Shore Birds on Rabbit Key

A minor break in the cold gave us a weekend of mild temperatures, but as always, strong winds. This time, the winds were coming mostly from the north and by Saturday afternoon, reaching 20-25 knots. We left Chokoloskee Island Park after getting the permit for Rabbit Key and headed across Chokoloskee Bay toward Rabbit Key pass. We wanted to cross into the Auger Hole but with the outgoing tide, the Auger Hole was nothing but a large oyster shell mound, passable only with a 100-ft portage over sharp shells. So we scrapped our plans to explore the Rabbit Key grasses area and headed out toward the gulf via the pass.

Birds were plentiful on the paddle. Many active osprey nests were passed by within feet on this route. The adults were busily fishing as we paddled in the warm, sunny morning. The white pelicans were in large number on their usual oyster shell in the bay. I decided to capture them while we waited for another friend who left from a different launch site. The north winds were already 10-15 knots. For photographing from a canoe, winds that are 10 knots or higher make it pretty much impossible. Today, the outgoing tide and wind worked in unison to push the water at a very rapid rate as I approached the pelicans while maneuvering around the number of shoals in the area. The stake out pole was impossible to use with the boat moving so quickly, so I had to find water shallow enough that I could plant my foot on the ground. The birds were wary of me as usual. I did not want to try to approach too closely since I did not have total control of my boat. Although I have been photographing these birds every year for several years, it has never been easy. The winds, the currents, the boat traffic, etc all make these white pelicans a special challenge. Not to mention the fact that when they are clustered close together, framing a well composed shot is not as simple as it seems. Nevertheless, I always get excited when I see the large white "billboard" in the distance as I launch from the marina and look south over the bay toward the oyster bed.

By early afternoon we were setting up camp on lovely Rabbit Key. Soon after getting the tent up, large flocks of shorebirds began to fly in and land on the long sand bar that juts out of the island in an easterly direction. The sand was becoming more exposed with the outgoing tide. I noticed that the sand bar was about 2 feet higher than usual, probably from the north winds constantly working on it. This also created deeper water in front of our camp area on the nonexposed side of the sand bar. This is to our advantage, especially when launching at a low tide condition.

More birds began to congregate at the farthest point of the sand bar. I was hoping to see oyster catchers, and they did appear as the "tweeted" loudly across the water. There were also royal terns in large number. At first site, I have a difficult time identifying small shorebirds. But after looking over the photos more closely and checking my bird books, I learned that I photographed the following; american oyster catchers, ring billed gulls, ruddy turnstones, red knots, sanderlings, and one skimmer. I could try to guess the total number of birds, but I would probably be off by a hundred or two. The greatest majority were the smaller birds, about 75% of them were red knots the rest were sanderlings and ruddy turnstones. There were probably about 50 oyster catchers and close to the same number of royal terns. There were only 2 ring billed gulls that I could see and then there was the single skimmer. I first noticed the skimmer as he stood in the middle of a hundred or so red knots. From the end of the sand bar where a channel of water passed by, the birds gathered in clusters of their own kind, with the oyster catchers always on the farthest end near the water, the ruddy turnstones together in an area next to the oyster catchers, the royal terns in front of them and then the red knots and sanderlings scattered beyond toward the inside of the sand bar. The skimmer was on the edge of the bird population and later I noticed it had an injured foot.

Here's the cool thing about these shorebirds. When the red knots are en masse, their synchronized flying skills are a treat to watch over the water. They turn one way in synch and appear white, and then they all turn another way, appearing dark. They skim above the water quickly and cluster together like one large shimmering pile of jewels. I have wanted to capture their amazing flight so many times and have barely managed to do so. But today, I had the rest of the afternoon, I was on land and they were right there next to me. Not only that, I had the wind directly behind me which meant that any bird landing or taking off would do so facing me. Sweet. The wind did kick up a bit much, I had a lot of vibration on the lens at times, so overcoming that was a challenge.

The other thing I like about shorebirds, is that if they do scare off, they will fly around once or twice and eventually come back. And so it was that I spent the next 3 hours or so playing with the birds. I had a panoramic view of them as they flew around and landed on the beach. The sun was behind me as I laid on the ground for low shots or stood up for flight shots. It was a smorgasbord of shorebird photography. As the afternoon moved on, the tide started rising again and the sand bar became less exposed as the water crept over it. This meant that the birds had to move in closer to me! Other than the wind getting a bit out of control and a somewhat chilly, this was a glorious afternoon of birds. After about 10 gigs of memory and 2 batteries, I decided to leave the birds and prepare for dinner.

