By Ron R Bielefeld,on January 3rd,2012 Barred owls are very abundant in central Florida. During the winter months they pair up,establish territories,mate,and rear their young. Many pairs choose nesting areas within the moist woods that surround many of the lakes in this part of the state. This blog is about a trip to one of these lakes a few days ago. I hitched up the boat and headed to this particular lake looking specifically to get some images of barred owls. I was successful,but also learned a bit more about the behavior of this species than I was hoping to.  The owl above was spotted flying from one tree to another along the shoreline of the lake. This bird’s mate was perched in this particular tree. 
Here is the pair sitting together on a branch of a cypress tree. I really like the peaceful feeling of this image. One can also view it as the female on the right looking stearnly off into the distance,while the scorned male sits quietly by. Hey,its fun to anthropomorphize every once in a while. 
This pair was very active this particular morning. Here is a shot as one bird moved again from tree to tree. 
A look at a bird as it landed on a nearby snag. 
As I watched the pair of owls interact it seemed they did not care I was there. They almost seemed to be showing off to me a bit. 
See what I mean! Well,I am always very weary of my influence on birds I am photographing. I do my best to not affect their behavior or cause them stress. Up to this point I felt like my presence was not bothering these birds at all. Then… 
The male,at least I believe it was the male,decided to let me know my presence was no longer accepted as he flew right at me. This image is almost full-frame. If I had not ducked at the last second I believe this owl would have struck the top of my head with his talons. Save it to say,I got the message and left the area. I learned another lesson in bird behavior that morning. Even when you think you are being tolerated by a bird or birds you are photographing that may not be the case,or the circumstances can change from tolerance to intolerance in a hurry. I will end this post with a couple final images of my magical morning with the owls.  Last one. 
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By Ron R Bielefeld,on December 11th,2011 First,sorry for the long spell between posts. So much going on it is hard to keep up with everything. Well,winter is working its way into central and south Florida and with it a lot of the the “snow birds.” No I don’t mean all the humans that move down here from northern climates each fall and winter to spend the colder months in relative warmth. I mean the real snow birds; all the bird species that migrate down to sunny Florida to spend the winter where the water never freezes and food is abundant. In this post I will discuss a few of the birds we see here only during winter,the birds that make Florida a winter wonderland for avian photographers. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I do. First on the list is the Northern Harrier 
Northern harriers usually arrive in Florida in large wintering numbers in late October to early November. If you want to photograph this wonderful bird here in east-central Florida a great place is the Viera Wetlands. There are always a few hanging around. Also,look for larger open fields on many of our Wildlife Management Areas. If you are patient you will see them flying low over the grasses searching for their next meal. I have had the best luck photographing this species by wearing full camo and hiding along a favorite hunting flight path of a bird. They tend not to fly very close to a person that is just sitting out in the open. A blind works well too. Next is the bald eagle. In certain areas you can find bald eagles year round in Florida. But numbers start to swell in early September. We have many,many pairs that nest in Florida over the winter. In east-central Florida a good place to see and photography bald eagles is again the Viera Wetlands. Another good place is along the Indian River Lagoon. 
The American Kestrel can be found wintering all over Florida. Just watch the wires as you drive along the roads. Find an open field,even a small one,and you will usually find a kestrel hunting dragon flies. 
Let’s move on to some waterfowl. I personally love photographing ducks,and Florida winters about 20 different species of ducks each year. Let’s take the diver ducks first. One of my favorites is the ring-necked duck. Find a pond in east-central Florida and you will likely find ringers on it. If you find yourself driving along I-95 look in the interchange ponds as you move along. I bet sooner rather than later you will see some ringers. 
Lesser scaup,or bluebills,as many people call them are very abundany in Florida in the winter. A good place to find them is along the Indian River Lagoon. Look for them bobbing around in the waves,often very close to shore. 
Look in the same areas you see ring-necked ducks and you will likely see hooded mergansers as well. 
Ruddy ducks and Buffleheads are a bit harder to find,but if you spend enough time at Viera you will likely see one or two. 
And if you really get lucky, you might see a rarer diver duck. A masked duck. We see them here in east-central Florida every three years or so. Here is an adult male from last year. 
