Drew is a photographer and naturalist dedicated to sharing his experiences through photographs and writing. He has recently moved to Ithaca, NY and is exploring the local region and the world beyond.
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By Drew Fulton on April 15th, 2010
 Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) - Summerhill State Forest, New York  Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) - Summerhill State Forest, New York Like yesterday’s Song Sparrows, many Dark-eyed Juncos hang around the area over the winter and are commonly seen at feeders. They also set up territories and begin singing early in the spring. They breed in forests dominated by conifers but are also seen in mixed woods. I have had them singing in my back yard in the past few weeks, but I was able to photograph this male singing in Summerhill State Forest last week. I have enjoyed photographing these sparrows both this spring and last fall because we don’t get them in central Florida.
By Drew Fulton on April 14th, 2010
 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) - Summerhill State Forest Talking about Song Sparrows as a migrant might not be totally fair as some birds stay over the winter and some migrate south. However, regardless of whether they are returning migrants or just over wintering birds, Song Sparrows are one of the first birds of spring to start singing. Here in Central New York they are everywhere and their song is ubiquitous. It seems that nearly every time I put my binoculars on a sparrow, it turns out to be a Song Sparrow.
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By Drew Fulton on April 12th, 2010
 Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) - Summerhill State Forest, New York Sorry it was so quiet around here last week. I have had a busy week but now have some time to share a few new images. Songbird migration has finally gotten underway. For several weeks there have been huge flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins around, but now many sparrows have also returned and are now on territory and singing. Last week, I was able to find and photograph four different species of sparrows in just two days. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing with you a few images of these birds while we wait for the warblers to start showing in the next few weeks.
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By Drew Fulton on March 12th, 2010
 Northern Parula (Parula americana) - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida Yesterday I looked at the flycatchers that can be seen and photographed on a regular basis at Anhinga Trail, so today we’ll look at the Wood Warblers. These small, typically colorful birds can be extremely difficult to photograph. Most prefer the canopy of tall trees and rarely come down to eye level. Well, at Anhinga Trail there are no tall trees so you can get lucky and get a canopy loving species like a Northern Parula at eye level.
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By Drew Fulton on March 11th, 2010
 Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida Anhinga Trail is known as one of the premiere locations to photograph Anhingas, herons, egrets, Wood Storks, and more. The place is so well known that on Saturday evening I witnessed well above $100,000 worth of lenses and camera equipment pointed at a single Great Blue Heron. It’s a popular place and I have been there so many times, I am much pickier where I point my lens these days. On Friday morning, I decided to focus on the often ignored songbirds of Anhinga Trail.
The marsh and reeds that line the edges of the canals can be extremely productive for a number of songbirds. On most visits, I see at least several species of warblers, a couple flycatchers, a couple blackbirds, and typically a handful of other species. Most photographers simply ignore these birds as they look for the charismatic herons and egrets.
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By Drew Fulton on March 10th, 2010
 Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) - Eco Pond, Everglades National Park, Florida It’s always fun when you find an unusual or out of place bird when birding. I had the pleasure to do just that twice over last weekend. Now when I am talking about unusual birds, I’m not talking about the birds themselves being weird or strange, I’m saying that their mere presence is unusual. So this past weekend I had two pretty cool and unusual species show up in Everglades National Park.
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By Drew Fulton on February 26th, 2010
 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…
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By Drew Fulton on January 31st, 2010
 Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) - Oscar Scherer State Park, Florida I have spent the last few days at my parents’ home in Orlando regrouping, finishing up a few projects, preparing for upcoming projects, and getting some good sleep. It’s been a great break, but I am eager to get back into the field and that will be Monday at Archbold Biological Station in south central Florida where I will spend next week photographing Florida Scrub Jays.
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By Drew Fulton on January 20th, 2010
 Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus) with Apple Snail - Water Conservation Area 3A, Florida One of the nation’s most unique and rarest raptor is the Snail or Everglades Kite. This spectacular bird feeds only on the large apple snails found in the flooded prairies and marshes of the southern Florida. It is currently listed as an Endangered species and can be difficult to find, much less photograph in southern Florida. It should be noted that a substantial population, though a different subspecies, can be found in marshes throughout Central and South America.
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By Drew Fulton on November 22nd, 2009
 Plumed and Wandering Whistling Ducks - Parry's Lagoon, Western Australia, Australia Yesterday I spent the day in the company of 4 other excellent birders as we worked our way around Lake Cayuga, into the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and back down the far side of the lake. Over the course of the day, we tallied up 24 species of the Anatidae family that includes Swans, Geese, and Ducks. Other birders were also covering the same areas we were and at least 4 more species were seen that we missed. Two of these species were represented by 3 individuals among a flock of over 8,000 Canada and Snow Geese. These two species are essentially smaller versions of the Canada Goose (Cackling Goose) and the Snow Goose (Ross’s Goose).
So why did we not spend the time picking through these huge flocks for these few unusual individuals? What does that mean about my group’s interest in the species concept compared the other groups? Does any of this matter to the birds themselves? Ultimately, why do we care about classifying these birds so specifically?
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