More Florida Birds

I got a chance today to work on a few images from my SW Florida Tour as I arrived in Salt Lake City for my Arches tour this morning and wanted to share a few more images of the variety of birds before my focus turns to the landscapes that await me!  The image above shows a cattle egret in full breeding plumage as he was chasing a rival in one of the rookery locations I visit during the tour.  Their erratic flight patterns make these little rockets a challenge…..even for me!  Throw in the wrong wind direction and it made flight shot windows very limiting!!!  Needless to say, I was thrilled with this capture and a few more frames from that burst. 

As usual, we visited the normal hotspots where  we had plenty of opportunities at the birds feeding.  Yes, I baited in a few areas, but as soon as I ran out of fish to throw, they went about their normal fishing business.  If you go to any fishing pier in Florida, you often don’t have to supply the food as the fisherman usually attract the birds we are looking to photograph.  Florida is a unique that way. 

Not to be missed on any tour down to SW Florida are the Burrowing Owls of Cape Coral.  I have no idea why they choose to live there as it is far from tranquil, but you can always find a good population of them there willing to pose for you, once they get comfortable with your presence.

I have to admit that one of my favorite birds in Florida is the Brown Pelican!  I don’t know why actually…..as they aren’t the most beautiful or graceful!  Somehow they just remind me of the beach and maybe that is why they appeal to me so much.  No shortage of these characters and they always provide quite a few photo ops both in flight and in the water and while we are down on the tours they are in full breeding mode so plenty of opportunities for both nest-building and bathing as in the image below.

Many of you have expressed interest already in next years tour and signed up for the advance list. I will announce the dates upon my return from arches so drop me a line at: rkurywczak@gmail.com if you want to get the first crack at this action packed tour.

New Speaking Engagement Announcement

I am pleased to announce that I will be a speaker at the 67^th Annual New England Camera Club Council’s conference on July 13^th, 14^th, and 15th.  I will be presenting my night photography program: “Photographing the Nighttime Landscape” 3 different times and there will be many more speakers and presenters as well during the conference.  You can find more information on the NECCC website on registration, dorm lodging, as well as a meal plan.  The also have additional hotel information for the area on the site.

The weekend event will have plenty of door prizes as well as model shoots, loaner equipment, a cruise night sponsored by Hunt’s Photo and Video, and the keynote presentation by Joe McNally.  You can find the entire list of speakers and more information here as they post it.

I hope to see you at this fun-filled and educational photography weekend and don’t forget to stop by and say hello!

Florida Birding Tour Update #2

The second tour started off right where the first tour left off with plenty of bird action.  While I like all the variety of approachable bird down here in Florida, my favorites have to be the Roseate Spoonbills.  I had some decent images of them from my years of coming down to Florida, but it wasn’t until I went out on the Hooptie Deux with Captain James Shadle that I was able to capture the images of the spoonbills that I was looking for and in large quantities!  This year was no exception. On all my SW Florida Birding tours, I book at least two days to maximize the opportunity for the Spoonies.  Above and below are just a few of my favorite images from 2 mornings on the boat from the 100’s of keepers that I have on my hard drive.

I am in the process of finalizing the 2013 dates so if you are interested on getting an advance notice, drop me an email at: rkurywczak@gmail.com and I will add your name to the advanced notice list.  I expect next year’s tour to sell out just as quickly as this year’s tour did!  I will post some other birds next week from Arches!

 

First Florida Birding Tour Report

I’m just finishing up the first of two Florida Birding tours with a great group of clients.  They were high energy throughout and just fun to be around!  I haven’t gotten the official tally but as a group, the 4 (Nick Palmieri, Betty Wiley, Megg McNamee, and Linda Marcum) took at least 1 terabyte of images combined!!!  A new record for sure and I look forward to seeing what next week’s group will do.  As usual, we spent a few days on a boat chasing spoonbills and I will share those images with you later but I am always excited by the ospreys and other birds that we have opportunities to photograph too!  As I write this, we were able to capture the image above and below of the osprey on the next to last morning in Ft. Myers (chasing more tomorrow morning).  We had 3 chances this morning at fairly close range.  While this is not the biggest fish I have seen them pull out, it is always a treat to watch them hunt for fish and it stands out as one of the most memorable moments of every tour!

As usual, I visit some lesser know areas for some “shooting ducks in the pond” action as shown in the images above of the ring necked duck and the image below of the red headed duck.

We visit two rookeries for images of displaying egrets as well as many other mating species. This is always on my itinerary and it never disappoints the group.  The image below shows the beautiful display of the great egret.  I hope to get a chance to share with you a few of the Roseate Spoonbill images  from this trip as well as next week’s tour as I get to work on them in the coming days……so stay tuned!

I will be announcing the 2013 dates next month so send me an e-mail to: rkurywczak@gmail.com   if you are interested as these two tours always fill up quickly!

March 4th: A Day that Changed My Life Forever

Maybe it is that I am leaving once again to lead one of my tours…….maybe it’s just me getting  a bit more sentimental as I get older….. but it just occurred to me that I would be away on March 4^th.  I hope you will indulge me as I share with you why this is perhaps the most important day in my life! 

The specific date is March 4^th, 1983.  March 4^th doesn’t appear to be a special date on the surface.  I remember the cartoons in the papers used to have a little boy marching forth but I was never sure why but just for a play of words.  To me, that date is much more significant because that day, I had my first date with Pura!  The movie we went to see that night was 48 hours starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte.  It is hard to believe that 29 years have passed since that first date!

Over the years, she has been the foundation of my family and friends yet has never sought or received any glory. She did give me my first camera one Christmas and from then on has hung on, with both hands, to the roller coaster ride that I have taken her on……always making sure that I was the one who landed on my feet. She has given me my two greatest treasures in my sons; Gregory and Ian. Every morning that I wake up I count my blessings for all of them and realize just how lucky I am to have her beside me!  March 4^th will always be her day…….so let the spotlight shine on you this day my love! 

Pura, you have not only earned the spotlight, but deserve it more than me. You have never given up on me…..even when I had my doubts.  You are the only reason for my success professionally and also as a husband, father, and son. When I get home, I’ll make some popcorn and rent 48 Hours…….because it is always March 4^th in my heart with you. Thanks for always being there for me and making me shine and I just wanted to let the world know the real reason behind my success!