St. John's River Airboat ride

 

Took an airboat ride (my first!!!) with Captain Mike along the St. John's River to shoot some bird pictures and also got these wonderful views of the Cyprus trees along the river. Had a great time and I must say those boats can really move. Up to 70mph and feels faster as you are so close to the water in an open chair. Got lots of shots of egrets and herons, ospreys and kingfishers. Some alligators up close as well. Hope to share some of those shots soon but I have a few thousand to go through after a few days of birding so it will take a while! 

Birds of the Year: #5-1

 

My favorite shot of the year is by far the two Black-necked Stilts feeding in shallow water in the Salton Sea in California. The water gave a perfect mirror as the stilts went about their work. The Fulvous Whistling-ducks are a very recent shot from December in Florida. Loved how they were on the watch for predators and wondering which way to go as they knew I was there. The Dickcissel is a prairie bird for me. Sitting up high and signing for a mate.  The Crested Caracara are huge birds. Saw them in Texas as they are not local to the midwest. The Verdin is a beautiful little bird. Caught that one also near the Salton Sea. Love how it matches its Spring surroundings. So, those are my top 15 shots for the year. Hopefully, more species to capture this year as well as returning favorites. 

Birds of the Year #9 thru 5

 

I love when a new species sits right out front for you to get a shot. Mostly, it is shooting through tree limbs as the bird jumps around. And then it usually flies away right before you get the shot. Not with this Lark Sparrow in Texas. Was right there in front of me on the trail. Much appreciated and a beautiful sparrow. The Eastern Phoebe as also bouncing around all over the place eating small bugs on the wing. I saw this tree limb and said to myself, it would be amazing if the Phoebe would just sit right there. Within a few minutes, he did. Again, thanks for the pose. I saw my first California Thrasher after randomly pulling off the road to stretch my legs on the same day as I saw the Lark Sparrow (and saw the annual eclipse as well). In that random road stop, I got a California Quail and this Thrasher within moments of each other. You never know what you are going to see unless you look. The American Avocet and the Spotted Sandpiper are two birds that I saw on the same day at the Salton Sea in Southern California, although I first saw the Spotted Sandpiper in Naperville, so it is a bird that is very wide spread. Both of those birds are very distinctive and easy to identify. So, these are birds 9 through 5 in my favorite bird shots of the year.  

My Favorite Bird Shots of 2023

 

I was able to find 70 new species in 2023, pushing my photographic total to 287 species out of about 700 in the United States. From here, it is going to get harder as I have already been able to see many of the common species in the lower 48 states. Still, there are a lot of fairly common birds left to be seen and many more less common that I might get by accident. Travel through work helps and as the days get longer again, the opportunity to bird in different parts of the country after work meetings opens up. Plus there are a lot of local birds that I still have not been able to capture, especially in the owl and raptor species and the ducks as well. So, lots more to do. These are 5 of my top 15 shots for 2023. Only the Western Bluebird and the Phainopepla were new this year. I remember the Western as so amazingly blue. Beautiful bird. Saw that near Newport Beach in California. Saw the Phainopepla in the high desert inside Joshua Tree National Park. The other three, the Black Vulture, Yellow-rumpted Warbler and Pine Warbler are pretty common, seen in lots of parts of the US, although the Black Vulture is local to the south and southeast. The Turkey Vulture is very similar with a red/baldish head and that is the vulture you see over the rest of the country.