Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[Doug Watson]

And new species are being added ALL THE TIME! 

Great shots as usual Doug, I especially like the cooter, I almost thought it was an underwater shot. Bald eagles look a little out of place in Florida, I just associate them with more northerly places.

and I'll deal with one of those new species in my next post in this thread. (no unfortunately not a python)

It's funny so far I have seen four Bald Eagles in my life evenly split with two in Florida and two up here in Ontario.

[Newt]

Baldies are getting to be relatively common locally; there are always plenty at Reelfoot Lake, and I see them occasionally at some of the reservoirs here in middle TN. A friend of mine used to live on Kodiak Island in Alaska where they were so abundant they were virtually pests; he showed me a photo he took of fishing boats being swarmed by eagles. Like giant, hook-billed seagulls...

[DinoLord]

It's funny so far I have seen four Bald Eagles in my life evenly split with two in Florida and two up here in Ontario.

I once saw nine in one day canoeing a portion of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

[Doug Watson]

Baldies are getting to be relatively common locally; there are always plenty at Reelfoot Lake, and I see them occasionally at some of the reservoirs here in middle TN. A friend of mine used to live on Kodiak Island in Alaska where they were so abundant they were virtually pests; he showed me a photo he took of fishing boats being swarmed by eagles. Like giant, hook-billed seagulls...

Considering where the breeding population was in the 50s thanks to DDT and other pressures we should be thankful they could be thought of as pests anywhere. I hope to get out to the BC coast some day I have seen photos of them in numbers out there. I still haven't had a confirmed sighting of a Golden Eagle so that is still on my bucket list.

[Gwangi]

We have a good sized population in New York now. The bald eagle recovery program here has been a real success. We often focus on what species we're losing (and rightfully so) but there are some great comeback stories out there, proof that humans can do good in this world. I live near the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge in New York and there is a decent population there now, all thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Service and government programs. I photographed two juveniles there a couple weeks ago. It's becoming common now to see them over much of the region. Osprey have made quite the comeback as well, bluebird nest box programs have helped their population tremendously. I had never seen a bluebird until my early 20's, now I see them all the time. In the last 4 houses I have lived in I've put up bluebird houses and they nest in them every time. Ravens too have made a comeback in this region, I saw my first one in 2005 and now they're a common site in the area. Love seeing all this wildlife thriving and returning to their former haunts.

[Doug Watson]

Warning! Lots of pictures!

My wife's conference was held at the Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando and they had about a 2 mile nature trail that wound through the swamps and I hit it 4 times in three days. I was still hoping to find my first venomous snake but once again came up empty. I am also amazed that in all my trips to Florida I have only seen one unidentified water snake. Up here we have only one species of Water Snake but I can see 6 or more in a day of kayaking but Florida has 7 species plus several species of Swamp and Marsh snakes yet I didn't see one. I guess it is so warm there they don't need to bask in the sun.

They mean everyone else right?


So lets get the snakes out of the way. The most common nonvenomous snake I see in Florida is the Southern Black Racer. I am embarrassed to say Michele actually spotted this one and another before I did. She said she had better luck because she didn't want to find any and whereas I wanted it too bad. This one was around four feet long at least. I have tried to catch them in the past and they have been too fast but I have since learned that they don't calm down and will musk and continue to bite so I would rather not stress a snake out that much and will limit myself to photos. This one held its ground posed for a strike and vibrated its tail like a rattler. It also would raise its head high off of the ground in a strike pose. Very impressive display.

Here is a close up of the same snake.


Here is another Black Racer I found when I went by myself. This one was getting ready to shed as you can see the eyes are blue. In total over three days I saw six Black Racers.


I did manage to catch this Brown Anole. After that it was more a case of it holding on to me rather than me holding on to it.



This was a young Alligator around 3 to 4 feet long that I saw everyday on the same spot.



Some fish. Looks to me like a Bass, a Bluegill and a Perch.