While I was engaged in bird photography, we had additional parties show up on our little island. Two parties of canoes were attempting to paddle out to Pavilion key and with the nasty winds, could not make it out there safely. Later that evening, we built a nice fire and some of our neighbors came over to join our party. In the dark I could still hear the occasional tweeting of the oyster catchers and other shorebirds as we sipped wine and enjoyed the cool temperatures. This was another beautiful evening in the Everglades.

At last!

In the 13 winters that I have lived in Miami, never have I experienced a consistently cold and windy season as this one. With one Canadian blast right after the other, we've had very little reprieve from the cold temperatures and high winds. Other than an overnight to Tiger Key, I have not had my canoe out this year. So when this weekend looked like it would offer us warm temps and calm winds, I knew I would spend a morning on Chokoloskee Bay at the bird rookery.

On that morning as I launched from Everglades City rangers station, all the kayak fishermen in the area headed out to Indian Key for the 6th annual Paddle-In hosted by Capt Wright and his wife Vicki from Everglades Area Tours. As the colorful parade of kayaks headed out Indian Key Pass, I broke away and paddled toward the rookery. The sky was mostly covered with a thin veil of clouds as I headed toward the tiny islands, where I arrived at a very late 8:30 am. I noticed a few white specks on some of the mangroves but it was clear that the majority of rookery residents were the brown pelicans. The long necks were not quite in the prime of nesting yet, but I did watch one lovely egret couple as the morning progressed.


The brown pelicans were mostly sitting and I suspect there were several nests. A few birds were flying in and out to gather nesting material. I watched one bird come out of its nesting area and go to an area not more than 10 ft or so away, break off a small mangrove branch and then fly out and around the island until flying back into its nest. It did this every couple minutes or so.

There was one great white among several pelicans and once anchored and settled into one spot, I found that I had a pretty good angle on the bird. It flew in with a large branch and for several minutes worked with the branch in the nest area. Between working with the branch, it preened earnestly and every few minutes or so it would stretch up toward the sky, forming the letter "S" with its long white body while pointing its brilliant orange beak vertically. I positioned my camera vertically in attempt to capture this behavior. My arms and shoulders ached as I held the camera without support. I didn't want to bother with the monopod so I would hold my place on the bird for a minute until I couldn't stand the pain and would rest my arms awhile. More than once, I missed my opportunity as the bird would shoot upward, splaying its breeding plumage all about. Frustrating as it was, I did manage a shot of its behavior.

And one point, a second egret flew in and stood still behind the first bird. This went on for about 15 min until the second bird flew away. Clearly, one was attracting the other. I hope to see them in their nest the next time I visit.

The clouds more or less burned off and it was a pleasantly hot late morning when I decided to paddle away. The osprey nesting in the area were busy fishing most of the morning. Before leaving the rookery area, I was fortunate enough to spot an osprey hovering close by. I managed to get myself between it and the high sun. Soon it made a dive, close enough that I needed to zoom in with the 70-400mm lens. I was able to capture a few diving shots and some shots of the bird catching a mullet. I managed some well focused shots of the event but unfortunately the bird was facing away from the camera as it came out of the water with fish in claw.

The hot sun felt so good and I did not want this day to end. I stayed on the water a couple more hours just paddling around the bay.

Tiger Key overnighter

Finally, it warmed up and we were able to get back on the water; the first time this year. We expected strong winds, especially on Sunday, so my plans to spend Sunday morning at the brown pelican rookery seemed to fade as the weekend progressed. As always, my camping and paddling trips are a challenge to bird photography. This time, I thought I could at least visit the rookery for an hour or two either on the way to Tiger or on the way back the next day. The trip to Tiger is relatively short (about 8 miles) and when coodinating the route and timing with the tides, I figured I'd have lots of time to spend with the birds. But intentions are only that.

