Header
Home
 Wildlife Locations Photo Trips About Me
Whats New
 Links Other States International Purchase
Photo Trips
Check out past trip reports (old to new) Page 1 or Page 2 or Newest reports.
July 16, 2008: My plan today was to go to a farm in Brandon where they plant sunflowers as their alternate crop to photograph the sunflowers. Unfortunately the owners have posted multiple No Trespassing signs. Plan B was Hillsborough River State Park. Since it was still before the main park opened I stooped at the Dead River entrance for some canopy shots. At the main park I shot the rapids and a cooperative snail sitting on the railing nearby.
July 10, 2008: I returned to Indian Shores today to photograph the Black Skimmer colony again. They have definitely grown up as opposed to only 10 days ago. The best part was watching a pretty small Skimmer choke down a Ballyhoo that was longer than he was. Afterwards I stoped at a new area for me, Roosevelt Wetlands. This is a manmade drainage area that attracts a lot of bird life. The most cooperative subjects I found were the butterflies and dragonflies.
July 1, 2008: Finally made my first nature photography trip since Lindsay was born. Per a report on a birding website I went over to Indian Shores Beach and right behind the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary was a Black Skimmer nesting area. The birds were initially disturbed when I approaches so I quickly walked up to the barrier and laid down on my belly in the sand. They quickly began ignoring me. It was a lot of fun to watch the babies and the parents bringing back fish. Many of the babies are very small and can barely walk.
May 8, 2008: Took a trip over to Viera Wetlands this AM. Saw a nice feeding frenzy of egrets, herons, and gators. I also saw a family of otters counting at least 5 and had one otter come up on the road for a dirt bath. I also photographed a nesting red bellied woodpecker and was able to photograph as the couple "got together" on top of the tree their nest was built into. Bald Eagle, Caracara, and a garter snake rounded out the morning. Afterwards I headed over to Three Lakes, seeing some Swallowtail kites and Sandhill Cranes with chicks as I was driving. At Three Lakes I found a fox squirrel and a roadkill feast involving Caracara and Turkey Vultures. My photography day was ended around 2:45 when I got a call from my wife saying that she was going to the hospital and that they might induce labor. At 3:45 the next morning our beautiful little Lindsay was born.
Set 2
May 3, 2008: This past weekend (yeah I am catching up) we went over to Airfest at Macdill Air Force Base. Although it was rather hot we had a great time. It's always fun to try out a new kind of photography and this is definitely different from my normal stuff.
Set 2
April 26, 2008: Another quick trip to Fort Desoto today to check in on the migrants. A few migrants were around such as Black throated blue warblers, blackpoll warblers, black and white warblers, and a few indigo buntings, but were not easy to find or photograph.
April 19-20, 2008: Spent the weekend in Okeechobee visiting my grandparents. I was able to do a little photography on the side. I spent Saturday morning at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. I saw the most meadowlarks I have ever seen. Other highlights were a pair of burrowing owls, loggerhead shrike, northern harrier, red shouldered hawk, and a young Caracara. I did not find the White Tailed Kites despite hiking the very flooded trail across from the visitor center where I was told to look. Later at my grandparents I observed some interesting behavior. An adult Barred Owl flew down to the ground, spread his wings and basically flattened himself out on the ground. I was told this may be "anting". The next morning I heard them calling and found two young barred owls. Soon, a parent brought back a snake which one young promptly slurped down like spaghetti. Afterwards he did a little sunbathing. I photographed these interesting behaviors which I haven't seen before.
April 17, 2008: Quick trip to Fort Desoto today to check in on the migrants. Saw a Scarlet Tanager, rose breasted grosbeak, blue grosbeak, a pleated woodpecker and an osprey pair.
April 6, 2008: I decided to head to downtown Tampa for sunrise and was rewarded with some amazing clouds. I mainly focused on the area around the St Pete Times Forum and Channelside. Several of these shots are HDRs.
March 29, 2008: I returned to Celery Fields again in hunt of Rails. This time I was successful. Sighted a Sora Rail early. Not 25 feet away I found my first King Rail which walked through the open along the reeds. 15 minutes later and 50 feet from there I found my second ever Virginia Rail. Very successful.