OK,on to dabbling ducks. First on the list is the blue-winged teal. They are the most abundant wintering duck in Florida. Viera Wetlands winters a few to many depending on the winter. They are all over the marshes of east-central Florida. 
Next the American Wigeon. One of my all time favorite ducks. If you want to see and photograph a lot of wigeon,then head to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and drive the Black Point Wildlife Drive. Most winters there are thousands feeding along the drive. Evenings tend to be best for light direction. 
Northern pintials can be found in many marsh areas in Florida during winter. However,they are pretty skittish. So again,Merritt Island is your best bet to see and photograph these awesome birds. 
Some other dabblers you may see are green-winged teal and gadwall. 
From here on I will show you a few of the many other birds we winter in Florida. Wading birds,pelicans,and on and on. How about American bitterns. Go to Viera Wetlands to see and photograph this tough to see species. 
Belted Kingfishers are everywhere there are ditches or wetlands with open water. Good luck getting close to them for a good image. I suggest a blind set up near a favorite perch. 
Tree swallows by the many thousands winter here. Just look around and you will find them in large flocks hunting insects early and late in the day. During mid day they tend to roost in trees or bushes near feeding areas. 
White pelicans too. Check out Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Sebastian to photography these huge,but graceful birds. 
On the other end of the size scale we have the marsh wren. Tough to get out in the open for a good photograph. But it can be done. Check out the bulrush clumps at Viera for these small and animated birds 
I literally could go on and on. But I am sure you are already getting weary of the list and have gotten the idea that Central Florida really is a winter wonderland for the bird photographer. If you are interested in getting out into the wilds here in Florida to photograph some of these awesome birds,but feel you need some assistance,just let me know. I provide both tours and instructional outings to all who are interested in seeing and photographing the miriad of Florida snow birds. Cheers until next time. Ron B Share on Facebook
By Ron R Bielefeld,on October 10th,2011 Speedy,fast moving subjects such as birds are some of the most difficult shots to consistently make and make well. I thought I would use this post to discuss some aspects of capturing high quality,tack sharp images of fast moving birds. Of course,what I will discuss applies to just about all fast moving subjects,but I am a bird photographer,so I will use birds as examples. First,I want to define what I mean by fast moving. I do not consider the swimming blue-winged teal in the following image to be a fast moving subject. Moving,yes,fast,no. 
However,the ring-necked duck in this image is definately a fast moving subject. Ring-necked ducks really only know one way to fly and that is fast. 
ISO 800;1/1600s;f/7.1 If you want to consistently capture tack sharp images of fast moving birds there are some things that you might want to consider. First is your camera body. Now,I am a firm believer that even the best equipment in the world cannot make a poor photographer good,but I definitely believe having the right tools for the job can allow a good photographer to reach their full potential of capturing awesome images far more often. So,as far as cameras go,for fast moving subjects it is to your advantage to have a body that has fast auto focus (AF) capabilities,a high frames per second (FPS) rate,and good ISO to noise ratio. Now of course these are not strict requirements as you can get great shots of fast moving birds without this type of body. All I am stating is these specifications in a body help maximize your ability to get the images you want. Fast AF allows you to obtain split second focus on subjects that will only be available to you for a few precious moments. Moreover,the birds you are shooting will many times be moving towards or away from you at a high rate of speed,such as this blue-winged teal in the image below. A fast AF system will be able to keep up with the rapidly changing distances between the camera and the subject. Slow,less capable AF systems will not,resulting in many more out of focus shots. 
