Florida

Everglades: The Snail Kite

January 20, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

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.

Big Cypress: The Smallest of Them All

January 19, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) - Sweetwater Strand, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida

The Green Heron is the smallest of our North American herons. Well, technically it is the smallest of the North American birds with the word “heron” in its name (the Least Bittern, a member of the heron family is much smaller). Semantics aside, this small heron is also one of our most colorful and always seems to carry a bit of an attitude.

Big Cypress: Snakes!

January 18, 2010 By Drew Fulton 2 Comments

Yellow Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata) - Turner River Road, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida

As the temperatures have warmed up over the past week, so have the reptiles. Just last night, as I was driving back to my campsite, I saw at least 3 or 4 on the road trying to soak up the last bits of heat from the black pavement. On Friday, I saw my first Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake alongside a trail way out in the prairies of Big Cypress. As I thought back on it, I was shocked to realize that, despite the amount of time I spend in the woods, I had never seen an Eastern Diamondback before then. Unfortunately, I was purely scouting and wasn’t carrying a camera. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Daily Musings, Florida Tagged With: Big Cypress National Preserve, Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata, Florida, Turner River Road, Yellow Rat Snake

Everglades: Hiding from the Rain…

January 17, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Stiff-leaved Wild Pine (Tillandsia fasciculata) on Cypress - Big Cypress National Preserve

Today is quite simply a rainy day and I am hiding in Starbucks at the moment trying to get caught up on image editing and write a few blog posts. The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind, but extremely productive. Essentially I have been in Big Cypress National Preserve covering every possible inch of road and potential photo location for an upcoming project (stay tuned for an announcement in the next few months) as well as scouting for upcoming shoots. I covered a ton of ground and saw some really cool areas. It was great to revisit some of my old haunts and discover new ones as well.

Most of my attention was focused on scouting, but I did squeeze in a bit of shooting as well. I have just queued up a series of blog posts for each of the next few days using some of these images, so stay tuned! I’ll be back in town with more stuff on Wednesday, if not before!

Filed Under: Daily Musings, Florida Tagged With: Big Cypress National Preserve, Cypress, Everglades National Park, Stiff-leaved Wild Pine, Tillandsia fasciculata

Anhinga Trail: Fish and the Cold

January 16, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) with dead Walking Catfish - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida

If you have seen the weather in the last few weeks, you know that Florida had one crazy cold snap. We saw record breaking lows, extended periods below freezing, and I even heard of a few bits of snow! All this was fairly bad. It made my wife and I change our plans. It has possibly devastated the citrus industry. Driving around Homestead and Florida City, I see a lot of dead banana trees and entire fields of dead squash plants. However, all this cold did benefit one thing here in the Everglades: native wildlife…

Anhinga Trail: All About Anhingas

January 15, 2010 By Drew Fulton 1 Comment

Male Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida

One of the iconic locations in Everglades National Park is the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm. This boardwalk is only about a half mile long but it extends out into the marsh affording extremely close views of alligators, herons, egrets, and if you are lucky, a purple gallinule. However, the stars of the show are really the trail’s namesakes, the Anhingas.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Daily Musings, Florida Tagged With: Anhinga, Anhinga anhinga, Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park

Return to the Everglades

January 14, 2010 By Drew Fulton Leave a Comment

Great Egret (Egretta alba) scratching an itch - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida

It was five years ago, give or take a week or so, that I moved to the Everglades to begin a five month photographic project. As a junior in college “studying abroad” in the Everglades, it was my first taste of the life I had imagined. Photographing on a daily basis. Waiting for the perfect life day after day. Following a nest of birds as they matured. It was everything I wanted it to be.

Now, five years later, I have returned. I won’t be here for five months but I’ll be here for at least a month. This is the first time I have really been back for any significant period of time. Mostly, things are the same but two major hurricanes in late 2005 (Katrina and Wilma) have transformed Flamingo, the area I lived. I am extremely excited to see how things here have changed and how I have changed as well.

Filed Under: Daily Musings, Florida Tagged With: Everglades Imagery, Everglades National Park