Merritt Island NWR
Wilson’s snipe - Black Point Drive MINWR 1/1250 sec f/7.1 ISO 900
We are back in our wintering grounds along with many species of birds who like us are seeking an easier life during the cold harsh winter of the north country. Our first excursion of the season brings us to one of the premier birding hot spots in the US….Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Today, we will concentrate our efforts on one of the more popular venues in the refuge, Black Point Drive. The Drive is an 8 mile loop in which you leisurely travel along the dikes built during the construction of Cape Canaveral Space Center. Impoundments originally designed for mosquito control now attach thousands of migrating and wintering birds making this idyllic for birdwatching enthusiasts.
One species we always are targeting along Black Point is the Wilson’s snipe. This is a small chunky water bird which picks through the mud with its very long bill in search of worms and small crustaceans. It is elusive and often you can drive the entire 8 mile loop and never see one. So, when we spotted our first snipe after only 3 minutes on the drive, we were thrilled. Nice looks and photo-ops. Little did we know what was in store for us. By the time we reached the exit to the drive, we had tallies 29 of these little guys! If we were able to spot that many out in the open and visible from our vehicle, you can only imagine how many snipe were actually out in the 140,000 acres of the refuge today!
Short-billed dowitchers take flight - Black Point Drive MINWR 1/1250 sec f/6.3 ISO 900
A short distance past our initial snipe spotting we saw a group of birds picking through the shallows employing a “sewing machine” motion typical of the Short-billed dowitcher. It’s always a goal of mine to get action shots of the birds and as if on cue, as I had this group in focus on the Nikon, they all took flight. The dowitchers were just the tip of the iceberg as we finally counted 51 species along our journey. Florida is certainly a mecca for birders and nature photographers and today’s outing is a great example of just why!
Tech Tip - Shutter speed is always critical when photographing wildlife. If your subject is stationary, the minimum recommended shutter speed is determined by setting the speed to 1/focal length. In other words, if you are using a 200 mm lens, you would shoot at 1/200 sec. This is of course assuming you are hand-holding the camera and not using a tripod. Like any “rule”, there are exceptions and with the new vibration reduction (VR in Nikon and IS in Canon), slower speeds are achievable. The above rule is a good guideline to start with, however.
Again, rules are made to be broken. If you are shooting action shots, the minimum shutter speed is not enough. I normally have my 100-400 mm lens shooting a “default” speed of 1/1250 sec. This is usually enough to stop any motion of normal bird activity and will often suffice if your bird suddenly takes flight (as was the case with the dowitchers in today’s shot) Looking carefully at the photograph above, the motion of the wings on some of the birds is visible which is OK (blur implies motion), but if you wanted to freeze the motion of the wings, a minimum of 1/2000 sec or higher would have been preferred. For more information and ideas on what shutter speed is most appropriate for your lens/camera combination and style of shooting, check out the link below,
