A February Visit to Florida: Day 1

On February 26, I flew down to Orlando, then drove southeast to Vero Beach for three days of bird photography with Mark Smith, a professional bird photographer (YouTube & Instagram). I met Mark before sunrise at Sebastian Inlet State Park. The photo above is of 5 Ruddy Turnstones hanging out just after sunrise.

Sebastian Inlet is a is a small shallow inlet on the north side of a break in the barrier islands. In the mornings at that time of the year, it is a good place to view Snowy Egrets, Brown Pelicans, and Black Skimmers. Above, is a Snowy Egret lit up by the soft morning light.

Both the Rudy Turnstones and the Snowy Egrets are birds that I have photographed on Cape Cod. However, the Brown Pelican’s above do not make it up north.

Here is a close up of a Brown Pelican as it flew right by me.

A species that I had never photographed before is the Black Skimmer. They feed by flying just above the water with their lower beak cutting through the surface trying to find very small fish.

When their lower beak contacts a fish, they bend their heads forward snapping their upper beak closed on the fish as in this photograph.

As the sun rose higher, we headed from the inlet over towards the Atlantic. On the way over, we encountered two White Ibis. The photo above is of an adult with its white plumage, red beak and face, and vibrant blue eye.

This photo is of a juvenile White Ibis. The juvenile has mostly brown feathers and is more muted in color.

On the Atlantic side, we saw a number of somewhat distant seabirds, but I did not get any particularly compelling shots. We then headed to the south side of the break to see what we might find. Above is a Wood Stork we encountered. With their largely bald gray heads, they remind me a bit of crotchety old men.

This is an Anhinga, sometimes called a snake bird. At times when it swims, the long thin neck is all that is visible, looking like a snake rising up from the water.

By about 10:30am, the sun had risen sufficiently that it was starting to create a harsh bright light with dark shadows. This would only get worse as the sun continued to rise, so I headed back to the hotel to cull through the approximately 2000 photos from the morning. As I have spent more time photographing birds, I have also become much more relentless about trying to immediately delete about 90% of the photos I take.

By about 3:00pm, I returned to the inlet to begin some more photography until sunset, a bit after 6pm. I started by going out on a high long pier at the entrance to the break. From the elevated vantage point, I could look down on some of the birds like this Bonaparte’s Gull.

One bird that I was not expecting to photograph is this Northern Gannet. During the summer, they breed in Canada. However, some of the birds winter as far south as Florida and the Gulf coast. Previously, I only had very distant photographs of a Northern Gannet off of the north tip of Cape Cod, so I was delighted to get this picture.

I have photographed Magnificent Frigatebirds when I have been down in the islands south of Florida, but this is the best photograph I have to date. This photo captures so many elements that I look for when trying to get a captivating image. First, the bird has a fish, so that immediately makes the photo more interesting. The head is pointed slightly towards me creating eye contact. The wings are well positioned, and the forked tail is visible. Because of my elevated position, the background captures both the ocean and the sky. And finally the bird is well lit because of the sun behind me allowing the feathers to be visible. Overall, I am very happy with this photo.

As the sun got lower, I headed back to the inlet where I had started the morning. Here I was able to capture my first good photo of a Tricolored Heron. While I have photographed the Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, and the Black-Crowned Night Heron here in Massachusetts, the Tricolored Heron does not generally get north of New Jersey.

Finally, as the sun started setting, a flock of American White Pelicans flew in. Some of these birds winter in Florida. They are one of the largest birds in North America with wingspans of up to 9.5 feet.

Overall, this was a fabulous first day. The Black Skimmer, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Anhinga, Tricolored Heron, and White Pelican were all new birds for me, and I was able to take pictures that I like of each of them.