March 26, 2008: An incredible day to be a photographer living in Florida. The day started out with very dramatic clouds which I used to my advantage to make some of my best HDR shots to date at Green Cay. There were also at least a hundred baby moorhens scattered throughout Green Cay. I made a quick stop at Wakodahatchee Wetlands which wasn't very successful before heading on to Okeheelee. Here I again found the painted buntings and cooperative cardinals and squirrels. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon at Green Cay. I got to see a great Egret hunt and eat brown anoles and five lined skinks on one of the islands at Green Cay. The day was finished off by watching a mother limpkin feed a snail to her 5 babies and then lead them across the open water to a new hiding place.
Set 2
Set 3
March 20, 2008: Today I visited 3 photography sites in about 3-4 hours. I started the morning at a new site for me, Celery Fields. I was hoping to see birds called rails which are very shy and which I have seen very few of. No luck on that, but did see some stilts, a northern harrier, and a bunch of black bellied whistling ducks. Next stop was the South Skyway Fishing Pier. Here I photographed northern gannets for only the second time, loons for the first time in Florida, and a cooperative and colorful rock pigeon. Last stop was Sawgrass Lake Park where I again missed my target birds, but did get a nice tree frog and brown anole.
March 15, 2008: Fort Desoto again. Took an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo of the pier at sunrise (pic 2 below). This photo combines three separate photos exposed for the shadows, midtones, and highlights. At the main pier I saw 150-200 cormorants floating together in a big raft. Also had several fairly tame brown pelicans that posed nicely for me. Later in the day we went to Honeymoon Island and saw the baby Great Horned Owl and its mother.
March 8, 2008: We were in Gainesville for a wedding and managed to make a quick run out to La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie State Park. Due to 30-40 mph winds not much going on, but just before leaving we caught this nice size gator with breakfast.
March 1, 2008: This morning I went to downtown St Petersburg to photograph the Pier at sunrise. I got some neat shots. Afterwards while driving around I photographed a new species for me, Monk Parakeets. I then stopped by Boyd Hill for a bird walk. The most photographic animal was a Barred Owl. This male Barred Owl is hanging out next to the cage of a rehabilitating female Barred Owl and has been doing so for the last couple of months. Also saw 2 Great Horned Owls, northern parula, blue headed vireo, baby gators and a kestrel.
February 23, 2008: I took my second trip of the year to the Venice Rookery. There were a couple heron nests and a couple of egrets displaying courtship behavior and chasing each other around. I took a lot of flight shots of the egrets and herons going in and out of the rookery. Afterwards I stopped by Oscar Scherer State Park. I spotted a Great Horned Owl in a pine tree near the trail and a gopher tortoise just as I got back to the parking lot area. No Scrub Jays though for the second straight visit.
February 16, 2008: Another free Saturday, another trip to Fort Desoto. Found something totally new for me, a small octopus right at the waterline. I watched it open a clam shell and climb inside I assume for a little early morning snack. I observed the American Oystercatchers feeding and was able to get a few good photos. On the way out I photographed an eastern kingbird at the visitor center. Finally, to top off the day we visited the dog beach at Picnic Island to let Serenity the crazy Catahoula Leopard dog burn off a little energy.
February 5, 2008: I spent the morning at Three Lakes WMA before being chased out by controlled burns and spending the afternoon at Lake Kissimmee State Park. After the thick fog lifted I got some decent shots of a loggerhead shrike and a bluebird. Then I got lucky and photographed my first Coopers Hawk. I next found a female Snail Kite and photographer her in a tree calling followed by her swooping down to catch a snail. Also at the same spot saw two red shouldered hawks mate. At Lake Kissimmee I took some macro shots of the triangle orbweaver spider. I then spotted an increasingly rare site for Florida, a fox squirrel. I photographed the sandhill cranes hanging out in the parking lot before heading out on the trail. While walking the trail I saw 4-5 Bald Eagles flying overhead, chasing each other and frequently calling. Finally, just before sunset I caught an Eastern Glass Lizard.

 

Contact Me

 
© 2001-2008 Matthew Paulson