Saturday morning started very foggy. Despite this, the warm humidity was welcomed after the long spell of cold we suffered recently. At the E. City ranger station's launch site, the smell of dead fish was prominent, as it would be on Tiger Key. The fish kill was devastating and without going into any detail, it was down right depressing to paddle and see bright shiny objects floating in the water. The first couple of times I spotted such a site I expected to head over to the object and pick out some trash from the water. As soon as I realized it was a dead fish, I just hung my head. It was sad to see them in such numbers, floating in water and hanging from the mangrove roots. In the long run, the Everglades will survive the set back; it may take years, but the fish will return. But wow, what a loss.

We expected 20-25 knot winds on Sunday so it was decided that I would visit the rookery on our way to Tiger on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, that meant that I would not arrive at the rookery no earlier than 9 am since we need to purchase our camping permit and the station does not open until 8 am. We at least had our boats loaded and ready to launch as soon as I scored the permits. I arrived at the rookery to find the brown pelicans nesting in full force. A few birds were busy flying in with branches, but mostly the birds were sitting in the canopies of several small mangrove islands situated in a shallow shoal area of the bay. On one occasion, we spotted a couple having sex. The behavior I noticed most was one partner jabbing or biting the other. Although clumsy with the huge beak and pouch, it never seemed too aggressive, more playful-like. For the most part, the birds were simply sitting among the branches. I didn't notice any nests, but they were there obviously as birds would fly in with branches.

Interesting thing I noticed about the brown pelicans is that compared to the egrets (even the smaller cattle egrets), the branches they fly in with are of a small lot. I'm guessing its difficult for them to gather branches in the first place with their beaks that are not meant to break or jab. It seemed odd to see such a large bird with a big mouth carrying a stick no longer than 12 inches.


The lighting conditions required use of the flash if I was to get any worthy shots of these birds. But, because of our tide situation, I could not stay with the birds more than 20-30 min. I had 3 paddling companions and could not be left behind. So, I did not bother to take out the flash. Instead, I increased the ISO to 800 and metered a shutter speed no faster than 1/200. This was less than optimal but I figured it was worth recording some of the behaviors and besides, I plan to visit this rookery several more times this spring.

I managed some decent shots of birds flying in with branches and the wind direction placed the bird landing at an optimal point of view for me. The only other birds near by were the cormorants mostly on their own little island. But no great whites. I wonder if they will be nesting here this year. Strange that I did not see one egret. Perhaps they begin a bit later. I did notice one frigate bird flying overhead and then land on one of the mangroves. I had never seen a frigate bird so close and not flying high overhead.


By 9:30 am we were paddling toward Russell Key pass and eventually toward the gulf to Tiger Key. We decided to camp on the north end of the island where we might enjoy the southeasterly breezes. This would help minimize the bugs. It had been over 4 years since I camped here. The high tide sandy spit was barely big enough for a few small tents but now, the large sandy embankment extended out a few hundred feet. The area for camping was large, but without shade. This turns out to be a very beautiful camping spot for both evening sunset colors over the water and a sunrise view as well.


After setting up camp, I went back out and paddled around Tiger, checking out Picnic key along the way. I noted that the west side of Tiger Key where we last camped was overtaken by dozens of black vultures feasting on the numerous dead fish washed up on shore. The sun was high overhead, so I did not plan to take photographs, I just wanted to leisurely paddle and enjoy the warmth. I noted a small bull shark and a couple of spotted rays in the water. I got back to camp and relaxed in the mid-afternoon breeze. And then I noticed an egret land in the water near the beach. It was a reddish egret! I quickly got out the telephoto and carefully walked into the water to get lined up between the sun and the bird. It continued to walk around the the sand spit and I followed it waiting for it to begin its fishing theatrics. It stayed on for about 15 min, but demonstrated its wing spread only twice, both times facing away from the camera. It managed to catch a minnow and soon, it flew off to somewhere distant.


In the evening as we ate dinner and enjoyed the sunset, I watched a flock of willets and other assorted small shorebirds flying toward the east point of the spit. I love watching these birds flying together, skimming over the water. They sparkle as they turn in unison exposing their white undersides. By now, the lighting was sweet, the water illuminated with pink and blue pastels. The birds were brilliant flying over the water so I got out the telephoto and waited for them to fly back. And they did, swirling around a few times and finally landing. If they scare off, eventually they fly back so there were several opportunities to capture them as the lighting eventually faded.


