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Posted by Paul-the-other on 08:25:28 02/10/05
In Reply to: painted buntings posted by hank
Buntngs are in great numbers at Okeeheelee Nature Center at the Palm Beach Park at Forest Hills BLVD. There is no direct turnpike access so take the turnpike to Lake Worth BLVD exit go east to Jog Road, turn left and go to Forest Hill Blvd, turn left and go about 1.3 miles to the park entrance. Follow the signs to Okeeheelee Nature Center, park, take your camera and go back of the center to a bird feeder....sit down...be quiet for about 5 minutes...ignore the score of squirrels..then MAGIC. A genuine technicolor production as the buntings, painted as well as indigo come to the feeders. We are talking numbers and closeness here. Just a gorgeous display. An ovenbird peeks out once in a while. But note; the buntings feed...scatter..and then come back again and again and again. Best time 7:30 -10:30; best sun, 9:00 to 10:30: best day m-f and Saturday/Sunday very early. Best set-up; the ground area, looks very natural. Best tip; wash out the water tray and refill it. The buntings go bonkers for clean water. Better tip: ignore the people that ask "What'cha doing?" in a loud voice that scares everything within 2 counties.
As for robins; here in north Broward this is the best display since about 1989 (for our specific site) The robins are still streaming through. Most are at high altitude bout 200- 800 feet. We run sprinklers early morning to attract them to bathe and poke around the wet soil.
We use Nikon digital/and film (N-80 and D-100)with 200mm VR for quick shots. 300 mm for much closer looks. 2x extenders allow us to "stand-off" and not disturb the birds
Some samples are at ecoconet.net/everglades/
Come up "north" here to Parkland and visit. Drop an identification on the ecoconet site and we'll give you a call on the next field trip. We have a photo group of about 7 people that spend an inordinate amount of time "setting up shots". We differ only slightly from TAS standard operating procedures in that we follow the loose rule "If you can show me a 4x6 color picture you can't log it in." So, we see much more than we shoot. We talk about what we shot not what we saw.
Other posters such as Larry M, Paul L, Paul B, Alex, etc., have laods of great shots but too many rank and file pictures begin to load up the bandwidth. I personally appreciate the pictures of the unusual birds" since many times the field colors are much different than the reproduced color concepts in the bird book. I find this more so in the area of the warblers....they are indeed a vexation!
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