Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Merry Christmas!
Wishing all my friends, followers, acolytes and birders everywhere a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the next few days, may they be full of excess, gluttony and [roast] birds. If you're vegetarian, enjoy the nut casserole or whatever. Here is what was once a lovely photo of a Pied Wheatear until I got my hands on it a few moments ago, I'd imagine the original photographer might be a bit put out. Hopefully I'll he'll never find out...
Saturday, 22 December 2018
2018 - The year in review
There is still over a week to go, but I have very few birding plans before the New Year, indeed very few plans at all, and so with that in mind I am setting down my review of 2018 now without any worry that it might be considered premature. Plus everybody else is doing it, blogging does have a slight herd mentality to it at times. Anyway, I have had another fun year of birds, travel, gardening, taking photos, and errr, work. Lots of work. Best not dwell on that, I should just be thankful I have a job that allows me to do lots of the former. In fact, that I have job at all. This time next year after the country has jumped off the Brexit cliff who knows where I'll be.
So, to the usual...
Best twitch
Well this is particularly easy this year as I didn’t twitch anything! My UK list has thus increased by precisely zero, which is somewhat of a watershed moment for me being the first year that this has happened since I developed a taste for rare birds. There were plenty of rarities I could have gone for but I didn’t, and I don’t regret it despite the definite buzz associated with this. This also means that I have avoided all of those tense crowd situations, and all the angst and crappy behaviour that comes along with that. I didn’t avoid that entirely of course, as although I didn’t twitch anything for my UK list I did make a couple of attempts to see a local Bittern. Technically these count as dips of course, and I do not intend to write about that experience again here as there has been quite enough furore. If somehow you missed it, here is the link. So what will 2019 bring? I am going to stick my neck out and say nothing whatsoever as I did not miss the UK twitching scene one little bit.
Best bird
There are a couple candidates for this coveted prize, sadly neither of them are the subject of a gloriously artistic photograph. The first was Crab Plover, which I finally caught up with on my third visit to the Middle East. The birds were miles away on mudflats in north-eastern Oman, and the whole experience was slightly tempered by getting yet another hire car stuck in the mud, but on balance these were just superb and scratched a long-standing itch. I regret not having a scope but this was an unashamedly photographic trip. Having finally seen them, now I want to really see them. For my other candidate there were no such worried – I got amazing views of Blue Nuthatch in Malaysia, so fantastic in fact that I had a bit of a wobble and failed to get any kind of image. This is the way it should be. What a bird, simply incredible. I’ve seen many brightly-coloured birds this year, including Resplendent Quetzal, however this one was breathtaking and also completely random. Mrs L and I were in the Cameron Highlands on a short break a deux, and were walking one of the many trails that cross the area when we stumbled on a bird wave. Mrs L actually saw the bird first and assigned it to the Nuthatch family, whereas I merely proposed the name “Blue”. I still remember it as if it were yesterday, where the bird was, the branch it was on, what it was doing. Truly memorable and despite the thrill of Crab Plovers the prize belongs to Sitta azurea.
Best local bird
Local birding has been confined almost exclusively to Wanstead and it has been a fantastic year here. I’ve had five patch ticks versus only one in 2017. Given how long I have been birding here this is nothing short of remarkable. They were Great White Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Barn Owl, Red-backed Shrike and Rustic Bunting. Of these, the Rustic Bunting, particularly in a London context, is nothing short of astonishing, but given it caused hundreds of people to trample all over the patch for a week, including one gentleman who returned several times and simply could not be convinced not to walk directly at the bird, I cannot in good conscience recommend it as the best bird. The Red-backed Shrike was long overdue, as was the Egret, but my favourite local birding experience for the sheer excitement of it was actually the commonest, Black-tailed Godwit. I chanced upon it early one morning on the side of one of the local ponds and it is without shame that I tell you my legs turned to jelly and I could barely type out the news to the other patch birders. As a bonus it remained on the Alex for several hours allowing quite a few of us to connect, and is recounted here.
Best bird photo
I’ll devote a separate thread to a top ten or something similar, however my absolute favourite photo this year is the following of a Paddyfield Warbler in Bulgaria. I was revisiting a spot I had been to many years ago, but with the benefit of better equipment, more skill, and crucially, more time. I had an image in my head and for once I got it - beautiful light but immensely hard work in high winds. For the usual reasons I was not able to get as much bird photography as I wanted done in 2018, and I am gradually wondering if this is to be a permanent situation if I wish to maintain everything that I do. Work really gets in the way, but actually so does living in the south east of England. You cannot go anywhere or do anything without the crowds, especially for popular birds or well-known locations. Abroad is where it is at for me these days.