A Florida Gar, there were several of these in the same area and looked like they were getting ready to spawn.


Fire Ants, their mounds were everywhere and if I got caught up chasing something and felt my foot hit something soft I would pull out immediately or I could be swarmed. I broke through this nest with a stick and it was swarmed in seconds. I checked the next day and the mound had been repaired.


A Golden-Winged Skimmer.


Empty Island Apple Snail shell. These were everywhere and the Limpkins were having a great time eating them up. This is an invasive species but biologists are conflicted because even though they pose a threat the Everglades Kite has made a significant rebound since the snails became abundant and they had them to prey on. My own observations tell me they are helping the Limpkins as well.


Island Apple Snail eggs.


Speaking of Limpkins I spotted several on the trail.



An Anhinga drying its feathers.


Immature Little Blue Heron


An Adult Little Blue Heron


Tricolored Heron


Great Egret flying and then the same bird walking and hunting.



Sandhill Cranes and chick. These were on the edge of the golf course that bordered the wild habitat. I also saw some in the swamps.


Wild Turkey, this guy was making a lot of scrapes in the sand, not sure what it was after. There were mole tunnels in the area I wonder if they would take the occasional mole.


Gallinule and chick, there was a Mom & Dad and three chicks.


I think these may be Mallard/Black Duck hybrids. I didn't notice the ducklings behind Mom when I was taking the shot.


Red Shouldered Hawk, seems to be the most common Hawk I see in Florida.


Black Vulture



Eastern Grey Squirrel


Marsh Rabbit

[triceratops83]

Doug, as always, your photos are incredible. You should consider doing a wildlife calendar or coffee table book.

At the moment I'm taking care of a Rainbow Lorikeet I found on the lawn with a broken wing. It was hobbling around so I put it an empty birdcage before a cat or something got at it. I'll release it when its' wing mends. It's a destructive little bugger - the cage I put it in used to house finches and had some wicker nests, but the parrot must have gotten bored and decided to pull them completely apart. There's nothing left but shreds.

[Doug Watson]

Doug, as always, your photos are incredible. You should consider doing a wildlife calendar or coffee table book.

At the moment I'm taking care of a Rainbow Lorikeet I found on the lawn with a broken wing. It was hobbling around so I put it an empty birdcage before a cat or something got at it. I'll release it when its' wing mends. It's a destructive little bugger - the cage I put it in used to house finches and had some wicker nests, but the parrot must have gotten bored and decided to pull them completely apart. There's nothing left but shreds.

Thank you for compliment but I don't know if they are really publishing quality. They always seem to lack that degree of sharpness to me. At least here I have found a place to share with like minded people.

Good luck with the Rainbow Lorikeet talk about a well named bird. It must be amazing to see these in flocks.

[Halichoeres]

Wow, what a productive trip! You picked up some that I've still never checked off my life list.

Am I reading correctly that you've never seen a venomous snake in the wild? Guess that's Canada for you. Growing up in a trailer park in Arizona they were kind of a fact of life. As was knocking your shoes against the wall before putting them on, just in case a scorpion had taken refuge in them.

[Doug Watson]

Am I reading correctly that you've never seen a venomous snake in the wild? Guess that's Canada for you. Growing up in a trailer park in Arizona they were kind of a fact of life. As was knocking your shoes against the wall before putting them on, just in case a scorpion had taken refuge in them.

That is correct, I grew up in Quebec where we didn't have any venomous snakes, I moved to Ontario in 1978 but our closest V. snake is in the Great Lakes region the small Massassauga Rattlesnake and so far I haven't found one of those. If I had grown up in our prairies or in BC there are the larger Western & Prairie Rattlesnakes. If I had grown up around venomous snakes I probably would have been catching them as well so it is probably a good thing I didn't. As it is I have promised my wife and daughter that if I do find one I would look but not touch. I have made 17 trips since 1976 into the South and Southwest and 1 trip to Alberta and so far all the species I have come across are nonvenomous. My wife says I should hire a guide on one of our trips and I am starting to think that is what I will do someday. 

