Observe. Explore. Share.
Common Moorhen (Fulica americana) in flight - Lake Jackson, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Florida
Continuing with the theme of something new and totally different, at least for me, I am posting this Common Moorhen. I rarely shoot anything like this, nearly an abstract. While unusual for me, I sort of like the image.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in Flight - Lake Jackson, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Florida
I put this image montage together a couple weeks back and wanted to share it. I’m not totally sure how I feel about it or even if it is exactly what I am after. I like the concept, and this is my first try.
I was photographing at Lake Jackson in the Prairie Lakes Unit of Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area south of Kissimmee when I saw this Great Blue Heron. He was too far away for a standard portrait so I decided to try something a little bit different. Since the bird looked agitated, like it might fly, I decided to try this.
What you are seeing is a series of frames showing the Great Blue Heron preparing for take off and then flying the first few wing beats. Each frame is stitched together, using the background as a reference. This allows you to see the path the bird takes as it leaves its perch to fly to the other side of the lake.
What do you think? Is this a successful image? Does it work for you? I want to know!
Female Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) - Eco Pond, Everglades National Park, Florida
Last Saturday, I spent the day visiting Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Orlando Wetlands Park with a close friend of mine. Sean and I have known each other practically our entire lives and Sean is my only other friend who was interested in birds as a kid and will still go birding with me today. My dad joked that he should drive us on Saturday so that we could stand on the center console of his car with our heads sticking out the sunroof looking for birds. There was a time when we were kids that we both could do that at the same time. I don’t think we’d fit today.
In any case, we headed off to visit some of our old haunts and track down a couple specific birds. Our goals included a White-faced Ibis at Orlando Wetlands, a Painted Bunting at the same location, and then just a swing through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see what else we could find. We got all that and more…
Guzmania bromeliads - Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Florida
After a couple weeks of office work and visiting family in Orlando, I am now headed back into the field for another couple weeks in the Everglades. While most of my focus thus far has been on the eastern portion of Everglades National Park, I’ll be spending most of my time this trip working in the west, primarily in Big Cypress National Preserve and Fakahatchee State Preserve.
I’ll be working both from the roads as well as getting way off trail and doing some wading and exploring on foot. I also have at least two canoe trips planned for the trip. I am excited about the possibilities and am looking forward to exploring some areas that are still relatively unknown to me, particularly in Fakahatchee.
I should note that while I have now scheduled posts here on the blog through Monday, I’m not sure when I will next have Internet access and the ability to post. I think I should be able to queue up another bunch of posts early next week, but I make no promises. If the blog goes quiet for a few days, take a few minutes to read back through the archives and see what you have missed!
Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) - Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Florida
The Florida Dry Prairie is a rather nondescript habitat. It’s a big prairie of bluestem grasses and wiregrasses and palmettos. In fact, it’s not even really all that dry. At times it can be very wet, but its called a dry prairie simply because it is much drier than the wet prairies elsewhere in Florida. So what is special about these prairies? Well, they are home to sparrows, lots and lots of sparrows, but one of them is particularly unique.
We know that the Lake Wales Ridge harbors some really unique life and habitats. We know that the local scrub is regulated by fire. But what exactly is the prime habitat for the Florida Scrub Jay? Let me just show you…
Prime Scrub Habitat at Sunrise - Archbold Biological Station, Florida
As you can see here, Florida Scrub Jays like low scrub habitat with a mosaic of oaks and palmettos growing under five or six feet. As the head ornithologist at Archbold said, “If you can’t see the horizon you aren’t in good habitat.” Typically this short vegetation has patches of open white sand in spots where you will often find Scrub Jays foraging for fallen acorns and insects.
At first glance, wanting to live in a big wide open environment may not seem ideal. As a bird, you are easily exposed to predators from above. However, this is where Scrub Jays thrive, so let’s explore why.
As I continue to explore more and more habitats, I am continually amazed how many of them are dependent on fire for both formation and regulation. It is truly amazing the number and diversity of habitats that are classified as pyrogenic, meaning that they are entirely regulated by wildfire. The scrub of the Lake Wales Ridge is definitely one of those habitats and I’d like to use this series of panoramas to show you how.
Intersection of Burns - Archbold Biological Station, Florida
This first panorama isn’t exactly the most exciting image as it is directly on top of a road, but I am including it because it is illustrative. At this intersection, you can clearly see three different sections of scrub at different stages of fire succession. Looking straight ahead when the image loads, you’ve got a recent fire, less than a year ago. If you pan to the right and cross the first road, you see a taller patch of scrub. This patch burned about 8 years ago. Continuing to the right, you will cross another road and see an even taller patch that hasn’t burned for at least 25 years. Let’s take a closer look at each of these forests…
A Florida Scrub Jay perches in prime Dry Scrub habitat. Archbold Biological Station, Florida
I spent a couple days at the Archbold Biological Station earlier this month working on a project focusing on the Florida Scrub Jay and its habitats. As I have previously written, this is the location for Florida Scrub Jay research and a prime location for the beautiful scrub habitat that these birds call home.
Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) in the rain - Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, Florida
The theme for my time here at Archbold Biological Station so far is rain, and lots of it. I arrived Monday about 8:00AM and it was sprinkling and it never really let up all day. Today, Tuesday, was a little bit better and I had a productive morning and evening with more rain in the early afternoon. Fortunately, I made the best use of that time and napped!
Drew Fulton
Photographer, Writer, Explorer, Educator, Tree Climber...
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