I love the osprey. We have quite a few around here in South West Florida.

Not to be confused with Sea-Eagles, the North American Osprey is a large bird of prey. It’s wing span stretches 6 feet and its body averages 24 inches in length. It’s diet consists entirely of fish, which it catches by dive bombing from high altitudes and grabbing hold of with its extremely long hooked talons.

I was out on Keewadin, kayaking one morning, when this osprey caught a whiting right in front of me.

It let me get close enough to get this shot. But then flew over to another tree when it had enough of me.

Thankfully the next tree, where it started to eat the fish, was still in my line of sight. I was able to snap a few more shots before it took its meal into the estuary.

Last month I took a kayak trip out to one of the barrier islands here in Naples, Florida called Keewaydin. I was able to get out there shortly after sunrise and find some decent shots. The warm light and high contrast made for some lovely black and white imagery.

If you’re near any body of water in South-West Florida, chances are your’re going to see a Double-Crested Cormorant. Not to be confused with the Anhinga, These seabirds spend their time diving underwater and swimming for their food. Since these birds are unable to waterproof their feathers, they are usually seen full-spread, drying their feathers.

This weeks CF subject is a Juvenile White Ibis. I found it in the swamp perched on the remains of a dead mangrove tree.

Enjoy the other shots in the full post.

Mostly devoted to the Snowy Egret, this post highlights one of the more typical sights found here in Naples, Florida.

Keep reading for more shots.

Hah! I fooled you, this is all about Sandpipers!!!

Just kidding. I thought this was too cute to pass up from the set. On to the Egret.

A near miss.

Heading back out to the water, this Snowy Egret is in full breeding plumage.

Stop motion rinse out.

I can’t decide if this is the best shot of the bunch, or the one right before it.

Here’s the base of the pilings the birds were fishing off of.

The Egrets weren’t the only ones feeding on the bait fish.

Im out!

Never drew a pelican, but was taking quite a few photos of them the other day.

I was testing out my new 200mm lens and managed to catch some seagulls feeding at the beach. There a few more shots in this series so click through to take a look.

Was asked to illustrate a logo with some bird influence, ended up sketching this out while thinking up some concepts.

This sunset had something special to offer. For some reason, there were a lot of pelicans feeding at the beach. I took my 200mm lens and was practicing with the high-speed drive mode on my Canon. Keep reading for some wonderful stop motion shots of pelicans.

Alot of people ask me if this is the same bird photoshoped into a set. It’s actually three different pelicans feeding in a group.

It’s like they are swimming underwater…

I did switch up my lens back to the wide angle for the final sunset shot.

Another beautiful sunset in Naples, Florida. Birds were out feeding once again. And I was able to capture a few decent shots. Read the full post for more!

Looking North towards the Naples Pier.

I can’t tell if this is a Western Sandpiper or a White-rumped Sandpiper. The Western Sandpiper is one of the most abundant shorebirds in North America, so I’m going to go with that.

A Ruddy Turnstone sits on a pylon.

You can tell its a Rudy Turnstone by its orange legs and short black bill. They get the name “Turnstone” because they scower the beach turning over small stones and shells looking for food.

I believe these Ruddy Turnstones are in their breeding plumage? Or close to it. I have seen on in their breeding plumage and its quite vibrant.

The same group of birds from my cover shot. These Willets were hard to get into a decent composition. They love to turn their backs on you.

A Royal Tern sits on a concrete pylon.

Pelican heads south as the sun sets.

I stalked this White Egret for quite some time trying to get a shot of it feeding. It would turn away from me and walk up the beach every time.

A more majestic pose, looking for fish.

Not the best sunset, but still beautiful.