The Native Floridian – Wayne Roth Photography

My buddy George picked me, the Native Floridian and Avid Florida Bird Photographer, up at O Dark Thirty for a little Photography Adventure.  We were heading to one of our local haunts in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see how the birds were doing in this hot Florida summer sun.

Before we ran across our first bird we spotted some Everglades Morning Glory flowers along the road.  It’s quite obvious how Florida received it’s name as there were many other wildflowers along the way.

The first bird of the day was eventually spotted but not after this area near “The Mosquito Lagoon” lived up to it’s reputation.  The mosquitoes were chewing through the bug spray I had on but they didn’t seem to bother the Black-crowned Night-Heron that was fishing on a water control gate.

A little further down the road a Great Blue Heron gate me a couple of attempts to capture him in flight.  The first attempt I was caught with the wrong camera settings but the second try proved to be a winner with drops of water coming off his feet and his yellow eye tack sharp.

Some Dragonflies perched atop a stick helped to pass the time before spotting a pair of Florida Mottled Ducks.  Note the male duck following the female with the bright orange bill.

A lone Mangrove tree caught my eye as the mirror like surface of the water kept me wondering where the water ends and the sky begins.

A sun went behind a cloud and we rounded the next corner a Tri-colored Heron stepped out from behind a mangrove to put on a fishing clinic.

As our trip was winding down and the sun was losing it’s morning glow, a naked pine tree presented us with a present.  Perched atop the dead pine was a beautiful Osprey chilling out.  The convenient dirt road led us to the sunny side of our subject.  With a little patience we waited out the osprey and he spread it’s wings and put on a show.

And last but not least, George doing what he does best.