Best trip
Although my trip with Mrs L to Malaysia and Japan was incredible, especially Japan, any year in which I go to Costa Rica on a birding trip means that any other locations are going to struggle. There is simply no contest. Bob V and I spent a week in this magnificent country back in March and in a mere six days saw nearly 400 birds, mostly exceptionally well. I’d never been on a bespoke birding trip with a guide before and it was incredible. The odd day here and there as part of a wider holiday, but a trip devoted exclusively to birds… well I have seen the light. Bob and I had a private tour with a sensationally talented guide – no minibus full of geriatrics, no late starts and early finishes, we caned it each and every day. Exhausting but exhilarating, and I want to do it again. The trip report can be viewed on the following pages: Itinerary, 1 2/2 3/3 4 5 6 7 8.
Worst trip
Let me first start by saying that no trips are ever truly bad, I enjoy them all, and because I plan quite carefully they rarely if ever go spectacularly wrong (although had our Omani 4x4 disappeared under the incoming tide whilst bogged down on the Al Hadd mudflats I might be typing something different!). So all my 2018 trips were a lot of fun and all went rather well. Instead I have to look at a trip that I planned but did not manage to go on – Iceland in June. Everything was booked, everything was paid for, I knew where I was going and what I was targeting. And then work went and got in the way. A very important external client, in fact THE most important external party in my line of work, booked a four hour meeting for the day I was due to return. All of the prep work for this meeting was then subsequently booked for the time I was away and I could not miss it. Sometimes that is just what happens, and I guess I have just been lucky to date. With a heavy heart I cancelled my flight, took the hit, and returned to my powerpoint presentation. Mick carried on, and his blog post when he got back was very hard to go through, knowing that I was supposed to have been there too.
Stupidest moment
2018 has been a remarkably sensible year actually. No injuries, no hospital visits, onlytwo camera repairs.... which means that the stupidest moment does actually have to go to pointing the 4x4 towards the shoreline in Oman and assuming we would get there in one piece. A fail of almost of epic proportions. We bogged it well and truly, and it took an hour to get out using bits of old carpet, plants, sticks, whatever we could find. And then once we had it out I very nearly sank it again. All this with the tide rising and threatening to submerge the car, or so I thought anyway - it's good to panic. I've got cars stuck everywhere - Norway, Lithuania, Dubai, Morocco, and now Oman can be added to the list. To add insult to injury I also didn't realise that there was a mileage cap on the rental, and so added a few hundred quid to my bill. Very sadly there is no photo of this particular moment, so instead let's talk about a worthy second place. This goes to Bob, who woke up on the first morning of our Costa Rica trip having already lost his binoculars. The birding trip of a lifetime and within a few hours of arrival the most critical piece of equipment needed has done a runner. Happily they were traced to the restaurant from the previous evening (I can only assume he wanted a really good look at his food) and luckily were still there. Over the course of the week he lost quite a few things, including his plug adapter and cable (the following day), and after I lent him mine, that too. Luckily he still has his marbles....
So that's it for another year. Amazing really, they go so fast these days. I cannot believe that it is 2019 in only a few days. Once again, thanks for reading. Next up, a post sinking under the weight of bird photographs....eagle-eyed readers may notice they have seen them all before....
So, to the usual...
Best twitch
Well this is particularly easy this year as I didn’t twitch anything! My UK list has thus increased by precisely zero, which is somewhat of a watershed moment for me being the first year that this has happened since I developed a taste for rare birds. There were plenty of rarities I could have gone for but I didn’t, and I don’t regret it despite the definite buzz associated with this. This also means that I have avoided all of those tense crowd situations, and all the angst and crappy behaviour that comes along with that. I didn’t avoid that entirely of course, as although I didn’t twitch anything for my UK list I did make a couple of attempts to see a local Bittern. Technically these count as dips of course, and I do not intend to write about that experience again here as there has been quite enough furore. If somehow you missed it, here is the link. So what will 2019 bring? I am going to stick my neck out and say nothing whatsoever as I did not miss the UK twitching scene one little bit.
