a mixed bag as is common in Florida during January. The first field trip was at the Enchanted Forest, Birding by Ear. That is a real skill to be able to ID a bird from its sounds and songs. Enchanted Forest is on RT. 405 and a place worthy of another visit. Home base for the festival was at Eastern Florida State College. In between outings there were indoor classes and an expo featuring the latest birding and photography gear. The afternoon of the first day we went on our own to explore Bio Lab Road at the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. There were white pelicans, roseate spoonbills, kingfishers, a variety of shore birds, egrets, herons, and warblers. Alligators were also in abundance along the small canals.

Day Two: I met our group at Parrish Park for " Birds in Flight" photography workshop lead by David Akoubian at 6:15 AM. The Sunrise was non spectacular with all the heavy cloud cover. We concentrated on an area with great white egrets, spoonbills, snowys, cattle egrets, reddish egrets, glossy and white ibis. With all the activity is was a great spot to practice our flight skills. I was using my gimbal head and trying to get used to it. My tripod was too short for this and later I purchased a new and more sturdy tripod. I will be referring to it as the "beast" from now on! We ended up back at Parrish Park where a large group of Black Skimmers were hanging out. We ended with rain but I stayed and the weather cleared enough to shoot the skimmers. I wish the light had been better but I can go back and try again next weekend.

Day Three: Saturday we signed up for Wings Over Florida with four very knowledgable leaders including Gregg Miller, whose birding story was featured in the movie, The Big Year. His character was played by Jack Black. We started at the Rt. 50 boat ramp where they were spotting many species of birds, most of which I would have never seen on my own. The second location was Blue Heron Wetlands.


Our expert leaders on the Wings over Florida Fieldtrip.
And yes, this is Florida!  Photo by Nanci Adler

The second part of the day we did the Sunset and Birding Photography with Vinnie Colucci at the Viera Wetlands. A great find for me was the Hooded Mergansers. Hope to have some usable images of those beautiful creatures. Vinnie let me use his 1.7 converter on my lens. I liked the effect but needed to change some other settings to keep my shutter speed up high enough. As a result I lost the sharpness on the snowy egrets that were fishing in front of us. The clouds cleared away so sunset was not as great as it could have been. It was a great day and Vinnie is a great and gracious teacher.

Day Four: I hope to return to this festival again next year but I will either stay over night closer to the birding locations or do every other day. As tired as I was, I woke at 4 AM and drove over to Viera in 31 degrees and met my last group for Sunrise and Birding led by Kathryn Dow. She was a great instructor both in photography and extremely knowlegable about the birds. We set up for sunrise first and then drove to some other locations for bird photography. She found an American Bittern for us and later even spotted a Least Bittern.