Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Least tern on its nest in the sand, Sandy Point State Reservation

Photograph of a least tern incubating its eggs in a nest in the sand

This summer, I have primarily been enthralled with photographing the piping plover chicks at Sandy Point State Reservation in Massachusetts, but there are other species of breeding birds in the park as well. While there were a handful of little tern chicks running about the beach already, this adult was taking care of its two eggs nestled into a small depression in the sand.

Least tern looks as its two eggs at Sandy Point State Reservation in Massachusetts

View more photographs of terns and gulls.


Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Peeking piping plover, Sandy Point State Reservation

Photograph of a piping plover chick peeking out from behind its mother

I took a trip out to Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island again last week, and the baby plovers are growing up. There were two youngsters with this parent in the early morning light, which were significantly larger than when I was there in June, but not yet fledged. I did see a couple of really young chicks too, as well as an adult plover that appeared to be incubating a nest. What a special place that relatively small stretch of beach is with all of the breeding birds.

View more of my photographs of plovers.


Sunday, July 19, 2015

Reacquainted with the sunrise

Photograph of a piping plover chick approaching its parent in early morning light

I’ve written many times on this blog about my love of experiencing the first light of the day. While the brilliant colors of sunset are just as visually pleasing, the sunrise provides a much stronger fuel for my soul. With the less than ideal amount of sleep I get during the semester, coupled with the lengthening days of spring feeding into summer, it had been a long time since I felt the warm glow of the first rays touch my face. Even though Plum Island is over an hour away and we were near the earliest mornings of the year due to the solstice, the gravitational pull of the chance to photograph tiny piping plover chicks in warm morning light was strong enough to get me out for the sunrise twice last month and again earlier this week. There’s magic at the leading edge of the day, and it feels great to be reacquainted again!


Saturday, July 18, 2015

Spoonbill reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve

Photograph of a roseate spoonbill reflected in a tidal pool

The smooth surface of the shallow tidal pools at Bunche Beach Preserve made for some nice reflections all morning. It was surprising to experience how quickly the flooding tide rose across the flat expanses of exposed mudflats. I initially placed myself a few yards from the edge of this pond, but after about 15 minutes of photographing this juvenile roseate spoonbill, the water had reached my location. Thankfully, the bird soon opted to fly off to a different pool, making it a much easier choice to stand up before being completely soaked through.

View more photographs of this juvenile spoonbill and other wading birds.


Friday, July 17, 2015

Little blue heron in an infinite sea, Bunche Beach Preserve

Photograph of a little blue heron in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve

On this morning last March, I had enjoyed photographing wading birds in the warm sunrise light further up the beach at Bunche Beach Preserve. As I was walking back to the car, some high-level clouds moved in and provided wonderful diffuse light for this lone little blue heron as it hunted in a shallow tidal pool. Combining that with a low-angle approach, and this small tidal pool appeared to extend all the way to the horizon.

Photograph of a little blue heron in a still tidal pool in Fort Myers, Florida

View more photographs of herons and egrets


Sunday, July 12, 2015

Piping plover parents, Sandy Point State Reservation

Piping plover chicks snuggled under their parent's feathers in Massachusetts

I must say, after watching the job these piping plover parents have on a few separate mornings last month, I’m glad it’s not my responsibility to keep track of the chicks! These tender moments of warming them together in a single group seemed to be short-lived, as a few minutes later all four chicks will inevitably be running in four separate directions around the beach. It’s amazing to me that the adults are able to keep track of them all!

Eight baby plover legs stick out from under a parent at Sandy Point State Reservation

View more photographs of piping plovers, as well as other plover species.


Saturday, July 11, 2015

Close encounters of the adorable kind, Sandy Point State Reservation

Piping plover chick close-up at Sandy Point State Reservation, Massachusetts

One of the most fun things about photographing these piping plover chicks as they explored the beach outside of their roped-off protected area at Sandy Point State Reservation is how curious they were. On many occasions, as I was quietly lying in the sand nearby, the chicks would come well within my minimum focusing distance of 8 feet. No complaints here though – it was a great chance to pull my eye away from the viewfinder and enjoy a close encounter of the adorable kind.