During the early morning hours while we lay in our tent, the southeast winds increased to a stiff 15 knots sustained. This would be our next morning's paddle with mostly head winds increasing to 20 knots. We left early to take advantage of the in coming tide, but by the time we reached the exposed open West Pass Bay, the winds were 15-20 knots. From that point on, the paddle was a constant drudge in my solo canoe. There would be no photography today, the waves were very choppy coming straight on.

Despite the conditions, there were some above average photo opportunities; the rookery, a frigate bird, the beautiful Tiger Key, reddish egret and the willets. My goal is to get over to the rookery as early as possible on a calm, clear day and spend some quality time with the brown pelicans. I can't wait!

9 Days Circumnavigating Whitewater Bay

In the midst of camping season, we have just completed our 9-day paddle that took us around Whitewater Bay and up into the head of the Shark River Slough (Rookery Branch area). The term "rookery branch" implies lots of birds. Historically, this is a great place for birds, fish and gators as it is where the swampy saltwater mangrove forest meets the freshwater grassy marshes of the Everglades. Shark River Slough runs the freshwater down into this area and it is here where gators normally make good homes, and by doing so, enhancing the creeks and waterways. This in turn creates an optimal place for fish and consequently birds. So you can imagine that I was excited to spend a couple days in that area.

We began our paddle from Hells Bay Trail, over to Joe River, up to Oyster Bay, crossing into Shark River all the way to Avocado Creek which leads into Rookery Branch. From there, we headed back down Shark River into the labyrinth that leads us back to Whitewater Bay, into North River and Roberts River, eventually into Lane Bay and back out to Hells Bay and the trail. This was an 8-night stay and mostly chickee camping. The chickee camping was interrupted midway with 2 nights on the Canepatch ground site (next to Rookery branch).

Since we are always on the water by 7 am, give or take, early morning photography is the best. I was able to capture the waterscapes with beautiful lighting and colors. Photographing from my canoe on such trips has some unique challenges. For instance, I am traveling with companions and more frequently than not, cannot stop long in one area for photographing. Thus, most of my photos are shot "on the fly". But, I make the best of it and take as many shots as I can with the expectation that one of them will be worth framing and many of them will help to tell the story of our trip. I do like to photograph my companions on the water. This is especially nice when the water is calm and the lighting is ideal. The reflection of the boat is sweet, as seen here:

There is one particular challenge that is constant. The mangrove shorelines typically surrounding me do not always indicate a straight horizon line. I will often line up the shot with one of the following; the mangrove canopy, the shoreline or the boat bow. But rarely will all three be horizontally parallel to one another. I think I am getting a straight shot and then will see a crooked horizon in the photo. I find that most of the time you cannot use the traditional rule of lining up the trees or shoreline with a perfect horizontal ruler. Often, I have to rotate the photo enough that my eyes are no longer fooled by the illusion and can see the scene as straight, regardless of the ruler's orientation. Look at this photo below. I lined up the right shoreline in front of the boat with the ruler and now the photo looks crooked. That's what I am talking about. The second photo is yet another example. From my perspective, the mangroves were not perfectly in front of me, and so they line up at a slight angle. I could have changed the angle of the photo to make them horizontal, but that would have placed the moon and its reflection at an angle. So, I made sure the moon and reflection were vertically lined up as they should be.



Lighting is often a challenge on a paddling trip because you frequently do not have the luxury of going in a direction that gives you optimal frontlighting. Since we are on the water early, most of my shots are taken between 7-10 am and I will mostly have to stop and turn myself or my boat to get the right lighting. After 10 or 11 am, I usually put the camera away and wait until evening to shoot from the campsite.

Another issue concerns keeping the camera dry. I don't see this so much as a challenge since I have it pretty well down to a science and feel comfortable in the boat with my camera. The pelican case is locked at all times except when to take out or put back the camera. I clean the lenses every night when at camp.

