Canaveral Seashore
Indian River Lagoon - Canaveral National Seashore Nikon Zfc - Nikon 26mm f/2.8 1/125, f/11 ISO 200
Canaveral National Seashore, located along the east coast of Florida, is a unique destination that showcases the rich biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. Stretching for 24 miles, this pristine area features untouched beaches, salt marshes, and lush mangroves, providing a habitat for various wildlife, including loggerhead sea turtles and numerous bird species. Visitors can explore miles of scenic trails, engage in fishing, or simply relax on the unspoiled shores. The National Seashore can be accessed from the south entrance near Kennedy Space Center or from the north in New Smyrna Beach. The two access roads do not meet and leave a stretch of more than 15 miles of totally unspoiled beach. When you think of the seashore, you might picture what you would see below….a Western willet scouring the waves for a tasty morsel.
Western willet at Canaveral National Seashore - Nikon Z9 with Z 180-600mm lens at 600mm 1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 220
But the park is actually located on an off-shore bar and is paralleled by the Atlantic Ocean on the east side and the Indian River Lagoon to the west. In many places, the bar is no more than several hundred yards wide and is easily traversed on foot by several trails from the lagoon to the sea. This diversified habitat means that you can find shore birds along the beach and woodland/scrub birds to the west. My target bird today was actually the Eastern towhee which I have regularly found down near Parking Lot #5 year after year. I drove to the boat launch area of the lot and checked the scrub habitat for the towhee. At first, the only bird seen was a Turkey vulture flying overhead, a common sight in the park.
Before too long, however, I heard the familiar “toweeeee” call of the Eastern towhee and trained the camera in the general area of the song. Eventually, the towhee appeared, and although he remained partially hidden in the mangroves, enough of the bird was visible to afford a decent photograph. Notice the iris of this bird. Throughout most of the bird’s range, the eyes are distinctly red in color. In Florida, however, it is more common to see a “white-eyed form” of the towhee such as is seen here. A misnomer perhaps, the eyes of this form are more often a yellow hue rather than white.
So happy that the towhee was so cooperative and that I was able to keep the string of consecutive years with this bird being at the precise location where I have found him over the years. When you visit a site so often over a period of time, you become familiar with the local species you expect to find season to season. What a pleasure and what a comfortable feeling to be able to head out to a favorite location with the knowledge that you may well find some old avian friends.
Tech Tip - be aware of all the elements of your composition when photographing wildlife. The Photo of the willet at the beginning of this post certainly did not require a shutter speed of 1/1600 second, but my goal was to freeze the motion of the foamy water around the bird’s legs. Had I shot at a slower speed, the bird would still have been sharp, but the foam may have been too soft for my liking. Context is always a necessity when trying to capture the shot you’re visualizing. a
