Four Quite Excellent Mornings at Indian Lake Estates (ILE)

What’s Up?

Thursday morning dawned cloudy-dark, but I went down to the lake anyway. And was glad that I did. It was so dark, that all 600+ images I created were made with the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens, hand held while working wide open at f/2.8. As you will see near the end of the YouTube video below, that choice proved to be quite fortuitous. I photographed the crane nest with two eggs — I am hoping that they hatch soon, and then spent some quality time in the rain with the crane family. With the young eagle in the nest, lots of nesting Osprey, and the crane family of four, the last four mornings of photography at ILE have been quite productive.

I am continuing to immerse myself in the story and music of John Prine and have been swimming every day. I have begun to work on two keynote programs for the Georgia Nature Photographers Association (GNPA) Expo, April 7-10, 2022, at Jekyll Island, GA. I will be sharing details here soon. Very soon. I am quite thankful that I was able to recover the three years’ worth of temporarily lost images … I have spent the last few days picking optimized images to be re-sized for slide shows via a Photoshop Action. Last night I was working on the July 2021 folder and was completely amazed at how many great flight and Royal Tern chick images I had from the Jacksonville tern and gull rookery. I will surely be running an IPT or two there this summer.

Today is Friday 11 March 2022. The forecast for this morning is for mostly to partly cloudy with a breeze from the south. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too had a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare (including the time spent creating the video) and makes two days in a row with a new one.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. And please consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn …

Four Excellent Bird Photography Mornings at ILE with Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Bird photography in late winter and early spring can be quite excellent down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Enjoy four recent mornings with me. This short (4:15) video includes lots of photo tips. Which is your favorite image from the video? Why did you make your choice?

March Indian Lake Estates In-the-Field Sessions

Two hours of intensive instruction: $200.00 (Add $100.00 if we are blessed with very small chicks). Add a working brunch with image review: $100.00. Sunny mornings with east winds are best. Likely subjects include ridiculously tame Sandhill Cranes and colts, a young Bald Eagle in the nest, Black and Turkey Vultures, Crested Caracara, Limpkin, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and more. Small crane chicks hopefully coming soon.

If you’d like to join me, please get in touch via e-mail or try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide You can purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide

126 pages, 87 photographs by Joe Przybyla and Arthur Morris.
The PDF for this e-Guide is an electronic download sent via e-mail.

Purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

I had thought about doing a guide to some of the great but little-known photo hotspots around central Florida for about a decade, but those plans never came to fruition. I met Joe online in the Avian Forum at BirdPhotographer’s.Net about two years ago. Joe’s photography has improved tremendously over the past few years; he credits the BAA blog, my books and PDFs, and his participation on BPN. The one thing that I learned right from the get-go about Joe is that he is a hard and tenacious worker, always striving to improve his skills and to grow his knowledge base. As he knew of more than a few good spots in central Florida, I broached the idea of us doing a photographic site guide that covered many of the little-known photographic hotspots from Brandon to Lakeland to Joe Overstreet Road to Indian Lake Estates (my Florida home for the past 20 years or so). After more than many, many dozens of hours of effort, The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide is now a reality. Thanks to Joe’s wife Dottie for her review of our writing. We all learned once again that writing is a process, a back-and-forth process. All thanks to the white pelicans of Lakeland. Here are the locations that are detailed in this e-Guide:

• Indian Lake Estates: Sandhills Cranes with chicks and colts, lots of vultures, and Ospreys up the kazoo!
• Gatorland, Kissimmee: Learn to make great images of wading birds in a cluttered rookery.
• The Brandon Rookery: Great for nesting Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and more.
• Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland: Here you will find a great variety of avian subjects in a great variety of habitats.
• Lake Morton, Lakeland: There are lots of silly tame birds here including and especially American White Pelican during the colder months.
• Lake Mirror, Lakeland: Tame Anhingas, Limpkins, and a zillion White Ibises at times.
• West Lake Parker, Lakeland: Here you will have a chance for two difficult birds, Snail Kite, and Purple Gallinule.
• Joe Overstreet Road, Kenansville: Crested Caracara, meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrike, and much more on the fenceposts and barbed wire.

Each location includes a map, a detailed description of the best spots, best season, light and time of day instructions, the expected species, and an educational and inspirational gallery that is designed to open your eyes as to the possibilities.

You can purchase a copy here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.