Best bird
There are a couple candidates for this coveted prize, sadly neither of them are the subject of a gloriously artistic photograph. The first was Crab Plover, which I finally caught up with on my third visit to the Middle East. The birds were miles away on mudflats in north-eastern Oman, and the whole experience was slightly tempered by getting yet another hire car stuck in the mud, but on balance these were just superb and scratched a long-standing itch. I regret not having a scope but this was an unashamedly photographic trip. Having finally seen them, now I want to really see them. For my other candidate there were no such worried – I got amazing views of Blue Nuthatch in Malaysia, so fantastic in fact that I had a bit of a wobble and failed to get any kind of image. This is the way it should be. What a bird, simply incredible. I’ve seen many brightly-coloured birds this year, including Resplendent Quetzal, however this one was breathtaking and also completely random. Mrs L and I were in the Cameron Highlands on a short break a deux, and were walking one of the many trails that cross the area when we stumbled on a bird wave. Mrs L actually saw the bird first and assigned it to the Nuthatch family, whereas I merely proposed the name “Blue”. I still remember it as if it were yesterday, where the bird was, the branch it was on, what it was doing. Truly memorable and despite the thrill of Crab Plovers the prize belongs to Sitta azurea.
 |
| Here is piss-poor shot that does it no justice at all! |
Best local bird
Local birding has been confined almost exclusively to Wanstead and it has been a fantastic year here. I’ve had five patch ticks versus only one in 2017. Given how long I have been birding here this is nothing short of remarkable. They were Great White Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Barn Owl, Red-backed Shrike and Rustic Bunting. Of these, the Rustic Bunting, particularly in a London context, is nothing short of astonishing, but given it caused hundreds of people to trample all over the patch for a week, including one gentleman who returned several times and simply could not be convinced not to walk directly at the bird, I cannot in good conscience recommend it as the best bird. The Red-backed Shrike was long overdue, as was the Egret, but my favourite local birding experience for the sheer excitement of it was actually the commonest, Black-tailed Godwit. I chanced upon it early one morning on the side of one of the local ponds and it is without shame that I tell you my legs turned to jelly and I could barely type out the news to the other patch birders. As a bonus it remained on the Alex for several hours allowing quite a few of us to connect, and is recounted here.
Best bird photo
I’ll devote a separate thread to a top ten or something similar, however my absolute favourite photo this year is the following of a Paddyfield Warbler in Bulgaria. I was revisiting a spot I had been to many years ago, but with the benefit of better equipment, more skill, and crucially, more time. I had an image in my head and for once I got it - beautiful light but immensely hard work in high winds. For the usual reasons I was not able to get as much bird photography as I wanted done in 2018, and I am gradually wondering if this is to be a permanent situation if I wish to maintain everything that I do. Work really gets in the way, but actually so does living in the south east of England. You cannot go anywhere or do anything without the crowds, especially for popular birds or well-known locations. Abroad is where it is at for me these days.
 |
| Paddyfield Warbler, Durankulak |
Best trip
Although my trip with Mrs L to Malaysia and Japan was incredible, especially Japan, any year in which I go to Costa Rica on a birding trip means that any other locations are going to struggle. There is simply no contest. Bob V and I spent a week in this magnificent country back in March and in a mere six days saw nearly 400 birds, mostly exceptionally well. I’d never been on a bespoke birding trip with a guide before and it was incredible. The odd day here and there as part of a wider holiday, but a trip devoted exclusively to birds… well I have seen the light. Bob and I had a private tour with a sensationally talented guide – no minibus full of geriatrics, no late starts and early finishes, we caned it each and every day. Exhausting but exhilarating, and I want to do it again. The trip report can be viewed on the following pages: Itinerary, 1 2/2 3/3 4 5 6 7 8.
Worst trip
Let me first start by saying that no trips are ever truly bad, I enjoy them all, and because I plan quite carefully they rarely if ever go spectacularly wrong (although had our Omani 4x4 disappeared under the incoming tide whilst bogged down on the Al Hadd mudflats I might be typing something different!). So all my 2018 trips were a lot of fun and all went rather well. Instead I have to look at a trip that I planned but did not manage to go on – Iceland in June. Everything was booked, everything was paid for, I knew where I was going and what I was targeting. And then work went and got in the way. A very important external client, in fact THE most important external party in my line of work, booked a four hour meeting for the day I was due to return. All of the prep work for this meeting was then subsequently booked for the time I was away and I could not miss it. Sometimes that is just what happens, and I guess I have just been lucky to date. With a heavy heart I cancelled my flight, took the hit, and returned to my powerpoint presentation. Mick carried on, and his blog post when he got back was very hard to go through, knowing that I was supposed to have been there too.