[Newt]

More great shots, Doug!

Some fish. Looks to me like a Bass, a Bluegill and a Perch.

From top to bottom - Florida bass, green sunfish, juv. sunfish that I won't try to ID.

[Flaffy]

While it's winter for you. It's summer for me  .

[btb300]

Lovely pictures, I find it really exciting to get close to wild animals each and every time. I wonder though if I had the courage to venture into a marsh full of alligators and maybe venomous snakes. Running away from wild boars in the middle of the night after flashing them with the flash of the camera in order to dazzle them (and ourselves ) until we can get away was probably enough for me

[Doug Watson]

More great shots, Doug!
From top to bottom - Florida bass, green sunfish, juv. sunfish that I won't try to ID.

Thanks for the IDs so you call the Largemouth a Florida Bass? The Green Sunfish is a new one for me, our most common sunfish are the Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. We also have Long Ear Sunfish, Rock Bass & Crappies and apparently the Green does occur up here rarely in some waterways including around the area of Murphy's Point where we kayak but I stopped fishing long ago so I haven't seen any close up.
I should have recognized the juvenile fish wasn't a Perch from the single dorsal fin. I didn't realize our Yellow Perch and Walleye don't make it that far south. They are missing some good eating down there.

[Doug Watson]

Lovely pictures, I find it really exciting to get close to wild animals each and every time. I wonder though if I had the courage to venture into a marsh full of alligators and maybe venomous snakes. Running away from wild boars in the middle of the night after flashing them with the flash of the camera in order to dazzle them (and ourselves ) until we can get away was probably enough for me

Well I wasn't really roughing it, the main trails are well groomed but if you get off them you are in the marshes and creeks. The trail that I saw the bulk of the snakes on wasn't part of the regular trail it was a gated trail that wasn't as well groomed but still easily walked. Now if you want danger flashing a wild boar sounds like a good place to start. Wild Eurasian Boars and the Feral Hogs that are ravaging the southern US are some of the most dangerous animals in the woods especially when cornered or wounded. They are magnificent to look at but I would consider them much more unpredictable and dangerous compared to a snake or alligator.
By the way did you get any pictures of them with those cameras? I would love to see them here!

This is what the gated rougher trail looked like.


It also went through this Pine habitat where I hoped to see a Rattlesnake but unfortunately I didn't.


Now if you get off the trail then you can get into something more foreign to a Northerner like me. Bald Cypress with hanging Spanish Moss, I find this absolutely beautiful.

[Newt]

Thanks for the IDs so you call the Largemouth a Florida Bass? The Green Sunfish is a new one for me, our most common sunfish are the Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. We also have Long Ear Sunfish, Rock Bass & Crappies and apparently the Green does occur up here rarely in some waterways including around the area of Murphy's Point where we kayak but I stopped fishing long ago so I haven't seen any close up.
I should have recognized the juvenile fish wasn't a Perch from the single dorsal fin. I didn't realize our Yellow Perch and Walleye don't make it that far south. They are missing some good eating down there.

Largemouth and Florida bass are similar and closely related; sometimes they are treated as subspecies (Micropterus salmoides salmoides and M. s. floridanus), sometimes as separate species. Micropterus systematics is in flux these days. Florida bass get bigger and have been stocked in a lot of reservoirs for that reason, though as far as I know nobody has bothered to do a common garden test to see if bass get bigger in Florida because of their genetics or because of the climate. Seems like a pretty basic thing to do, but fisheries officials often don't seem to think things through.

Greenies are abundant down here. Any shallow quiet water is apt to have some. They are very good at colonizing small creeks - you often see lots of juvenile greens in little pools in seasonal streams - and also occur in lakes, swamps, and slow-flowing parts of rivers. They are big-mouthed, voracious, and aggressive, but they typically stay pretty small. Green/bluegill hybrids (called "greengills") are popular for stocking in private ponds, as they combine the size of bluegill with the fighting qualities of greens.

