Wildlife Photography across the Water: 2012 Trip planner

Monday, 12 March 2012

2012 Trip planner

Flights seem to have reached a new high and the last couple of weeks we have been trying to decide on where to go this year, We started looking at Australia and worked backwards but the high price of flights will keep us pretty grounded and our trips i think for this year at least will be USA based, So we have booked a week in Florida in mid May, This will have given me time to hopefully get the D800 and have had a play with the settings, I will try to do the whole week on the D800 to give it a good work out for birds on the nest and in flight, We are splitting the week in 2 and will start in St Augustine for nesting birds with chicks and then carry on down the coast to Merritt Island for ospreys etc, I haven't been to Merritt Island before but its one of the birding hotspots in Florida and its nice to go somewhere different, We will end the year with a 3 week tour of Florida taking in all the birding hotspots on both East and West coast and also the Florida keys which i am really looking forward to, In between i am hoping for a week or so in California and a week or so in the Smoky's during the Fall, Things are always subject to change but it will give me something to aim at and hopefully next year the gas prices will have fallen and so will air travel and then we can look further a field
Here are a few images from a Florida trip a couple of years ago

Dave

3 comments:

Anonymous12 March 2012 at 15:04
dave,
This was a place I'd heard about in Florida, I don't know whether you know of it?
The Alafia Bank Sanctuary. This island is located in Hillsborough Bay at the mouth of the Alafia River. Each year, up to 7,000 nesting pairs of 16 to 20 species of birds nest on the Alafia Bank Sanctuary, making it one of the largest colonies in Florida and one of the most diverse colonies in the continental United States. The Alafia Bank Sanctuary is famous for Roseate Spoonbills.
Regards
Malcolm (Crowthorne)
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WPATW13 March 2012 at 14:53
Hi Malcolm
Hope you and crowthorne are well, I know of the Alafia banks but have never been, I think that you need a boat or hire one to get to the sanctuary?, I know one guy who does trips/workshops but boy is he expensive, The Roseate spoonbills are now nesting in St Augustine and i hope that there will be a few this year-fingers crossed

Dave
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.