In part 2 of Sparky’s Florida Bird Adventure he travels from Jupiter to Miami and inland to find some amazing birds in interesting locations:

Jonathon Dickinson State Park—Florida Scrub Jays, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Brown-headed Nuthatches.

J.W. Corbett WMA—Bachman’s Sparrow, Swallow-tailed Kite family, 

Grassy Waters Preserve—a very close Snail Kite catching 3 apple snails

Vista View Park—17 Burrowing Owls!

Sparky also shares his best butterfly and reptile finds of the trip.

—South Florida bird photography Part 1—Nearly eaten by Croc!

In Part 1 of Sparky’s Florida birding adventure, he takes his Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens to South Florida…IN SUMMER!

Birding and bird photography stops in the South Miami, the Keys, and the Everglades include:

Brewer Park-Miami (parrot roost-Red Masked Parakeet, Chestnut-fronted Macaw)

Black Point Park & Marina (Mangrove Cuckoo, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Common Myna)

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park-Key Largo (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Big Pine Key (White-crowned Pigeon, Key Deer, Gray Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo)

Fort Zachary Taylor S.P.-Key West (Roseate Tern, Least Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great White Heron, Common Ground Dove)

Key West Botanical Gardens (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Flamingo Boat Launch-Everglades National Park (American Crocodile, West Indian Manatee)

Part 2 will cover Florida from Miami up to Jupiter and inland to Johnathon Dickenson State Park and more.

In Virtually Live 37 S4E2 Sparky shares findings and updates from the Sax-Zim Bog. We join him and Clinton on several Warbler Wednesday & Songbird Saturday field trips. And we find out the results of the First Greater Sax-Zim Bog Big Week!

Wildlife highlights include a huge boar Black Bear, CoyWolf, Cliff Swallows gathering mud, hunting Great Gray, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Flicker nest, dust-bathing Grouse and a variety of warblers.

Sparky makes two visits (April 21 and April 26) to find out. Highlights include a huge flock of ducks, a late Rough-legged Hawk, 8 species of ducks, Sandhill Cranes. We look for a Canada Jay nest, listen to overhead displaying Snipe and walk the Bob Russell Bogwalk. Sparky also shares about the Sax-Zim Bog connection to a new book about Dutchman Arjan Dwarshuis’s World Big Year record in 2016.

Plus, we find out about the new boardwalk and trail planned for Sax-Zim in 2023.

Birding and bird photography in South Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley part 3. Highlights include Aplomado Falcon along Old Port Isabel Road, Red-crowned Parrot pair in Sabal Palm Sanctuary, nine species of wading birds along the boardwalk at South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. Sparky also visits Laguna Atacosa National Wildlife Refuge and SpaceX along Boca Chica Road. Sparky gets video of a spastically hunting Reddish Egret, White-tailed Hawk, White-tailed Kite, Clay-colored Thrush, Green Jays and Altamira Oriole. January 2023.

And he goes down memory lane to his rarest mammal sighting ever!

Sax-Zim Bog: Hawk Owls, Evening Grosbeaks, Hoary Redpoll: Virtually Live 35 S3E10

In this episode of Virtually Live we celebrate with UMD Biology grad student Hannah Tuotonghi as she finally is able to put a satellite transmitter on an elusive Sax-Zim Hawk Owl! We also check in with David Yeany III (Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program) and Matt Young (Finch Research Network) about their Road to Recovery Evening Grosbeak research project. David shares some very cool maps from the banded birds.

Sparky guides Bog Buddies, Warren Woessner and Iris Freeman on an eventful half day trip…Highlights include dancing Sharp-tailed Grouse, a rare Hoary Redpoll and a sleeping Barred Owl that wakes up and starts to hunt.

Spruce Grouse have returned to Sax-Zim and Sparky searches for them along Sax Road. And later he bushwacks in to a bog to search for a Canada Jay nest.

zWe stop by the Welcome Center where some “junior” naturalists are enjoying the Evening Grosbeaks, and listen in on Head Naturalist Clinton’s Minnesota Master Naturalist class. Sparky also enjoys a hike at the peaceful Fringed Gentian Bog and Auggie’s Bogwalk.

Sparky answers your questions…

“How do I get my photos in the Calendar?”

“What Research Projects are you funding?”

More at http://www.saxzim.org

Laguna Seca Ranch in south Texas is a unique bird photography destination. For a $280 fee I had a personal guide and use of three different photo blinds. …One for raptors including Crested Caracara, Harris’s Hawks, Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures.The songbird blinds produced goodies like Green Jays, Long-billed and Curve-billed Thrashers, Pyrrhuloxia, Bobwhite, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Lesser Goldfinches, Black-crested Titmouse, and Olive Sparrow. A javelina even wanders by!

Snow Blind—Making a Photo Blind / Photo Hide out of snow for bird photography.

Sparky and Ryan put ancient skills to a modern use…A quinzhee is a type of snow shelter used by the Ojibwa in the North Woods and it is a perfect shelter for hiding the photographer.

Sparky’s kids also put in a cameo!

2011, 2013, 2023

More at http://www.thephotonaturalist.com

Photo Galleries at http://www.sparkyphotos.com

Part 1—Sparky’s Texas Bird Adventure

Leaving snowy Minnesota behind Sparky returns to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas for some birding and bird photography. 

I explore Estero Llano Grande & Bentsen state parks and find some great stuff including roosting Pauraques, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Tropical Kingbird (what a great name!), Red-crowned Parrots, Gray Hawk, White-tipped Doves, Hook-billed Kite, Least Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Cinnamon Teal

It has been 35 YEARS since my first trip here and 15 years since my last visit, and I share some memories from 2008 when Ryan Marshik and I participated in the Valley Land Fund photo contest. 

One of my goals is to add species to my “Photographed List,” which stands at 525 species for the ABA area (north of Mexico in North America). In this episode I add 4 new species and improve on my photos for 8 more species. I don’t find the Social Flycatcher so I do not add any Lifers to my ABA birding list.

Stay tuned for Part 2 when I rent out an entire Texas ranch for bird photography!

February 2023: Sparky makes a quick birding/bird photography trip out to “Minnesota’s tundra” of Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge and Polk County. Is there anything to be found out here at Minus-40F? YES! Snowy Owls, Greater Prairie Chickens, Snow Buntings, Gray Partridge, basking Red Fox and more! Sparky even makes a visit to Key West…but he finds NO beaches…NO bikinis…NO bars or beers.