Yesterday my father and I drove out to Lake Apopka to see the wildlife drive. It amazes me that every time I visit something new seems to present itself. I suppose it’s not too surprising that this is the case right now, since migration is now in full swing. The biggest find for me was a Veery – well, two of them in fact–along the lake shore loop trail.
Unfortunately, they stayed too far back for me to get good photos. Another fun bird was a Worm-eating Warbler, though this bird took off before I could get a photo.
We walked the loop trail south a little ways, and that was one of the more productive areas. We were looking for a Snail Kite that had been seen there last week, and we had no luck relocating it. We didn’t expect to get very many good photos either, since we were walking along the eastern shore of the lake in the morning.
In order to photograph birds in the shrubbery to the east, we had to look into the sun. However, there was one wonderful little spot that was worth the whole morning photographically. In a lone tree on the west side of the trail, there were about a half dozen Yellow Warblers (we had 30+ over the morning)and a couple Prairie Warblers (we had 15+ over the morning).
In about 10-15 minutes I got some of my best photos of both species.
The rest of the trail was also pretty fun. In all we had 65 species, and almost no shorebirds (which was very surprising to me). We also heard an empid calling which in hindsight I think sounds most like an Alder Flycatcher. I’m hoping to get back out there today and record it if I can find it again. Hopefully someone will hear it calling and be able to say for sure. If you’re interested, here’s my eBird checklist for the morning.
Scott Simmons
Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.
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