What I’ll Miss While I Am On the Road Again: Part II

What’s Up?

Anita North and I — Anita did the bulk of the driving — pulled into Land’s End Resort at about 4:00pm on Wednesday after leaving Anchorage at about 10:00am. There was about 8 inches of fresh snow overnight in Anchorage, that followed by lots of slush, some rain, some sun with blue skies, and heavy overcast with rain in Homer. That said, the driving conditions were not bad at all. The hills with snow-covered hemlock and spruce and distant mountain backgrounds made for some beautiful scenery. So after leaving my house at 3:30am Florida time on Tuesday morning, it took me about 31 1/2 hours to get to Homer!

Today is Thursday 17 February 2022. The forecast is for cloudy with rain followed by cloudy and mostly too warm for snow 🙁 Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the two image optimizations) and makes 95 days in a row with a new one.

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Recovered Image Alert

Both of the images featured in today’s post were among the 135,000+ recently recovered images. 🙂

This image was created on the morning of 13 March 2018 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the handheld Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850 ISO 800. Matrix metering plus about .7 stops in Manual mode: 1/1600 sec. at f/8. AUTO1 WB at 8:00am on a barely sunny morning. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: +1. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Sandhill Crane — days old chick swimming

What I’ll Miss While I Am On the Road Again: Part II

Over the years, I have grown attached to several of the crane families at Indian Lake Estates. In most years, one of two of them are actually so trusting that they bring the chicks to me. In most years, three or four families nest in the marshes and several others at various locations in ILE. That said, some pairs are very shy, especially when the chicks are very small. It is highly likely that one or two nests will hatch while I am in Alaska. I will miss them but will make do with the spectacular eagle photography.

This image was created on 1 April 2021 down by the lake at my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 312mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) ISO 1600. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7::57:44am on a then-sunny morning. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Sandhill Crane chick stretching near-wing stub

Eye Level Baby Cranes

One of my favorite shooting situations involves walking down the slope to the edge off the canal to the left of the pier. That puts you right at the crane’s level and offers several great perspectives.

Things to Note

1- The great versatility of the Sony 200-600 G lens.

2-The dead-solid-perfect head angle.

Stay tuned as once I get back and check things out, I will be offering Crane Chicks and Colts In-the-Field Sessions during March and April.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide You can purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide

126 pages, 87 photographs by Joe Przybyla and Arthur Morris.
The PDF for this e-Guide is an electronic download sent via e-mail.

Purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

I had thought about doing a guide to some of the great but little-known photo hotspots around central Florida for about a decade, but those plans never came to fruition. I met Joe online in the Avian Forum at BirdPhotographer’s.Net about two years ago. Joe’s photography has improved tremendously over the past few years; he credits the BAA blog, my books and PDFs, and his participation on BPN. The one thing that I learned right from the get-go about Joe is that he is a hard and tenacious worker, always striving to improve his skills and to grow his knowledge base. As he knew of more than a few good spots in central Florida, I broached the idea of us doing a photographic site guide that covered many of the little-known photographic hotspots from Brandon to Lakeland to Joe Overstreet Road to Indian Lake Estates (my Florida home for the past 20 years or so). After more than many, many dozens of hours of effort, The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide is now a reality. Thanks to Joe’s wife Dottie for her review of our writing. We all learned once again that writing is a process, a back and forth process. All thanks to the white pelicans of Lakeland. Here are the locations that are detailed in this e-Guide:

• Indian Lake Estates: Sandhills Cranes with chicks and colts, lots of vultures, and Ospreys up the kazoo!
• Gatorland, Kissimmee: Learn to make great images of wading birds in a cluttered rookery.
• The Brandon Rookery: Great for nesting Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and more.
• Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland: Here you will find a great variety of avian subjects in a great variety of habitats.
• Lake Morton, Lakeland: There are lots of silly tame birds here including and especially American White Pelican during the colder months.
• Lake Mirror, Lakeland: Tame Anhingas, Limpkins, and a zillion White Ibises at times.
• West Lake Parker, Lakeland: Here you will have a chance for two difficult birds, Snail Kite, and Purple Gallinule.
• Joe Overstreet Road, Kenansville: Crested Caracara, meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrike, and much more on the fenceposts and barbed wire.

Each location includes a map, a detailed description of the best spots, best season, light and time of day instructions, the expected species, and an educational and inspirational gallery that is designed to open your eyes as to the possibilities.

You can purchase a copy here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.