ISO 800;1/1600s;f/6.3 Having a body that can rattle off 8-10 FPS also helps maximize the number of great shots you get of fast moving birds. The more frames you record during the few seconds a fast target is available to you the higher the probability you will capture at least one frame where everything came together perfectly;when you were panning at just the right speed,the wings of the bird were in the perfect position,the light hit the eye just right,the bird was against the prettiest background,and the AF had perfect lock on your subject. If your camera can only record 2.5 FPS the probability of the shutter actuating at that perfect moment goes down quite a bit. Having a camera that can record an image at ISO 800 or 1000 with acceptable noise is a great advantage to the fast subject photographer. It allows you to set your shutter speed (SS) higher for any given lighting situation (e.g.,early morning light all the way through to rather bright lighting situations),and being able to set a relatively high SS is a great advantage when your goal is to stop fast moving birds.  ISO 1000;1/1600s;f/5.6 So what about SS? I like to shoot at a minimum of 1/1000 of a second for fast moving subjects. I prefer 1/1600s or faster. Yes,I shoot slower SS,and you can get sharp images of fast moving birds with pretty slow SS,say as low as 1/500 of a second. However,only the bird’s body will be sharp and it will take perfect panning speed to achieve that. You will hardly ever stop the wings at 1/500s. Now,if your goal is to have wing or body blur to portray motion,then you should shoot slower SS. However,if your goal is to maximize the number of tack sharp images you get of blindingly fast birds,then as fast a SS as you can manage,while maintaining adequate Depth of Field (DOF) and ISO,is the way to go. Faster SS gives you more room for error on your panning speed and can stop wing motion. However,do not think that a very fast SS,say 1/6400s,will do all the work for you. Don’t think that such a SS is fast enough to achieve a tack sharp image,of say a fast flying bird,without the need for you to pan accurately with your subject. It won’t happen very often.  ISO 800;1/4000s;f/7.1 Now a little more about how I shoot fast moving subjects. This is how I do it,there are other ways,but this general approach works for me. Manual exposure,center AF point only,and hand hold. Oh yes,and a lot of practice. I shoot Manual Exposure. Not Aperture Priority,not Shutter Priority,and definitely not Full Automatic. Why,Manual? Because shooting manual puts me in control of everything exposure related (ISO,SS,and Aperture) and gives the camera and its meter very little latitude to screw up my shot. After all,I do enough of that myself. Now,that is being too harsh on the camera,I know. It is just a computer doing what I allow it or don’t allow it to do. Personally,I like it to concentrate on recording the image,not much else. I am shooting fast moving subjects,so I set a fast SS,and overall exposure for my avian subject based on that SS,and I want it to stay that way until I change it. The camera and its light meter do nothing. So,when that fast moving subject goes from being in front of a very bright background to being in front of a very dark background my SS and all other exposure settings stay as I put them allowing me to stop the action and expose the bird correctly. In contrast,if I were using Aperture Priority the camera’s meter is in control of SS,and the SS would be slowing way down when the bird passed in front of the very dark background,lowering the probability of capturing a tack sharp image. If I were to shoot Time Value (TV),also known as SS priority,then the camera’s meter would change the aperture setting as the overall darkness of the scene changed. In this case,less of an impact on the resulting shot perhaps,but it could result in the DOF dropping to a point I don’t want. I use center AF point only. I know,cameras these days have a ton of focus points available to us and keeping just the center AF point on a small,fast moving target such as a bird is very difficult. Why not take advantage of multiple AF points in hopes of getting at least one to grab the subject as you try to keep it in the viewfinder. Well,for me,anything more than the center point is too much and I will explain why. First,on many cameras the center point is the fastest and most accurate point. Second,it is often impossible to keep more than one point completely on a small fast moving subject,which most birds are,simply because the bird is not big enough to “hold” more than one or two points. More on this in a moment. 
ISO 320;1/1600s;f/6.3 Yes,keeping the one center AF point on the subject is hard and it takes practice,but when you do keep your subject perfectly in your sights,you are very likely to get good sharp images. This is not always the case if you have multiple AF points selected. Even if you keep the center point on the bird,at least a couple of those other AF points probably won’t be on the bird. They will be “leaking” off the bird and onto the background. Why does this matter? Well it does not matter much if the background behind your subject is always blue sky,or some other very uniform area. However,it can matter a great deal if the background is a “busy” one (e.g.,trees). I can’t control where my subjects go and thus I can’t control the backgrounds behind them. If my subject goes in front of a busy background and any of my selected AF points are not on the bird,but on the background,my AF system is going to have a much harder time focusing on the bird,resulting in a lot of out of focus images. Not what I want. However,as I stated,with just the center AF point selected and that point tracking right on my fast moving bird,the bird can travel in front of any background it wants and my camera will maintain focus on the bird. Exactly what I want. So,if you are shooting fast moving birds against nothing but blue sky take advantage of multiple AF points. However,if your bird is likely,at any time during your time together,to fly in front of any other type of background,then I would shoot with only your center AF point selected. I hand hold all of my shots. No tripod. No monopod. Don’t think you can hand hold and get tack sharp images of fast moving birds,or other subjects? I bet you can. As long as you have the physical capability to lift the camera and lens you can do it. If not,the best alternative is a monopod in my opinion. Why hand hold or use a monopod? Because it allows you to react quickly and have full range of motion for smooth panning. Some will say gimble heads are just as good. That is fine. However,for me they do not work consistently for fast birds. A fast subject requires fast reaction. We are talking about wild birds,so we do not know where they will come from or go,so we need full range of motion. Thus,hand holding is the way to go if you can do it. 
