Penn & Teller and the Loggerhead Shrike.
Mar//2010
Hello everyone and thanks for checking in on my Blog. As always I’ve ben busy with many projects over the past several months and spent some time in Florida in December and January. While I was there I did my share of photographing birds and other wildlife and even found some time to squeeze a gallon of fresh orange juice. I picked all the oranges one day and then the next I cut and squeezed all them. Nothing like fresh OJ!
Photo of me just after squeezing a gallon of fresh orange juice.
Wish I could say Florida was as much fun as that orange juice but sadly the weather was not good.....in fact it was down right nasty! This was not only the coldest time I’ve spent in Florida over the twenty years I’ve visited the Sunshine State but it’s my understanding it was and continues to be one of the coldest winters on record. Lucky me!
One of the more interesting things I did was to rent a cabin at Myakka River State Park over five nights the first week of January and that’s when things were the COLDEST! Got down into the low 30’s or colder each night. These cabins were built in 1939 and are made out of Palm Tree logs so keeping you warm was not part of the plan back in the late 30’s. However it does have a bathroom, full kitchen, small eat in area and one large room with two beds, fireplace, sofa and table with four chairs. The only thing I had to heat this large room was an air conditioner / heater unit that I would “BLAST” on high all night to maybe get that room up to 50. Even though it was cold each night I must say I really enjoyed the cabin and would recommend them to anyone spending time in the Sarasota area and interested in the outdoors. It gave me a chance to photograph at Myakka RSP and not have to leave the park at the end of the day. However on the third day good friend and fellow photographer Dr Karl Z flew into Tampa where I picked him up and we spent the next three days photographing. While we did spend some time at Myakka RSP we also made a trip to Sanibel Island to try our luck at ‘Ding’ Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Venice Landfill and Ft De Soto State Park in St Pete.
Cabin #4, built in 1939.
This was Dr Karl’s first real photo trip to Florida so for him I think it was like being a kid in a candy store. Lucky for us we had good weather each day Karl was there and had some nice birds to photograph. Some of the highlights were a pair of Limpkin chicks at Myakka. Osprey’s on Sanibel Island and Wilson Plovers at Ft De Soto just to name a few.
Shawn Carey and Dr Karl Z. at Ft De Soto State Park, St Pete, Florida, January 2010.
As for some other highlights during my trip to Florida I spent a fair amount of time at the Venice Landfill which is actually in Nokomis and part of Sarasota County. I know what some of you are thinking: “What the hell are you doing at a landfill”?
For starters because it’s a landfill it attracts many scavengers looking for a free meal. This brings hundreds of vultures, dozens of Bald Eagle, Wood Storks and many other birds. It also has very large open fields which provide good habitat for Killdeer, Sandhill Crane, Glossy Ibis and on the edges where the fence line is located you can see many Loggerhead Shrike. In one small area alone there were four hanging around at any given time. As such I made Loggerhead Shrike my target bird to photograph at the landfill. It was easy enough to get a photo of almost any of the four sitting on the fence wire but that was not the shot I really wanted. However before I tell you what I did to get a better photo I have to fill you in on another “wildlife photographers secret or trick”.
First to help illustrate my point I’ll ask you if you have ever seen Penn and Teller? These guys are amazing, two really COOL magicians but one of the neat things about these two is they often show you how the “tricks” are done. So how does this apply to me and photographing a Loggerhead Shrike? Read More...
Photo of me just after squeezing a gallon of fresh orange juice.
Wish I could say Florida was as much fun as that orange juice but sadly the weather was not good.....in fact it was down right nasty! This was not only the coldest time I’ve spent in Florida over the twenty years I’ve visited the Sunshine State but it’s my understanding it was and continues to be one of the coldest winters on record. Lucky me!
One of the more interesting things I did was to rent a cabin at Myakka River State Park over five nights the first week of January and that’s when things were the COLDEST! Got down into the low 30’s or colder each night. These cabins were built in 1939 and are made out of Palm Tree logs so keeping you warm was not part of the plan back in the late 30’s. However it does have a bathroom, full kitchen, small eat in area and one large room with two beds, fireplace, sofa and table with four chairs. The only thing I had to heat this large room was an air conditioner / heater unit that I would “BLAST” on high all night to maybe get that room up to 50. Even though it was cold each night I must say I really enjoyed the cabin and would recommend them to anyone spending time in the Sarasota area and interested in the outdoors. It gave me a chance to photograph at Myakka RSP and not have to leave the park at the end of the day. However on the third day good friend and fellow photographer Dr Karl Z flew into Tampa where I picked him up and we spent the next three days photographing. While we did spend some time at Myakka RSP we also made a trip to Sanibel Island to try our luck at ‘Ding’ Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Venice Landfill and Ft De Soto State Park in St Pete.
Cabin #4, built in 1939.
This was Dr Karl’s first real photo trip to Florida so for him I think it was like being a kid in a candy store. Lucky for us we had good weather each day Karl was there and had some nice birds to photograph. Some of the highlights were a pair of Limpkin chicks at Myakka. Osprey’s on Sanibel Island and Wilson Plovers at Ft De Soto just to name a few.
Shawn Carey and Dr Karl Z. at Ft De Soto State Park, St Pete, Florida, January 2010.
As for some other highlights during my trip to Florida I spent a fair amount of time at the Venice Landfill which is actually in Nokomis and part of Sarasota County. I know what some of you are thinking: “What the hell are you doing at a landfill”?
For starters because it’s a landfill it attracts many scavengers looking for a free meal. This brings hundreds of vultures, dozens of Bald Eagle, Wood Storks and many other birds. It also has very large open fields which provide good habitat for Killdeer, Sandhill Crane, Glossy Ibis and on the edges where the fence line is located you can see many Loggerhead Shrike. In one small area alone there were four hanging around at any given time. As such I made Loggerhead Shrike my target bird to photograph at the landfill. It was easy enough to get a photo of almost any of the four sitting on the fence wire but that was not the shot I really wanted. However before I tell you what I did to get a better photo I have to fill you in on another “wildlife photographers secret or trick”.
First to help illustrate my point I’ll ask you if you have ever seen Penn and Teller? These guys are amazing, two really COOL magicians but one of the neat things about these two is they often show you how the “tricks” are done. So how does this apply to me and photographing a Loggerhead Shrike? Read More...
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