Following the best personal wildlife observations I had made yet at Bunche Beach, I am including here 80 selected images from the same venue captured later on the 19th and 20th of October 2012.
The sunrise above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
An interesting concern I have in presenting these articles as they have recently appeared is the creation of an optical illusion if you read the text before viewing the images. I am addressing that problem of the images appearing distorted this week by minimizing what you may read before you view an image. The text will be broken up within the article again, but randomly as opposed to the beginnings of the blog. As Bunche is want to do, it offers quite a remarkably different experience from one visit to the next.
The Wilson's Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Western Sandpiper above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The juvenile Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
Another discovery made that is less than desirable in what you see is attributable to a rare occasion when an image is cropped for presentation here. I attempt to crop the images at 533X800 pixels as a standard size. In a couple of galleries at my Pbase site, I crop images a little larger at 1024X683 pixels. With a concern for storage limitations, the smaller images are preferred. When making the initial crop for presentation here which slips through as 534X800 instead of the intended 533X800, the image appears severely out of focus. Since discovering this problem, I will strive to make sure it is not an issue in the future.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The banded Roseate Spoonbill (M5) above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Western Sandpiper above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Bald Eagle above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Forster's Tern that was a stunning species to observe in good numbers in their feeding behavior on the 18th was comparatively absent on my next two visits to the Preserve. A pair of the birds quenched my thirst for more, even while they were docile. An unexpected surprise was an increase in numbers of Roseate Spoonbill observed with a pair banded.
The banded Roseate Spoonbill (M5) above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The banded Roseate Spoonbill (M5) above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The banded Roseate Spoonbill (M5) above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Belted Kingfisher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Snowy Egret juvenile with Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
I learned from Dr. Jerry Lorenz, Director of Research, Audubon of Florida, that the spoonies I had observed were M5 and KP, banded as chicks for research at Alafia Banks on 16 April 2003 and South Park Key in Florida Bay on 3 Jan 2009 respectively. Be sure to report all of your banded bird sightings if you are able. I will be offering links for specific species observed in the sidebar of this blog soon.
The Blue-winged Teal above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill with Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Snowy Egret with juvenile above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Great Blue Heron with Brown Pelican and Snowy Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The banded Roseate Spoonbill (KP) with Snowy Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Least Sandpiper above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The last day made for observations as of this writing was made on 20 October 2012. It was then that I made the visit to Bunche while meeting up with
Bob Blanchard whom has been honing his skills in mastering wildlife photography of Southwest Florida and beyond. Bob told me that he had sent in his gear to Canon for refit and tooling recently while feeling a bit under the weather. He was in top form this week as evidenced by his work.
The sunrise above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Great Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher with Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher with Western Sandpiper above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Peregrine Falcon above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Peregrine Falcon above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The approach to the beach from the parking area upon meeting up with Bob was fraught with my decision of which way to travel from there. East or west seems simple enough. If I made the call this particular morning, I would have gone the wrong direction as Bob was inclined to see the action at the west channel. Following Bob, the shore and wading birds were in good numbers upon arrival while challenged to capture a good pic with seemingly every bird choosing not to be photogenic this day for one reason or another. The morning would however offer my most remarkable observation of bird behavior to date.
The Peregrine Falcon above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Peregrine Falcon above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Wilson's Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
While observing a few hundred shorebirds around us, a predator appeared. In it, the Peregrine Falcon caused a routine stir. A photograph of the falcon as it made its remarkable way through the flock was an impossibility at its stunning speed, but it was an awesome experience to savor nonetheless. As Bob is typically seen in the mud, I consider that option occasionally in getting the eye to eye image of a bird while not wanting to miss the possibility of capturing a flier. A focus on Bunche of late has led to the loss of observations at Harns in particular that I favor. A report from there will hopefully be made soon.
The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Semipalmated Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The immature Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2012.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteAs usual I enjoyed your marvelous photo's. I'm sort of jealous every time I see your beautiful blog.
Interesting to read that it makes a lot of difference in sharpness when you crop a photo only one pixel less. I have to look at that too.
In Holland we also have a lot of ringing projects, geese, ducks, egrets, spoonbills, gulls and waders are read (by me). Since autumn arrived, the white fronted geese are staying with us during winter and I like to go out and search for rings. Stunning to realise these birds fly for 5000 km forth and back every year.
Have a nice weekend.
Marianne
I know I leave the same comment every time but your pictures literally take my breath away - they are just so beautiful. I stopped at Bunche awhile back to go shelling. I can see it would be a birdwatcher's paradise. The shelling was good but there was alot of stinky muck the day I was there.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was the pic of the mottled ducks. I had a pair in my backyard for a few months back raising their little guys. You caught that distinctive green spot on the edge of their wing.
Excelente trabalho....
ReplyDeleteCumprimentos
Magistrales fotografias son verdaderamente preciosas
ReplyDeleteHi Bob - Great blog and photos! I'm going to be in SW Florida this week and was wondering if the East or West end is best for Marbled Godwits, Long-billed Curlew, and Roseate Spoonbill? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDelete