San Carlos Bay Bunche Beach Preserve

A new location that we visited and a new favorite of mine is San Carlos Bay Bunche Beach Preserve, doing a little research ahead of time and finding the low tide time pays off greatly at this location much like Ding Darling.  When the tide is out the area is loaded with all kinds of shorebirds, which is a personal favorite of mine to photograph.   I had a lot of help regarding this location from two Florida friends of mine, Bob Pelkey and Marina Scarr.  Never would have come to know of this place if it weren't for those two.  Thanks to both of you!  The banded Piping Plover below was reported to the Great Lakes Waterbird Research Program at the University of Minnesota.  During my visit I also photographed another Piping Plover, but the other one had not been banded. 

Endangered Piping Plover

 On our particular visit I was able to see 200+ Black Skimmers which was quite a sight, even more so when they all simultaneously exploded into flight on occasion.  My first visit there was a windy one, and one that found me leaving my waders which I brought with me in my vehicle.  With Gulf temps in the mid 60’s and the wind left me quite chilled but with all the action going on at this location that helped take my mind off the somewhat uncomfortable conditions.  My second visit, I remembered those waders though.  



White Ibis

  I was able to photograph Snowy and Piping Plovers at this location, two shorebirds that I badly wanted to see.  Some of the Snowy Plovers I noticed were banded.  Other notable sightings were Reddish Egrets,  Little Blue Herons, a Bald Eagle, Snowy Egrets. 



Snowy Plover



If you are ever in the Fort Meyers area in Florida, this location is one that is definately worth checking out. 

J.N. "Ding Darling" Wildlife Refuge, Florida

My wife and I just got back from a trip from Southwest Florida for the holidays.  We spend several nights on Sanibel Island visiting some familiar photographic grounds and others not so familiar.  We made several trips to J.N. “Ding Darling” Wildlife Refuge located on Sanibel Island.  I have had good luck there in previous visits to this location and would highly recommend visiting this location if given the opportunity.  You never know what you are going to see around every bend on the road. 

White Pelican coming in for a landing.

 

 

 

You pay a fee and drive your vehicle throughout the 4 mile stretch of roadway through the Refuge.  It is always a good sign when you drive along and you see multiple cars pulled off the roadway and several photogs lining the roadside.  I had good luck with the several visits we made to this location this time around.  I was able to photograph Tricolored Herons, Anhingas, White and Brown Pelicans, Snowy Egrets, Great White Egrets.   Also seeing an occasional Spoonbill which seemed to be less numerous then in our past visit in the summer last year.  

White Pelicans, gulls, and shorebirds preening

Species at this location at times can be far off but more often than not are well within photographic range and are quite tame as they are used to the vehicles and human traffic.  Excellent opportunities for flight shots exist as I had a great experience photographing the various White Pelicans at "Ding Darling"  Other times during the year you can yield great result of Spoonbills in flight. The refuge is closed on Fridays to give the wildlife a break from us humans and vehicle traffic. 

Great Egrets

W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary

Kellogg Bird Sanctuary is a Michigan State University research field station located in Augusta Michigan.  Wintergreen Lake, which is the primary focus for the majority of waterfowl hosts a wide variety of species.  Any given day you are likely to see Trumpeter Swans in fairly large numbers.  The Trumpeter Swan present a unique opportunity for in flight shots. Morning are best for in flight shots as the Trumpeters are often landing into the early morning soft sunlight. 

Trumpeter Swan in flight

If you have never seen a Trumpeter Swan up close this is the place to see them.  I was amazed at the size of them as they are the largest North American bird, a very majestic looking bird.  Feeding of local waterfowl is allowed which also can present unique opportunities for portrait shots of the Trumpeter Swans and some of the Mute Swans as the come right up to the fence on the boardwalk. 

Trumpeter Swan

A smaller pond hosts a rather consist visitor, a male Hooded Merganser.  This pond is very tricky to shoot, as it is mainly and evening light location and the large trees surrounding the pond only provide pockets of light that you have to patiently wait for the resident Merganser to swim into. 