View more plover photography.


Friday, July 10, 2015

Piping plover chicks in morning light, Sandy Point State Reservation

Fluffy piping plover chick in early morning light on Plum Island, Massachusetts

I took a Friday off in June to do some photography. The forecast wasn’t great, and I almost canceled my plans, but a Thursday night read of the Plum Island bird sighting reports convinced me to go. I had seen that folks were still spotting some sandpipers that seemed late to leave for the tundra, so the potential chance to photograph some peeps in summer colors was enough to get me to drag myself out of bed early. I had a delightful time wandering the beach and watching the courting rituals of least terns, and it felt great to have my camera in hand again. After the best light faded, I decided to start heading back to my car – and much to my surprise and delight, I saw a small flock of tiny plover chicks zig-zagging across the sand. Limited time in harsh light wasn’t enough, so with some helpful suggestions from my wife, I went back for sunrise on Sunday and then again a week later when this pair of images was taken. Multiple plover families were cruising the beach and drawing quite a crowd of photographers each morning.

 Piping plover chick at Sandy Point State Reservation

View more of my photographs of plovers.


Friday, May 8, 2015

Roseate spoonbill feeding at Bunche Beach Preserve

Roseate spoonbill with bill submerged in water at Bunche Beach Preserve

It was such an awesome experience to be able to watch this young roseate spoonbill at close range in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve. This species has such an elegant behavior as they rhythmically sway their bill sideways back and forth through the water.

Roseate spoonbill feeding in the shallows in Fort Myers

But in this series of photographs, a sort of goofy expression appeared on the face of this individual while it splashed in the water -- making it all the more endearing to me.

Feeding roseate spoonbill splashes water at Bunche Beach

View more photographs of roseate spoonbills and other wading birds.


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Tricolored heron on the prowl, Bunche Beach Preserve

Tricolored heron on the prowl at Bunche Beach Preserve, Florida

Herons have such amazing eyes, and they seem to move with such focus. As this one prowled the shallow waters of a tidal pool, I certainly would not want to be a small critter looking up through the surface of the water to see that face staring back at me!

View more photographs of herons and egrets.


Monday, May 4, 2015

Quiet evening along the coast, Plymouth Beach

Sleeping dunlin at sunset on Plymouth Beach, Massachusetts

I finally went out looking for shorebirds for the first time near home this year with a trip to Plymouth Beach last night. I saw on eBird that there were recent sightings of hundreds of dunlin there within the last week, which matched my experience last spring. Unfortunately, the shorebirds were no where to be found on my walk to the tip of the peninsula and back. Oh well though, the light was nice and the walk was pleasant -- and it just felt great to be outside breathing in the coastal air again.

The shot above is from a trip to Plymouth Beach that I took at the start of May 2014. It was another outing where I didn't see a ton on my walk out, but as the sun was dropping close to the horizon I met a small flock of dunlin that were preening and resting in the fading light.

View more of my dunlin photography.


Friday, May 1, 2015

Early morning willet, Bunche Beach Preserve

Early morning willet at Bunche Beach, Fort Myers

On my trip to Florida in March, I enjoyed the chance to photograph a variety of bird species that we don't get to see up here in the northeast. But no matter where I am, its hard to pass up an opportunity to photograph a shorebird, even if a plain old willet like this one. What they lack in color and plumage pattern they certainly make up for in character!

Willet with reflection in still water

View more photographs of willets.


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Little blue reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve

Little blue heron with prey at the water's edge

I had a lot of fun last month watching the wading birds in the tidal pools of a low tide at Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida. One of the benefits of getting low next to the water's edge is the fun reflections that develop in the still water.

Little blue heron reflected in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach

It was exciting enough when this little blue heron was working the edge of the pool, but it got even better when it started strolling across the shallows.