I've never seen a wild yellow perch. Lots of southerners refer to sunfish as "perch" or "bream", which gets confusing. I was surprised to learn that the world record walleye is from Tennessee (25 lbs.) - it's not a fish local anglers seem interested in or even aware of.

[Doug Watson]

Largemouth and Florida bass are similar and closely related; sometimes they are treated as subspecies (Micropterus salmoides salmoides and M. s. floridanus), sometimes as separate species. Micropterus systematics is in flux these days. Florida bass get bigger and have been stocked in a lot of reservoirs for that reason, though as far as I know nobody has bothered to do a common garden test to see if bass get bigger in Florida because of their genetics or because of the climate. Seems like a pretty basic thing to do, but fisheries officials often don't seem to think things through.

Greenies are abundant down here. Any shallow quiet water is apt to have some. They are very good at colonizing small creeks - you often see lots of juvenile greens in little pools in seasonal streams - and also occur in lakes, swamps, and slow-flowing parts of rivers. They are big-mouthed, voracious, and aggressive, but they typically stay pretty small. Green/bluegill hybrids (called "greengills") are popular for stocking in private ponds, as they combine the size of bluegill with the fighting qualities of greens.

I've never seen a wild yellow perch. Lots of southerners refer to sunfish as "perch" or "bream", which gets confusing. I was surprised to learn that the world record walleye is from Tennessee (25 lbs.) - it's not a fish local anglers seem interested in or even aware of.

That's fascinating about the bass, I never knew that. Up here it is mostly Smallmouth you only start getting into Largemouth Bass south of Ottawa in the Rideau Lakes area where I kayak. They were supposed to be in southern Quebec but I never saw any. They are certainly in the St Lawrence.

Growing up in Quebec I caught lots of Yellow Perch and they are actually sweeter eating than Walleye, the problem is you need a bunch for a meal because they are usually small. There was one lake where they got pretty big well over a pound. They are beautiful out of the water but like most freshwater fish here the colour washes out in an aquarium.

We used to catch huge Bluegills in the Ottawa River around 12" long, man when they turned sideways in the current they really bent your fishing rod.

[btb300]

Lovely pictures, I find it really exciting to get close to wild animals each and every time. I wonder though if I had the courage to venture into a marsh full of alligators and maybe venomous snakes. Running away from wild boars in the middle of the night after flashing them with the flash of the camera in order to dazzle them (and ourselves ) until we can get away was probably enough for me

Well I wasn't really roughing it, the main trails are well groomed but if you get off them you are in the marshes and creeks. The trail that I saw the bulk of the snakes on wasn't part of the regular trail it was a gated trail that wasn't as well groomed but still easily walked. Now if you want danger flashing a wild boar sounds like a good place to start. Wild Eurasian Boars and the Feral Hogs that are ravaging the southern US are some of the most dangerous animals in the woods especially when cornered or wounded. They are magnificent to look at but I would consider them much more unpredictable and dangerous compared to a snake or alligator.
By the way did you get any pictures of them with those cameras? I would love to see them here!

This is what the gated rougher trail looked like.

It also went through this Pine habitat where I hoped to see a Rattlesnake but unfortunately I didn't.

Now if you get off the trail then you can get into something more foreign to a Northerner like me. Bald Cypress with hanging Spanish Moss, I find this absolutely beautiful.


Sorry Doug, no pictures were made, we were just leaving the area with my friend after nightfall (I think we were out to listen to red deer during rut) and while strolling in almost complete darkness in the woods, that very characteristic and forbidding grunt of wild boars was heard from way too close. So my friend had the stupid idea of flashing them we can get away. Other times we encountered sow with pigs, and one time a single pig without family. It seemed kind of ill and lost, not sure what happened to it, but tried to steer clear anyway in case mom showed up. Unofrtunatley these memories are mostly pre-2009 when I didn't have a digital camera and shot only on film occasionally (asa students budget allowed ), so no pics to show.