Stupidest moment
2018 has been a remarkably sensible year actually. No injuries, no hospital visits, onlytwo camera repairs.... which means that the stupidest moment does actually have to go to pointing the 4x4 towards the shoreline in Oman and assuming we would get there in one piece. A fail of almost of epic proportions. We bogged it well and truly, and it took an hour to get out using bits of old carpet, plants, sticks, whatever we could find. And then once we had it out I very nearly sank it again. All this with the tide rising and threatening to submerge the car, or so I thought anyway - it's good to panic. I've got cars stuck everywhere - Norway, Lithuania, Dubai, Morocco, and now Oman can be added to the list. To add insult to injury I also didn't realise that there was a mileage cap on the rental, and so added a few hundred quid to my bill. Very sadly there is no photo of this particular moment, so instead let's talk about a worthy second place. This goes to Bob, who woke up on the first morning of our Costa Rica trip having already lost his binoculars. The birding trip of a lifetime and within a few hours of arrival the most critical piece of equipment needed has done a runner. Happily they were traced to the restaurant from the previous evening (I can only assume he wanted a really good look at his food) and luckily were still there. Over the course of the week he lost quite a few things, including his plug adapter and cable (the following day), and after I lent him mine, that too. Luckily he still has his marbles....
So that's it for another year. Amazing really, they go so fast these days. I cannot believe that it is 2019 in only a few days. Once again, thanks for reading. Next up, a post sinking under the weight of bird photographs....eagle-eyed readers may notice they have seen them all before....
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
4p an hour
Regular readers may know that I have a serious plant addiction. I spend hours in my greenhouse in both winter and summer. Whole evenings are spent watering, potting up, reorganising, insect-eradicating. To fund this wholesome hobby from time to time I sell excess seedlings, cuttings from larger plants and so on. What I raise from this I plough (ha!) back into it. If I can buy ten seeds and sell a few of the resultant seedlings such that the remaining plants are "free", well it doesn't get much better than that. Many plants grow from stem cuttings - simply cut off a few bits and root them in water or soil. A few quid here, a few quid there, and I might then be able to buy something different that in my tiny tiny mind hasn't cost anything. I never turn a profit of course, that would be ridiculous and mean I haven't bought nearly enough plants and seeds, however this year I have managed to recoup close to 50% of what I've spent which has been a big help.
The hidden cost is of course time. Plants are not easy things to send, they are easily crushed, if shaken about stems can snap, cold weather might be a problem, as indeed is hot weather. Preparing plants for posting takes ages. This morning was a case in point - overnight somebody bought four small cuttings, so before I went to work I dutifully took the fresh cuttings and spent about ten minutes carefully wrapping them up, sealing the parcel up and sorting out the address label. Later on I went to the Post Office which by some miracle wasn't actually that busy. Nonetheless it took five minutes of queuing until I reached the counter. And it was here that I encountered the problem - my parcel was a little bit too thick to get through that slot thing they use. "Nooooo don't force it!" I pleaded with the teller who was doing his best to squeeze it through. I forked out £2.95 instead of £1.26 and idly wondered what I'd charged the buyer for postage.
£1.40. Oh dear.
Mostly I sell plants on Ebay. These particular cuttings had sold for £2.25, a bargain if I don't say so myself, and I had even thrown in an extra one. You can probably see where this is headed. I'd been paid £3.65 and £2.95 of that had gone straight to the Post Office leaving me with 70p. Hardly worth the effort really. But..... Ebay is a business and charges you 10% of everything you sell, including on the postage. My 70p had just become 33p. Great, really glad I bothered. Hang on, Paypal want a cut too. What do they charge I mused? Back at my desk I found out. A flat fee of 20p plus 3.4%. The flat fee left me with 13p, that was easy, but what is 3.4% of £3.65. Any guesses? The clue is in my blog title.
12p
Leaving.....
1p
Yes, that's right. For my fifteen minutes of packaging and queuing I had made a profit of just 1p. An hourly rate of 4p. So much for the gig economy. I did all the work and got 1p, Ebay (which owns Paypal) did nothing tangible and got 69p. And that of course is assuming that the plant cuttings cost me nothing, which in fairness is probably accurate as this particular species grows like a weed. I did recycle an Amazon package, and I refuse to work out what 20cm of parcel tape cost me, but still, 4p an hour.
I've heard there's this program called The Apprentice......