ISO 640;1/1250s;f/6.3 Having the right tools;setting up your tools for the type of shooting you are doing,in this case,fast moving birds;and maximizing your reaction time and mobility are all good things to do if you want to consistently capture high quality images of fast moving birds. The other thing you will need to do is practice,and practice some more. You need to be able to acquire fast moving subjects in your view finder immediately as you put the camera to your eye. Any slower and the opportunity will either be gone,or you will miss precious frames. I can tell you from experience that those missed frames almost always would have been the best of a given photo op. The only way to get good at instantly finding fast moving subjects in your view finder is to practice. I can also tell you from experience that even when you think you are good at it,you will still mess up subject acquisition often enough to make you bite your tongue. I never stop practicing when I am out in the field shooting. That is one of the great things about digital SLRs. You can shoot and shoot and shoot. 
ISO 800;1/2500s;f/8 I will end this topic with what I shoot with when shooting fast moving birds. My camera body of choice is the Canon 1D Mark IV with a Canon 500mm f/4 IS lens. Most of the time I have the Canon 1.4x Tele Converter attached in order to get birds as big in the frame as I can. The 10 FPS,fast AF system,good ISO to noise ratio,and very nice image quality make it a superb body for action photography in my opinion. I also have a Canon 7D,which I have found to be a more than capable body for this type of work and a great option for those who cannot afford or bring themselves to spending the money on a Mk IV. I hope you found this short post on shooting fast moving birds at least a little instructive. Until next time, Ron B. Share on Facebook
By Ron R Bielefeld,on October 2nd,2011 
The snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis is one of the rarest raptors in North America (N.A.),second only to the California condor. The only place you can find the snail kite in N.A. is in central and south Florida where it is endangered. The main cause of this bird’s plight has to do with its very specific eating habits. It basically eats only one thing,the apple snail,and humans have changed the hydrology of much of this snails habitat (marshes associated with the Everglades and central Florida lakes) causing a severe decline in snail numbers. Because snail kites depend on this specific snail,their numbers have declined substantially along with the snails. 
If you look closely at the morphology of the snail kite you can see how it has evolved to hunt for and eat apple snails. Its long,slender,strongly hooked beak allows the bird to cut and extract the snail from its shell,while the long slender talons act like a grappling hook allowing the bird to grab onto and hold the large snail. Remember these snails are the size of small apples. 
The way these birds hunt for the perfect snail meal is very similar to how northern harriers hunt. I use this comparison becuase northern harriers are of course much more abundant and widely distributed in N.A. than snail kites. Thus,many people reading this post may have seen harriers and how they hunt. They fly low and slow over the marsh looking down into the water. 
When they spot a snail they often turn sharply and dive talons first into the water. 
Once they grab the snail,they lift off,pulling the snail from the vegetation is it attached to and into air. 
Once airborne with the snail they often transfer it from their talons to their beak for the trip to the nest,or to wherever they are going to eat their meal. 
As I mentioned earlier,this bird is endangered in N.A. and as you many have noticed from the previous images some to the birds have leg bands. This leg banding program is part of the effort underway to conserve this species. Leg bands allow researchers to track individual birds and learn more about their survival and movement patterns. Even better than leg bands are radio transmitters. Researchers in Florida have attached radio transmitters to many snail kites in hopes of learning more about the types of habitats these birds use most,where they nest,and how they move during different times of the year. Data from these radio-marked birds will go a long way towards building the understanding necessary to help rebuild this species population. In the image below you can see a ruffled patch of feathers on the bird’s back. Under these feathers is the radio transmitter. If you look closely at the tip of the tail you can see just the end of the transmitter’s antenna. 