Probably the most frustrating challenge for me on these long trips is that lack of wildlife photography. Mostly, the wildlife scenes are fleeting or too far away. I see lots of birds and mammals on these trips, but only on occasion do I get opportunities for close ups. When paddling, I typically have the small lens out since the watescape shots are more abundant. Frequently, a good wildlife shot comes into view, but I will not have my telephoto lens out to shoot it. One good example is on the morning we were paddling down Roberts River. The early morning light was spectacular as we came up to an osprey nest that was positioned perfectly for photographing. I didn't see any birds, so I photographed the scene with the small lens. Within a minute, one of the osprey parents came flying in with some branches and continued to fly in circles over the nest, obviously disturbed by my presence. The lighting on the bird's wings was magnificent and of course, I did not have my telephoto out. That sort of thing happens a lot on these trips. Here's one shot I did manage the day we arrived in lane Bay:

Sunset and sunrise shots are abundant on these trips, both from the water and from the campsite. I particularly like the photo opps from the chickees because the view is often open and nicely situated for a sunrise or sunset photo. Below are two photos, the first taken from the water on Lane Bay and the second taken in the evening from the Roberts River chickee. For the chickee shot, I used the tripod.


Probably one of my favorite subjects for photographing on these trips are the clouds. Over a course of 9 days, anything can happen, weather-wise. We had two fronts pass over us and we had one day that was completely cloudless (a rare thing). Here's a shot of some storm clouds forming as we headed toward Whitewater Bay on our second day:

Lastly, we so looked forward to spending time in the Rookery Branch area. We purposely spent two nights at Canepatch, allowing us one day to explore. I imagined that I would wander off alone and find some areas with lots of wading birds during our day off. It didn't happen quite that way. First,the day was overcast. Second, the water levels are so high right now (lots of freshwater run off from the slough) that the fish, gators and birds are dispersed and mostly nowhere to be seen (somes vultures at the campsite and a few woodstorks flying overhead was about it). On this day, there was no fishing or photography. The photo below sums up my day on Rookery Branch. So it goes sometimes in the Everglades:

For this trip, here is a list of camera equipment that I brought with me:

Tripod and ball head
In the 1500 pelican case:
Sony a100 attached to 18-70mm lens
Sony a700 attached to 70-400mm lens
Extra camera batteries and extra AA batteries
Three lens clothes (once a cloth is exposed to any amount of salt water, such as from my fingers, I put it away)
Extra memory cards
Cleaning solution and lens brush/stick
In the 2100 pelican case:
External flash and better beamer
Voice recorder (to record specific places and events)

Overall, I was very pleased with the photos, they do tell a good story and show the areas where we paddled. For a day to day photo account as a slideshow, please go to this link: http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh202/cmierkayaker/Whitewater%20Bay%202009/?albumview=slideshow
Also, I have several photos in my pbase gallery: http://www.pbase.com/cmierkayaker/the_everglades

Base camping at the Watson Place, Everglades

When I started this blog, my intention was to write about my day trips that are for the purpose of photographing and not much else. I write about my camping experiences in the Everglades through my website where I also post photos of the trips. But on my first camping trip of the season, I decided that there were things to be shared on this blog. I thought I would include specific stories relating to photography experiences while on long paddling trips.

Normally on paddling trips, photography is more or less a journal of our journey. The photos boost my memory and make it easier to write about the experiences. Rarely do I have the opportunity to take side excursions for the sake of photographing. The only way you can really do this is to base camp and spend a day or more in one area. And so we did just that for our Thanksgiving holiday trip.

We base-camped at the Watson Place, which sits on the Chatham River that connects the backcountry bays to the gulf within the 10,000 Islands. We spent 2 nights at Watson Place and our last night on Rabbit Key. On the morning following our first night at Watson, I got on the water by 7 am. The sun was not yet peering over the mangroves that line the gloriously broad Chatham River. The river bends lazily toward the gulf and on this morning, we had some incoming tide, but not too strong. The winds were going to be a very stiff 15-20 knots out of the northeast but I was heading toward the mouth of the river where lay several mangrove isles that could protect me. There, I thought I would find lots of birds feeding and since the low tide was only a couple hours earlier, I might get lucky and find birds on some exposed bars.

The birds were out and about, but on the river they were mostly treed. The water levels were unusually high and although I spotted a great blue heron and tricolor heron on the mud below the mangroves, I would not see any wading birds wading today. White ibises, especially juveniles were in abundance. So were the snowy egrets. I also spotted several juvy little blue herons, still in their white plumage.

I paddled along the river spotting several birds along the way. But here is the thing with Everglades birds, they scare easily; at least from objects floating in the water. So it was that I spent much of the morning chasing them down, so to speak. Many would fly overhead, but mostly they were flying away.