The hidden cost is of course time. Plants are not easy things to send, they are easily crushed, if shaken about stems can snap, cold weather might be a problem, as indeed is hot weather. Preparing plants for posting takes ages. This morning was a case in point - overnight somebody bought four small cuttings, so before I went to work I dutifully took the fresh cuttings and spent about ten minutes carefully wrapping them up, sealing the parcel up and sorting out the address label. Later on I went to the Post Office which by some miracle wasn't actually that busy. Nonetheless it took five minutes of queuing until I reached the counter. And it was here that I encountered the problem - my parcel was a little bit too thick to get through that slot thing they use. "Nooooo don't force it!" I pleaded with the teller who was doing his best to squeeze it through. I forked out £2.95 instead of £1.26 and idly wondered what I'd charged the buyer for postage.
£1.40. Oh dear.
Mostly I sell plants on Ebay. These particular cuttings had sold for £2.25, a bargain if I don't say so myself, and I had even thrown in an extra one. You can probably see where this is headed. I'd been paid £3.65 and £2.95 of that had gone straight to the Post Office leaving me with 70p. Hardly worth the effort really. But..... Ebay is a business and charges you 10% of everything you sell, including on the postage. My 70p had just become 33p. Great, really glad I bothered. Hang on, Paypal want a cut too. What do they charge I mused? Back at my desk I found out. A flat fee of 20p plus 3.4%. The flat fee left me with 13p, that was easy, but what is 3.4% of £3.65. Any guesses? The clue is in my blog title.
12p
Leaving.....
1p
Yes, that's right. For my fifteen minutes of packaging and queuing I had made a profit of just 1p. An hourly rate of 4p. So much for the gig economy. I did all the work and got 1p, Ebay (which owns Paypal) did nothing tangible and got 69p. And that of course is assuming that the plant cuttings cost me nothing, which in fairness is probably accurate as this particular species grows like a weed. I did recycle an Amazon package, and I refuse to work out what 20cm of parcel tape cost me, but still, 4p an hour.
I've heard there's this program called The Apprentice......
Saturday, 15 December 2018
Twitch on!
A couple of weeks ago I found myself in New York. No accident of course, I was twitching a Mandarin Duck, or should that be the Mandarin Duck in Central Park. Or that's what I said on Twitter at any rate. And strike! Reeled LGRE straight in. Apparently I am very lucky, and people are coming from all over the world to see it!
Well if they are then frankly they are very stupid indeed. Obviously I did not travel across the Atlantic to see a duck. I mean yes, I did see it, but only as an afterthought as Charlotte and I were having a wander around Central Park. It was at the Gapstow Bridge, which she instantly recognised from the Fantastic Beasts film. It was still drawing quite a crowd, so we had a little look and moved on. Tick and run as they say.
It was a great weekend actually, just the two of us, exploring NYC for a taste of the Big Apple. Masses of people, lights, cabs, sirens, manholes emitting steam, subways shaking the pavement, the NYPD and amazing fire engines. We went to see a Broadway show, went to the 911 Memorial, the Flatiron building, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Rockefeller Centre, The Empire State Building, 34th Street, Battery Park and much much more, as much as we could fit in a few short hours. I also paid homage to the Walter Kerr Theatre but unfortunately could not source tickets....
Well if they are then frankly they are very stupid indeed. Obviously I did not travel across the Atlantic to see a duck. I mean yes, I did see it, but only as an afterthought as Charlotte and I were having a wander around Central Park. It was at the Gapstow Bridge, which she instantly recognised from the Fantastic Beasts film. It was still drawing quite a crowd, so we had a little look and moved on. Tick and run as they say.
 |
| Central Park stupidity |
It was a great weekend actually, just the two of us, exploring NYC for a taste of the Big Apple. Masses of people, lights, cabs, sirens, manholes emitting steam, subways shaking the pavement, the NYPD and amazing fire engines. We went to see a Broadway show, went to the 911 Memorial, the Flatiron building, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Rockefeller Centre, The Empire State Building, 34th Street, Battery Park and much much more, as much as we could fit in a few short hours. I also paid homage to the Walter Kerr Theatre but unfortunately could not source tickets....
Monday, 10 December 2018
Beluga
Did I tell you about that time I saw a Beluga? And unlike most people I got a shot of it fully breaching out of the water.