Another radio-marked bird. You can clearly see the antenna below the tail. Also notice the colored alphanumeric leg band. 
As with so many species of birds in our world today,the future of the snail kite in N.A. (i.e.,Florida) is very uncertain. The wetlands this bird’s main prey item,the apple snail,needs to prosper continues to be under attack from human degradation of the Everglades marshes and central Florida lakes. Thus,the snail kite also is under attack. The best way to combat these issues is to let the right people know that you want the snail kite to remain a part of N.A.’s avifauna. Without the public’s support of this beautiful and unique bird,it may soon disappear from N.A.’s skies. What an utter tragedy that would be,because with enough support this is a bird that can be saved. 
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By Ron R Bielefeld,on September 26th,2011 I have lived along the Florida east coast for almost 20 years. The east coast of Florida has a very large population of resident ospreys and I have spent countless hours watching and photographing these wonderful birds. I am always amazed by their agility in the air,the speed of their dives,and their ability to lift huge fish from the water while soaking wet. Yesterday I was given another opportunity to photograph an osprey,what happened next stunned even me,a person who thought he had seen every maneuver an osprey could pull off while airborne. Before we get to the images documenting this possibly unheard of stunt,let’s look at what I consider standard osprey flight capabilities and maneuvers,so we have a baseline to compare to. Ospreys spend a lot of time soaring and searching for there next fish target. A very standard flight skill.  When they spot a fish they want,they can do some pretty radical moves to get into position to attack. This bird goes “knife edge”with its wings perpendicular to the water while keeping an eye on its target below 
This bird is hovering high over a school of bait fish looking for a suitable target. Again,something you see quite often if you watch a lot of ospreys,but still a very awesome ability for a largish raptor 
Of course,when they make up their mind to go after a fish,they dive. 
When they hit the water you get a real feel for the speed and power of these bird’s dives. Is is nothing but spectacular! Unfortunately,all you ever really see is a big splash and water flying,so photographing this part of the action usually results in very little in the way of images. However,when the bird starts to lift back off of the water the photo ops begin again as does the wonderment of how a bird can get airborne again after being completely submerged. It is all in the wings. Ospreys have such huge wings compared to their body weight and their wrists are articulated in a manner that allows them to get back into the air,without,or with a fish. 
How large a fish can these birds lift out of the water? Pretty big! 
And they can fly away with them too! That fish weights about 4 lbs. in my estimation! 
Once airborne,with fish,or without,they often shake off all the water they can. They don’t want to carry any extra weight. Again,getting images that look good of this behaviour is difficult, as the birds tend to close their nictitating membranes and contort themselves. 
Once airborne after a successful dive they tend to position the fish head first in the direction of flight in order to reduce wind drag. Hey,fish are not only hydrodynamic,but also aerodynamic if positioned correctly. 
OK,what we have seen so far is standard flight for ospreys. What comes next is something I have never seen an osprey do before. Well actually,I have never seen any raptor do this before. An inverted loop! The bird at the center of this story was by itself and was not fishing. It was just flying toward me at a relatively slow pace when all of a sudden it just started doing all sorts of wild aerobatics. The display lasted a good two minutes. I actually got dizzy trying to stay with this bird while looking through my viewfinder. So,here we go. The inverted loop started with the bird making a pretty steep dive,but it did not last long. 
The bird then turned steeply upward. 
Then it went completely onto its back. 
Of course this is were my camera’s buffer filled up and my frame rate dropped to just about nothing. The next frame I got was as the bird came out of the loop on the other side. Not a good image,but the buffer filling up and the fact that the cross-section of the bird was so small as it went over the top of the loop made me lose focus for a split second. Hey,I have to blame my ineptitude on something.  As the bird came down further it “rolled-out”of the loop. 
