Friday, August 24, 2012

STA5 And The EAA: Late Summer 2012

When Tom Obrock advised me that Vince Lucas, Walt Winton and Dr. Jose Padilla planned to travel to STA5 and the Everglades Agricultural Area, I jumped at the chance to accompany them.


The sunrise above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.

As Tom couldn't make the trip himself, I traveled alone on the morning of 18 August 2012 to meet up with the others at STA5. I approached the man-made wildlife mecca a little early on the new Deer Fence Road access which was the inauguration of the trailhead. In the predawn light, hundreds of birds were on the move. I would capture most of my representative images of the area here. Following Dr. Jose, Vince and Walt, it was thereafter more a visual tour of the wildlife with it perhaps in its fewest numbers of species as the Fall migration begins to unfold. Margaret England, President of the Hendry-Glades Audubon Society, tallied 51 species on eBird which were noted by the 29 participants touring STA5 on this day. This trip to STA5 would perhaps be the last for Vince who co-compiled the bird checklist for STA5 with Margaret, and will be well remembered for this endeavor after his move to the state of Washington. Shortly before 11:00am, Dr. Jose would lead us (certainly with some direction from Vince) into the Everglades Agricultural Area for some further observations of the wildlife. Great numbers of shorebirds, waders and ducks were seen in fields adjacent to the sugar processing facility. After making observations of Uplands Sandpiper in the sod fields, we attempted to find a recently sighted Buff-breasted Sandpiper. It would remain elusive to us. If I could offer any advice to the engineers of Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Sony, and others, it would be to enhance the brightness of the viewfinder of cameras to the degree of a scope. This would make the photography experience more enjoyable and easier to capture a better image when using 2x extenders in particular.


The Cattle Egret above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Black Vulture above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Barn Swallow above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The juvenile Little Blue Heron above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Black-crowned Night-Heron above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Common Ground Dove above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The alligator above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Purple Swamphen above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Purple Swamphen above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Glossy Ibis with unidentified species above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


Dr. Jose Padilla above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Fulvous Whistling-Duck above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The Red-shouldered Hawk above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The primarily Blue-winged Teal above was photographed at STA5 in August 2012.


The scene above was photographed at the Everglades Agricultural Area in August 2012.


Walt Winton and Vince Lucas l-r above were photographed at the Everglades Agricultural Area in August 2012.

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