Photos taken during the Fly South with the Birds workshop in Kissimmee, run by Jim Neiger of Flight School Photography. The purpose of the workshop is to learn to use large telephoto lenses to photograph birds in flight without a tripod. Most of these photos were taken while hand holding the 500mm f/4, a lens that weighs just under 9 pounds. The locations we visited included Lake Toho in Kissimmee where we saw snain kites, Lake Cypress, and Viera Wetlands. I was particularly interested in seeing and photographing the endangered snail kite which are plentiful on Lake Toho.
UPDATE: I just saw a news article about the photographer who runs this workshop. He has pleaded guilty to violating the Endangered Species Act by harassing snail kites off their nest. When I was on the workshop there were some questionable things like feeding a caracara on the side of a busy road, and overuse of recordings to bring in birds. I questioned those things at the time, and particularly objected to feeding a bird along side a road. This was several years ago and I didn't have the rehab volunteer experience that I do now, so I didn't speak up forcefully enough and eventually went along with it. However now I look at this as a learning experience, and have zero tolerance for any type of harassment or baiting. I strongly encourage anyone considering going on a workshop to ask first about the methods used and what ethical standards the instructors follow.
I should respond and mention that the eagles were very comfortable with my presence, and came to the nest several times with food for the chicks. Had it been otherwise, I would not have stayed there.
Billi
06-Feb-2009 01:48
You sent a link to your eagle photo to the bird report website, and I had a look, the photo from beneath is actually better, because it shows the red thigh (actually that is the upper tarsus) that you usually can't see on a Common Moorhen unless you are holding one. I do hope wildlife photographers never disrupt the normal activities of any of their subjects. Please don't be offended, but it is a crucial etiquette that all of us, especially birdwatchers, including me, must adhere to.
There are some zealous kayaker/photographers where I live, who regularly flush birds by approaching too close. I would think that with the 500 lens, this is much less likely to happen. And I hope you are brave enough to call other photographer's attention to this. Thanks for the wonderful photos.