One thing that was quite noticeable, and something that I have noticed before is that the juvenile ibises scare the least. On more than one occasion I came right up on a flock of them standing at the level of the mangrove roots (where they blend well). Once, I was able to get some shots of about a half dozen or so standing closely together. Then all of a sudden, they took off one by one. But it wasn't just the birds I saw, but several more that were hiding behind the roots. There must have been 2 dozen juvenile ibises that flew off to a farther point only to be spooked again by the passing boat.

Once I got to the mouth of the river, the winds became evident. I rounded the corner and followed the shoreline that eventually leads into the Huston River. Here, I felt a strong head wind and the waves were choppy in the relatively wide open area I was in. The birds were going to lead me to some enchanted area where I would be surrounded by little mangrove islands that would protect me from the nasty winds. I would float in calm water and the birds would be all around me. Pink, orange, yellow, blue, red, brown and white, the colors would be well represented among them.

I continued chasing a flock of snowy egrets that flew somewhere past a couple islands. I paddled between them and came into a more protected area. I could see the mangroves ahead lined with white birds. I thought if I approach carefully, I might get close enough. Among the white figures was a lone pink, larger figure. I didn't get no less than 500 feet from the birds when they flew off to various distant points. Dang, they must have awesome eyesight! The lone roseate spoonbill flew off, but toward me luckily.

I continued trying to get close shots of birds but except for the occasional juvy white ibis, it would be mostly futile. On my last attempt at grasping for straws, I began to cross a small bay that all of a sudden became directly exposed the northeast winds. It was a side wind and could not have been less than 15 knots. Of all the winds there are, I least prefer a side wind. I braced and continued to paddle vigorously, with camera and lens in lap to a point that would provide me some shelter. Finally I reached it. It was the same point where several birds had just been roosting before I scared them away. Forget the birds, I needed to put away the camera safely into the pelican case for now. I needed to get out of this bay and on the lee side of the island. With life jacket now securely on, I paddled on and eventually arrived in calmer waters.

The remainder of the morning on the water did not amount to any bird photos. The conditions were not the best, water levels and winds were too high. The paddle back to Watson was leisurely. We explored a little creek where osprey were nesting near by, we spotted 3 manatee in the river, one with its large head clearly out of water. I spotted the other 2 by seeing only the ends of their snouts, but we all know what they look like in the water. As always, they scare me as much as I scare the birds! The last thing I want to experience in the Everglades is a manatee tipping my boat. Well, maybe the second last thing. The last thing I want to experience is a Burmese python. But, I'll save that fear for our next camping trip.

For a slide show of the trip, go to:

http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh202/cmierkayaker/Thanksgiving2009/?albumview=slideshow.

Biscayne Bay: High winds, high tide

November 15: It had been over a month since I was on the bay, so getting out on a day when the tide was not ideal for wading bird photography and with expected winds picking up to a stiff 10-15 knots did not seem any less appealing than a day of perfect conditions. I missed being in the canoe and I missed the bay. We launched from Deering and I thought I might see some activity despite the conditions; maybe the gulls would be hanging out at the sponge farms, maybe the bird rookery would have some activity, maybe it would just be a good day to paddle. I had no expectations. And anyway, my new Sony telephoto zoom lens was sent in for repairs, the autofocus not working. Thankfully, it is under full warranty.

I thought I would take out the Minolta 300mm today. Maybe I would find something inside a creek or maybe I could get close enough to the gulls with the 300mm. In the back of my mind I think that sometimes it is a useful exercise to take one prime lens and make the best of it. I could have taken the 1.4 TC with the 300mm lens, but decided not to bother. The Minolta is a sharp, fast lens and I thought about how successfully I photographed wading birds close up on Biscayne Bay before I had the TC attached back in 2007. Some of my best shots were taken with that single prime lens.

Today though, there would be no wading birds, the high tide was about 9 am and what a high tide it was. I couldn't figure it out since the moon was only a little over half full. The water levels were high and all the birds were treed. Some of the single birds could be seen roaming around the edge of the mangrove shoreline or flying about. I saw a handful of great blue herons, great white egrets, a juvenile yelloowcrown nighheron, kingfishers, an osprey or two, a few green herons, and several ibises. On the islands, the brown pelicans were roosting and there were several flying and diving the bay. But it was the cormorants that outnumbered everyone. They were plentiful in the island near Deering Estate and they decorated the little mangrove islands that line the channel near Chicken Key. The bird rookery was full of them and they could be seen in great number in the water near the channel.