When the excitment was all over,I actually had to go back and look at the images in my camera to make sure I actually saw what I thought I saw. I could not believe it. I am a professional ornithologist with over 20 years in the field and I have never seen a bird do a loop let a lone an inverted one. Why this bird did all these aerobatics in front of me I have no idea. This was a young bird,less than a year old. I can only guess it was testing itself to see what its own flight capabilities were. Hey,even birds have to practice their skills to get good at making a living! No matter what the reason behind the display I am just glad I was there to witness it. The natural world never ceases to amaze me! Share on Facebook
By Ron R Bielefeld,on September 17th,2011  A majority of the people in Florida have no idea they have a very special duck flying and swimming around them every day. The main reason people don’t know about this duck is because they mistake it for a mallard (Anas platyrhynchos),a very common duck all over the U.S. However,many of these rather plain brown ducks are not mallards,but Florida mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula fulvigula). As can be seen in the image below both male (the bird on the right in the image) and female (bird on the left) mottled ducks look very much like female mallards.
 Pair of mottled ducks So,why is this bird so special? Well,it is special because it is unique. The Florida mottled duck does not occur anywhere else in the world but in Florida. Another reason it is special has to do with its non-migratory nature. Every other wild species of duck in North America migrates to some extent. They migrate to the southern parts of their range in the winter and into more northern areas to nest and raise their young in the spring and summer. The mottled duck does not migrate. It spends its entire life in Florida. As a matter of fact,many individuals spend their entire lives living within an area no larger than the town you live in right now.  Female mottled duck landing Now,there are other mottled ducks that live in the U.S. Most of these birds reside in the states of Louisiana and Texas. However,the Florida mottled duck is different from those other mottled ducks. Genetics and movements studies have shown the Florida mottled duck is completely distinct from the population to the west. Distinct enough to be considered a different subspecies (Anas fulvigula fulvigula). The Texas and Louisiana birds are (Anas fulvigula maculosa). There is now very new genetic information available that suggests the Florida mottled duck may actually be a separate species of duck altogether. If this turns out to be true,then we will have to come up with a new scientific name for the Florida duck. Any ideas?  Male mottled duck landing So,how can you tell if you are looking at a mallard or a mottled duck. Well,with the males it is easy. Male mallards have relatively colorful feathers. Male mottled ducks, are a mottled brown.  Male mottled duck  Male mallard With females it is more difficult. You need to be able to see a wing of the bird you are trying to ID. On a mottled duck female the colored part of the wing (called the speculum) will not be bordered on the forward edge by a white wing bar. There maybe a slight line of white on the trailing edge of the speculum. On a mallard the forward and trailing edge of the speculum will have a broad white bar just like the male mallard in the picture above.  Female mottled duck taking off Unfortunately,like many species of wildlife in today’s world,the future outlook for the mottled duck is far from rosy. The major threat to the Florida mottled duck is hybridization with feral mallards. Not wild migratory mallards that spend just the winters here in Florida,but domestic mallards people have released here in Florida that have become free-ranging feral birds. These feral birds do not migrate,but stay here in Florida during entire year,including the mottled duck’s breeding season. So,interbreeding between the two species has and continues to occur. Mottled ducks and mallards are closely related,so when they interbreed the young they produce also can breed. As this interbreeding continues from generation to generation,pure mottled duck genes in the population can end up being swamped by mallard genes. The result. A population of hybrid individuals and no pure mottled ducks. Basically,the mottled duck will become extinct if interbreeding is left unchecked.  Hybrid male mottled duck X Mallard Note the strong white wing bars on the leading and trailing edges of the speculum. These are mallard traits. The rest of the bird’s plumage is indicative of a male mottled duck. This bird is almost certainly a mottled duck X mallard hybrid. Hybridization issues such as this one are generally very difficult problems to solve. But not all hope is lost for Florida’s duck. Work is being done to stop hybridization. However,the help of every Florida citizen is needed. Heck,we need all the support we can get from anybody who is willing to help with this problem. What can you do? The most important thing is to not release domestic mallards into the wild in Florida. This activity is actually against the law,IT IS ILLEGAL,but it still happens. Another thing you can do is contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and let them know you value the Florida mottled duck and want them to continue the work on the hybridization issue. The more public support this bird has,the more resources will be mustered to save it. So,will this bird survive into the next century and beyond? 
Only time will tell. Share on Facebook
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