Hooded Merganser

North Chagrin Reservation, Ohio

Every fall dozens and dozens of photographers flock from all over the country to North Chagrin Reservation for a chance to photograph Wood Ducks.  Every fall, Wood Ducks fill Sunset Pond and allow photographers to get within arms reach of them, seemingly unafraid of human presence.  The surrounding trees make for beautiful reflections in the water during fall which only enhance the photos taken in this area. 

Wood Duck Hen at North Chagrin Reservation 2011

The beautiful orange, red, and yellow foliage make for the most vibrant reflections in the ponds.  Living in Ohio, I feel very lucky to have such a unique opportunity as I have to photograph Wood Ducks in such a manner that does not require a blind due to their shyness at other locations.

Wood Duck Drake at North Chagrin Reservation 2011

Hen and Drake Wood Duck Pair at North Chagrin Reservation 2011

 

 At times they come in so close that you can not focus your camera on them and you simply take in the moment.  Fall brings the most unique opportunity to photograph Wood Ducks at North Chagrin Reservation. If you love Wood Ducks and fall, North Chagrin Reservation is a must see to any photographer and/or nature lover.  

Shorebirds at Point Mouillee Michigan

I made my first of many trips to come to Point Mouillee, Michigan at the end of August with two good photographer friends of mine.  Point Mouillee hosts a wide variety and number of shorebirds that use the area as a stopover point to feed and rest on their migration journey from various parts in the Northern Hemisphere to parts of South America, Cell #3 being the primary target for photographers and bird watchers alike.  To reach Cell #3 a 3-4 mile bike ride is needed from the parking lot that takes you through at times tons of biting insects.   Shooting conditions will get you muddy and wet all the while swatting away pesky mosquitoes and biting flies both in the water and the surrounding dike of Cell #3.  A bug mask that I bought for the trip came in handy during the bike ride and at times while photographing in the muck.  But it is all well worth it to get those eye level shots and nice gradient blurred background s that can be had there due to the surrounding environment.  Below is a photo that I took of Cell #3 with my 17-40mm that shows the area in which we were photographing.    If you look closely you can see some of the shorebirds along the water’s edge that we were photographing.    

Our trip had us arriving just before sunrise on Saturday.  Once we unloaded our gear and loaded up our bikes we were off to make the long bike ride.  Once we settled on a spot to focus our photography at (sand spit on the east side of Cell #3) we spotted and photographed a very rare visitor to this area of the country, a Hudsonian Godwit.  This extremely rare visitor, in its winter plumage was with us for both days were at Point Mouillee, giving us many different views /poses of shorebird.  The Hudsonian we found to be very cooperative and unafraid of us.   

We were also able to photograph a Red Knot, Adult and Juvenile Semipalmated Plovers, Short-Billied Dowitchers, Least and Greater Yellowlegs.   

We saw a group of Phalaropes as well but were unable to photograph them as they were concentrated towards the middle of Cell #3.  We decided to stay there all day Saturday eating our sandwiches that we had brought along with us.  During the afternoon I focused on some in flight shots of the numerous Caspian Terns in the area that were fishing in Cell #3. 

  Luckily we had blue skies during the duration of the time that was spent on some in flight shots of this beautiful Tern.    Saturday evening brought clouds and some spotty showers to the area as well as some increased winds out of the north.  Earlier in the day they were out of the east and we were protected from them by the surrounding dike.  This all combining to make less then par shooting conditions as the wind was really working against us in capturing these shorebirds with the reflections in the water.   We left the area and headed to a local hotel and to grab a bite to eat for the night and to recharge the batteries for another day of shooting.

After a well needed meal and a good night’s rest Sunday morning had us arriving from our local hotel at 5:30am with sunrise at 6:54am.  Wind was again an issue that morning as the wind speed had picked up over night, though we did have great morning light.  The Hudsonian Godwit was with us again and offered us more great shots and allowed me to capture my first wing stretch pose of any shorebirds.    We ended up packing up around 9:30am and headed back to the parking lot after a successful but exhausting weekend of shorebird shooting.  I look forward to a return visit to the area next year for more shorebird shooting.  In my experience I would put Point Mouillee, Michigan at the top of the list along with Conneaut, Ohio for shorebird photography.