Orland FL Bird photo ops late Feb/early March

Hi,
I'll have a short stay in Orlando in late February/early March
before I move on to the Venice Rookery, Ding, Fort Desoto, etc.
Does anyone know of some good spots for bird photography
close to Orlando (say not more than a 2 hour drive and
preferably closer)?

Thanks,
Roger
Photos at:
http://www.clarkvision.com
birds at:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.bird

From: "Roger N. Clark

I'll have a short stay in Orlando in late February/early March
before I move on to the Venice Rookery, Ding, Fort Desoto, etc.
Does anyone know of some good spots for bird photography
close to Orlando (say not more than a 2 hour drive and
preferably closer)?

Hi Roger,

The Merritt Island NWR near Titusville is not too far away (for sure under two
hours ... IIRC more like 75 minutes but I'm not certain on this) and has some
interesting species that we didn't see further south. When we were last there
they allowed duck hunting 3 days a week though, which tended to make the birds
skittish This is also near the Kennedy Space Center, which is interesting
in it's own right.

When we were in this area we picked up a free local guide book called "The
Great Florida Birding Trail" or something like that, I think we found it at
Merritt Island, and it has dozens of smaller spots listed, some of which were
pretty good, few of which we would have found without the book. I think they
put out different issues for different regions in Florida ...
http://floridabirdingtrail.com/

Bill

Try
http://floridabirdingtrail.com/guide.htm
http://www.martincountyaudubon.org/birdinginfo.htm
http://www.floridaconservation.org/viewing/
http://www.cfbw.com/cfbwloc.shtml
http://home.clara.net/pjacks1/
--
PWW (Paul Wayne Wilson)
Over 1,000 Photographs Online at,
http://PhotoStockFile.com


On 1/31/04 3:35 PM, in article , "Roger N. Clark
(change username to rnclark)" wrote:

Hi,
I'll have a short stay in Orlando in late February/early March
before I move on to the Venice Rookery, Ding, Fort Desoto, etc.
Does anyone know of some good spots for bird photography
close to Orlando (say not more than a 2 hour drive and
preferably closer)?

Thanks,
Roger
Photos at:
http://www.clarkvision.com
birds at:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.bird

Thanks, Bill.
I've been to Kennedy Space Center for launches, as well as Merritt Island
and have seen a lot of birds in the area. But they seem skittish
and mostly distant. I've had better luck at Ding. I really
like flight imaging opportunities, especially landing and
takeoff. (Venice Rookery is a nice distance and has lots
of flight ops that I like.) Flight ops of spoonbills would
be great, in case anyone has suggestions.

The Florida Birding Trail site is very good. I'm downloading
the guides.

Paul,
Many great links, thanks.

The interesting (to me), close to Orlando areas I've found
so far a Lake Kissimmee (Overstreet Landing area), and
Orlando Wetlands Park (one report from February
23, 1999: 500,000 birds)!

Has anyone been to either of these two places and can comment
on photo ops? (I'll have 500 f/4 + TCs, and shorter lenses).

Roger

"Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote in
:

Thanks, Bill.
I've been to Kennedy Space Center for launches, as well as Merritt Island
and have seen a lot of birds in the area. But they seem skittish
and mostly distant. I've had better luck at Ding. I really
like flight imaging opportunities, especially landing and
takeoff. (Venice Rookery is a nice distance and has lots
of flight ops that I like.) Flight ops of spoonbills would
be great, in case anyone has suggestions.

The Florida Birding Trail site is very good. I'm downloading
the guides.

Paul,
Many great links, thanks.

The interesting (to me), close to Orlando areas I've found
so far a Lake Kissimmee (Overstreet Landing area), and
Orlando Wetlands Park (one report from February
23, 1999: 500,000 birds)!

Has anyone been to either of these two places and can comment
on photo ops? (I'll have 500 f/4 + TCs, and shorter lenses).

Roger


Merritt Island's been good to me, and had plenty of ops like you're
looking for, last few times I was there. Didn't seem especially skittish to
me - might depend on time of day. Have glimpsed, but not gotten close to,
Harriers out there last two times, and they're a goal of mine. But I always
see at least eight different species of birds, and they vary every time.
Count on Great Blues, Great Egrets, Little Blues, White Ibis, Grebes,
Osprey, and Gallinules.

Haven't been to the Orlando Wetlands Park, might have to check it out
if I have time. Been leaning away from birds (too many people doing them),
but I'm also trying to complete a few gaps.

Mostly, I'm into targets of opportunity, and in Florida that can mean
anywhere. Beeline Expressway (Rt 528) east of Orlando always has something
along the way, not far from the airport - mostly sandhills. Cattle Egrets
seem to be moving through the area right now. Pelicans can be found
anywhere on the Indian and Banana Rivers. You might also want to try out
the St. John's Waterway wherever you can find access - lots of variety
along that path.

Fishing areas will give you retinal-closeups of Great Blues and
Pelicans as they try to steal bait. Even better if you bring your own ;-).

Drop me a line when you know you'll be in the area, might try to
catch up with you if you like.


- Al, Melbourne.



- Al.

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