Sunday, 9 December 2018
Florida III - Day 4
We spent the final morning back at Corkscrew Swamp as we felt
we had unfinished business there, and that if we returned to Bunche that we
would simply repeat what we already had. We arrived a little late but
nonetheless full of optimism that it would be as excellent as the previous
afternoon. It was nothing like it, large parts of the boardwalk trail were
completely devoid of birds. We both managed to get a few new shots of different
species, improving on the day before, but with the benefit of hindsight we
should have gone back to the beach. The images would have been very similar to
the previous day, but the countless and continuous opportunities could have
resulted in the occasional special shot. Next time that's where we start.
All too soon it was time to head back east to Miami, but we
thought we would check out a site on eBird that appeared to have loads of birds
as it was on the way. Unfortunately the map I had did not mention that the road
we were taking was non-metalled….. It started off OK, but soon reverted to quite
deep sand, and a Chevy Camaro has very little off-road capability. I have got a
car stuck in mud or sand on almost every single trip I have been on with Mick,
generally losing us up to an hour of digging etc, and for a few moments it
looked like this would be another one. But there was no turning back, to stop
and try and turn would mean getting stuck for sure. I kept the revs up and by
some miracle steered a path through the morass without getting stuck, but there
were a few points where despite 5000 revs we slowed almost to a stop before
thankfully picking up a bit of traction. Meanwhile the car slid all over the
place and it was all I could do to stay on the road. Finally the end was in
sight, one more deep bit and we were through! And sure enough there was a huge
field of birds with precisely zero photo opportunities. More Glossy Ibis
together than I have ever seen in one place, and heaps of egrets and peeps
feeding in a partially flooded field. We had a brief look, examined the car for
signs of damage, and then drove out to the I75.
And that was it! We stopped off for gas and to pack up the
gear, returned the car and hit Miami airport. A few hours later I was back at
work! It was an excellent trip that could have been a little better – regret not
staking out the Owls properly, that’s three trips now where I have not been at
Cape Coral at the correct time of day. The trouble is that there is only one
dawn and only one late afternoon, and with just three and a half days you don’t
want to spend one of those sessions on just one bird. On balance though short trips still work a
lot better for me.
Trip List
Trip List
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Florida III - Day 3
Whilst on Fort Myers beach I talked to a couple of birders
who were looking at the assembled waders. They recommended Bunche beach, halfway
towards Sanibel, as having a wider selection of waders and being less disturbed.
So that’s where we went on the morning of our third full day, making sure to
arrive early as we had also been told that parking was limited. In the dark the
insects began to bite – it was Sanibel all over again! This time we were a
little better prepared and so plastered ourselves with repellent, but
unfortunately the mere act of getting out of the car allowed the bugs a further
opportunity to riddle us with holes. Making our way to the beach we were
delighted to find a massive beach with zero people on it and tons of birds as
far as the eye could see. Perfect.
I hope you will forgive the photo-heavy post but there are some days where it just seems to work. The birds depicted are Grey Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher (which was an ABA tick for me - I saw it in the UK first!), Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Roseate Spoonbill and Little Blue Heron.
 |
| Waiting for the light |
I hope you will forgive the photo-heavy post but there are some days where it just seems to work. The birds depicted are Grey Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher (which was an ABA tick for me - I saw it in the UK first!), Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Roseate Spoonbill and Little Blue Heron.
The next two hours were phenomenal. The tide was receding and
a wide variety of waders and egrets were feeding. Needless to say almost all
photography occurred at ground level using skimmer pods which proved fantastic in these conditions, and we got extremely
wet, sandy, and muddy. All worth it though, or at least I think so. By about 9am
the beach was a little more crowded but overall there was very little
disturbance barring one photographer dressed in bright orange who really did not
understand some basic rules of the road. We returned to the car filthy but
happy, and after a wash in the sea and a change of clothes, headed off for
another few thousand calories at Denny’s.
 |
| Getting low. And wet. |
In the afternoon we headed over to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an Audubon Society reserve on the edge of a Cypress swamp and possessed of a fantastic boardwalk. I had read a lot about it but nothing prepared me for how brilliant it was. Birds everywhere, particularly warblers and woodpeckers. We slowly picked our way around the trail stopping frequently as bird waves passed through. Photography was hard work but very rewarding, and it was good to have a different mix of birds to target after several days of the same fare. We spent the rest of the day here, and on finding that our entrance ticket allowed entry the following day, decided to come back the following day as well for our final morning before needing to return to Miami and fly home.
 |
| Prairie Warbler |
 |
| Pine Warbler |
 |
| Carolina Wren |
 |
| Black-and-White Warbler |
 |
| White-eyed Vireo |
 |
| Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
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