Little blue heron looks like its walking on water in southwest Florida

View more of my photographs of herons and egrets


Saturday, April 25, 2015

White ibis eating a crab, Bunche Beach Preserve

White ibis eating a crab at Bunche Beach Preserve, Florida

Continuing my run of posts on wading birds capturing prey from tidal pools, here is a white ibis preparing to swallow a crab. These were perhaps the most interesting feedings to watch, as the crabs had a chance to fight back. With a fish, the birds would very quickly go from capturing to consumption, but it would take a little while to get the crab in the right orientation to swallow it. Especially when the crab used its claws to attempt to hang on to the bill, as is evident in the image below of a different ibis.

Crab hangs on for dear life before being eaten by an ibis

View more of my images of wading birds.


Friday, April 17, 2015

Snowy egret swallows a shrimp, Bunche Beach Preserve

Snowy egret catches a shrimp in Florida

As I commented in my previous post, it was really incredible to see how many different types of prey the wading birds were able to pull from the tidal pools. This snowy egret pulled out a good sized shrimp, then swallowed it whole.

Snowy egret swallowing a shrimp at Bunche Beach

View more of my photographs of herons and egrets.


Friday, April 10, 2015

Tricolored heron with a small striped fish, Bunche Beach Preserve

Tricolored heron with small striped fish

I was really amazed at the volume and diversity of prey I saw the wading birds pulling from the tidal pools at Bunche Beach Preserve. Coming from a northern climate, when I see a pool of water in the sand along a beach, I tend to think that there isn't much caught inside. But down along the Gulf Coast, it seemed like there was an endless supply of fish, crabs, and shrimp for the birds to capture. This tricolored heron pulled a small striped silver fish from the pond, flipped it around to drop out the plants, and then quickly tossed it down the hatch.

Tricolored heron tossing small fish in Fort Myers, Florida

View more photographs of herons and egrets.


Thursday, April 9, 2015

White ibis feeding in a tidal pool, Bunche Beach Preserve

White ibis feeding in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve, Florida

Continuing my tour through the bird species I saw in Florida last month, here's another favorite that I was excited to photograph -- the white ibis. Even though they are fairly common and have relatively plain plumage, their long bill, blue eyes, and bright facial mask really add some photographic flare. This particular ibis is feeding in a tidal pool at the Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers.

View more of my photographs of white ibis and other wading birds.


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Juveline roseate spoonbill at Bunche Beach Preserve

Juvenile roseate spoonbill with water droplet at Bunche Beach Preserve

I saw a ton of birds during my two mornings at Bunche Beach Preserve in March, but the highlight was having a chance to photograph this young roseate spoonbill at close range. I think these birds are remarkable, and it was awesome to have it land in the pool I was watching. At the time it arrived, the morning was getting late and I was feeling content with the images I had captured while the light was really nice. I had actually already gotten up and was preparing to start my walk back to the parking lot when I heard a birding tour guide behind me excitedly tell his group "this is a real treat, a roseate spoonbill just arrived!"

Many thanks to that helpful guide for alerting me to this amazing opportunity! The spoonie landed on the far side of the tidal pool, so I returned to my spot at the near edge, laid back down, and watched through my lens as it came closer and closer. On my prior trip to Ft Myers in 2012, I had seen a small flock of roseate spoonbills at Ding Darling NWR, but unfortunately they were far away with no possibility to get closer. This experience was quite the opposite, with the bird meandering back and forth across the tidal pool coming closer and closer to me with the rising tide. I took a lot of photos of this lone bird, but how could I resist that amazing bill!


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Little blue heron at Bunche Beach Preserve

Little blue heron at sunrise on Bunche Beach, Fort Myers, Florida

Well, it may have taken me over 3 months, but I've finally sat down to compose my first post of 2015. I haven't had the chance to use my camera all that much during this very cold winter in Boston, but for a few days over spring break in March I was able to return to Fort Myers, Florida. The trip was primarily to see family, but it was great to have a chance to get outside on two mornings to visit the Bunche Beach Preserve on San Carlos Bay. The density and diversity of birds I saw there was exceptional, far exceeding what I was able to photograph on my first trip there back in 2012. I have a ton of images of all kinds of waders in the tidal pools, including some great encounters with little blue herons like the one in the image above.

View more photographs of herons and egrets