Florida has a lot of different locations for photographing birds. You have the East or West Coast, Central Florida and of course southern Florida including the Everglades. Each of these sections offer great opportunities for bird photography. There’s a lot of overlap of species in the different areas as well. No matter which area you concentrate on you are sure to find birds.
The photos in this post were created on the side of the road as my friend Michael and I we were headed to a specific location for first light. We spotted the Crested caracara as we were driving by and decided to turn around and check it out. We positioned ourselves across the street with the sun expecting to rise behind us. The caracara was eating some kind of roadkill, probably an opossum. It had picked up a large piece of meat from the carcass and carried it to an overgrown fence post; in mid-air most of the meal fell but the bird managed to hold onto one of the pieces before landing. Just then the sun hit the background palms and it looked like a fire. I was, of course, very happy as I watched this bird feed from the comfy of our private bird hide (the car). We knew if we got out of the car the bird would fly. The bird went about its business feeding on the roadkill which was located just off the road; each time carrying small pieces up to the fence post area. My friend and I decided to stay and enjoy this great photo opportunity and forget about our other plans for our morning shoot.
Years ago (about fourteen) Michael and I would go to Central Florida and spend our winter’s counting eagle nests. We kept a journal recording every adult bird, every egg, eaglets and/or fledglings (during our time). We recorded the nest sizes and locations and of course the behavior that we witnessed. We’d spend hours and hours in our car- blind just watching and making sure nobody was harassing the nests. It felt like a treasure hunt.
One year after Florida had a huge storm, we went back to find one of our favorite eagle nests knocked to the ground. The nest had been built on the top of a lone tree; it was a huge nest with a beautiful background. It didn’t suffer from Murphy’s law of nests which clearly states that any bird nest big or small will have that one branch that covers all the action or covers the bird’s face just as you shoot it. LOL!
The giant nest had been enhanced, mended, and carefully cared for by a pair of adults with five young eaglets. One of the eaglets was tiny and neglected by the adults and picked on by its siblings. We worried about that little one and knew its days were numbered as it held onto life. But, on our next visit that week, we saw this starving eaglet fight one of its siblings for a meal and won. I can’t tell you how happy Michael and I were. I think we both had tears streaming down our faces. Our little guy was going to make it. By the time we had left Florida he had continued to fight and win. We were like proud parents. So, to see that nest on the ground when we returned broke our hearts. We retired the journal that year… It is easy to get caught up in the trial and tribulations of these birds especially when you go back year after year.
One of the most heart- breaking videos I ever saw was a Great Blue Heron nest with an adult and two fairly large chicks. The nest was built over a body of water that was filled with gators. The adult was preening while her chicks were just sitting there minding their own business. When the adult stopped preening, she reached down and picked up one of the chicks and tossed it to the gators below, then began to preen again. Never once looking down as her young chick was gobbled up. I couldn’t make sense of it. Someone said that food must have been hard to come by that year and she knew both chicks would starve if she didn’t sacrifice one. As a mother myself, I found it cruel and hurtful at the time but have come to realize that it’s nature and it’s about survival-nothing more, nothing less.