[Doug Watson]

Sorry Doug, no pictures were made, we were just leaving the area with my friend after nightfall (I think we were out to listen to red deer during rut) and while strolling in almost complete darkness in the woods, that very characteristic and forbidding grunt of wild boars was heard from way too close. So my friend had the stupid idea of flashing them we can get away. Other times we encountered sow with pigs, and one time a single pig without family. It seemed kind of ill and lost, not sure what happened to it, but tried to steer clear anyway in case mom showed up. Unofrtunatley these memories are mostly pre-2009 when I didn't have a digital camera and shot only on film occasionally (asa students budget allowed ), so no pics to show.

That must have been tense I was once thrown out of a pig pen by a domestic sow that didn't like me checking out her piglets. I didn't know she was in the covered hut attached and she caught my rear with her snout has I tried to climb out. I can still remember how insignificant I felt when she chucked me out of there. Luckily she didn't catch me with a tusk.

I am wondering, as a guy growing up in Ireland without any native snakes are you naturally curious about them or naturally afraid of them. I had a neighbour from Ireland and she was deathly afraid but then most women are unfortunately. She was also terrified of dogs but living next to us with our Basset Hound & Bullmastiff we cured her of that fear and she is now a devoted dog owner.

P.S. When you quote a post be sure to delete the images in the quote there is a rule against reposting images needlessly. Some people really get their shorts in a knot about it. Of course if you want to repost a single image to make a specific comment or ask a question that is allowed. You can go back into your post click on modify and delete the images they are the codes bracketed by these symbols

[btb300]

Sorry Doug, no pictures were made, we were just leaving the area with my friend after nightfall (I think we were out to listen to red deer during rut) and while strolling in almost complete darkness in the woods, that very characteristic and forbidding grunt of wild boars was heard from way too close. So my friend had the stupid idea of flashing them we can get away. Other times we encountered sow with pigs, and one time a single pig without family. It seemed kind of ill and lost, not sure what happened to it, but tried to steer clear anyway in case mom showed up. Unofrtunatley these memories are mostly pre-2009 when I didn't have a digital camera and shot only on film occasionally (asa students budget allowed ), so no pics to show.

That must have been tense I was once thrown out of a pig pen by a domestic sow that didn't like me checking out her piglets. I didn't know she was in the covered hut attached and she caught my rear with her snout has I tried to climb out. I can still remember how insignificant I felt when she chucked me out of there. Luckily she didn't catch me with a tusk.

I am wondering, as a guy growing up in Ireland without any native snakes are you naturally curious about them or naturally afraid of them. I had a neighbour from Ireland and she was deathly afraid but then most women are unfortunately. She was also terrified of dogs but living next to us with our Basset Hound & Bullmastiff we cured her of that fear and she is now a devoted dog owner.

P.S. When you quote a post be sure to delete the images in the quote there is a rule against reposting images needlessly. Some people really gets their shorts in a knot about it. Of course if you want to repost a single image to make a specific comment or ask a question that is allowed. You can go back into your post click on modify and delete the images they are the codes bracketed by these symbols

Thanks Doug, I am a total noob here and still familiarizing with the forum interface, I will keep this in mind, sorry for leaving the pics in. I have been living Ireland for only a year by the way, and being from Hungary originally I am more familiar and okay with reptiles in general. But even back home there are like three venomous species of snakes and haven't ever met them in the wild, as they are quite rare. It's interesting though how Ireland lacks amphibians and reptiles, if I remember correctly it is due to the isolation of the mainland since the las Ice Age. You are lucky you didn't suffer any injuries during your encounter with miss piggy, such things can easily turn serious.
Oh I wish someone makes a dino movie with more realistic animal behavior, something that is frightening because of its credibility.