The cormorants were taking up residence at the sponge farms but as soon as I approached, they flew off one by one. This left room for some ringed-billed gulls and royal terns that came by to perch for awhile.

At one point I passed close to the shoreline where a very large manatee was resting. I came up on it about 6 feet away when the boat scared the animal. It made a strong wake in the shallow water and quickly passed directly under my boat. Geez, that always makes my heart stop. I've said it many times and I will say it again, the only time I am afraid of tipping over is in the presence of one of these behemoths. And there it was, large as a hummer, it's grayness illuminated in the shallow water as it gracefully moved away from the strange monster that appeared out of nowhere. Once my heart settled back into sinus rhythm, I continued on watching the waters more closely.

Today was not much of a photo day, such as it is sometimes on the water. This is a tricky time of year with the high winds and fronts that can pass through on a whim. Now is the time that I spend mostly camping in the Everglades, so getting out for day trips is infrequent. Work has saddled me more than usual. When I will be out here again is difficult to say, but whenever it is, it's going to be low tide early morning and it will be where the wading birds are plentiful.

Now, I am preparing for our Thanksgiving trip, the first camping trip of the season. I will not have my Sony lens back in time for that trip, but that's fine with me. I hope to see the white pelicans, and maybe capture the group in Chokoloskee bay before heading out Rabbit Key pass. In the meantime, enjoy the few photos from this day on Biscayne Bay.

Back to the Big Cypress and the Florida Trail Assoc.

The past 2 weekends have been a pleasant diversion from the Everglades and Biscayne Bay, not that I was needing one. For a change, the Florida Trail Association (FTA) was the center of attention. During the halloween weekend, FTA's south Florida regional conference was held at Fisheating Creek. I was asked to give a little talk on the topic of, what else, photographing from a canoe. In addition to the talk, I spent a morning on the creek, one of the most beautiful in Florida.

It was a terribly hot weekend and it didn't help matters that some of our FTA friends came to the conference in their air conditioned travel trailers and vans. By Sunday morning, we were so ready to pack up the hot tent and get back home. We vowed to never car camp on Fisheating Creek again (car camping is an occasional necessary evil in my book). This creek is a gem that must be enjoyed with 2 or 3 days of paddling and remote camping. One of my best nights in Florida was spent on that creek a couple years ago, I still cannot get the sounds of the night out of my head. The beauty of the creek is not just in the water and the cypress trees that grow out of it, but in the nighttime symphony of animal sounds. Read about that adventure here: http://cmierphotoandfitness.net/FEC.html.


This weekend, I was back in the Big Cypress, on the Florida Trail. I helped my FTA chapter that maintains a section of the trail to clear it for use. Several hardy FTA members, including myself, worked on the trail over the weekend, cutting, chopping and mowing the trail. We spent a pleasant and coolish night at the Panther campsite, where I had my Hennesy Hammock set up for sleeping. I hadn't been on the trail in years, and it felt good to be hiking again in the BC where the Florida panthers roam.

No significant photography came out of these weekends. Despite having much of my equipment with me at Fisheating Creek, I was only able to photograph the little time I had on the creek one morning. During the Big Cypress trail work weekend, I took my old point and shoot waterproof Pentax Optio. I thought it would be fun to go back to it, the little camera I once used constantly and with joy capturing photos of these places I love. I carried it in my pocket, my viewfinder-less camera and pulled it out to use on a whim.

I couldn't help but think that maybe I have lost my whimsy with photography since the SLR days of hauling around heavy gear. I still find delight in looking at some of my old P&S photos that were actually pretty good, so I know that Pentax can take decent photos. Maybe I need to inject some of that whimsy and abandonment back into my photos as I pursue a path of acceptance and standards. Maybe I am getting too critical of my photos and am trying to fit a mold. Or maybe I just haven't achieved that acceptable level of artistry and technical know-how. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it! Whatever it is, here are a few photos straight from the Pentax, very little postprocessing. I did clone out a bit of tree in one photo and cropped a few others.