Space Coast Birding Festival 2024
This weekend I participated in the Space Coast Birding Festival out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The event ran from Wednesday, January 24 to Sunday, January 28. I only participated in two events, so this trip report does not reflect the entire festival. However, I can give you my impressions as a bird photographer for the two events I participated in.
My first event was late Friday afternoon after I got off work. It was a photography workshop with an emphasis on birds in flight photography at Sebastian Inlet State Park. We were due to start at 4pm, but the trip leader got caught up in Friday afternoon traffic so we started about 20 minutes late. There were just two other participants in this event; a gentleman who was a pro hobbyist like myself carrying a Nikon Z9 with the new Nikkor Z 600mm f/4 TC lens (a $16K lens!), and a lady who had a smaller consumer grade camera/kit lens who was a novice at bird photography.
The workshop began with the trip leader giving a 10 minute discussion about the Exposure Triangle, shooting modes, focus, light, and composition. We then made our way to the end of the fishing pier which was absolutely packed with people. We were standing shoulder to shoulder with fishermen, who were having a difficult time getting their lines out because of the strong winds. At one point the fisherman standing next to me inadvertently bonked me in the head as he was casting his line. It was just uncomfortable and not how I like to do bird photography.
To make matters worse, the wind direction was bad for birds in flight photography. The wind was blowing directly at us, which means all the birds were flying away from us. Occasionally a bird would bank to the side to turn, but for the most part we were looking at bird butts.
We stayed at the end of the pier for about 20 minutes, and in that time I took only a few shots. With poor conditions and blah-blue sky backgrounds, I found my photos to be unremarkable and only processed one, a photo of a Royal Tern that had a metal band on its leg. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a banded Royal Tern before, or that I knew they were being banded for that matter.
Royal Tern. It’s hard to see from this photo, but this bird has a band on its right leg. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/6.3, 1/3200 sec, ISO 1800.
We left the pier to see if there were any Black Skimmers in the nearby tidal lagoon. There weren’t. There were too many people milling about, and even if there were skimmers present the light was fading fast. We went back to the pier, this time staying at the base near the bridge to photograph pelicans as they flew in. I slowed my shutter speed down to 1/60 sec to try and get some motion blurs, but didn’t have any luck. That’s something I need to work on.
All in all, I think it was a bust of a shoot. Lots of birds at this location, but also lots of people. If I return again, it will not be on a weekend.
The next day was a full day trip called “South Counties Specialties.” I got up at 3:30am and met the tour bus at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral at 4:40am. The bus left at 5:15. We drove for about an hour, arriving at St. Sebastian Preserve State Park where the target species was Red-cockaded Woodpecker. It was pitch black and drizzling. We took a swamp buggy ride (which was really cool) about a quarter of a mile out to an area where the woodpeckers were nesting. As the sun rose the rain tapered off but the area was foggy and the mosquitos came out in droves. We stood a hundred yards out from a tree where the woodpeckers were nesting and we soon saw one. It flew to another tree where there were two more woodpeckers and we gave chase. The closest we ever got was maybe 50 yards and I pointed my camera at them knowing I was too far away, it was too dark, and it was too foggy. I knew the pictures I was taking were going to be terrible, and they were. I’ll share one - completely unedited because you cannot fix everything in Photoshop.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Unedited image. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 2200.
We then found a Bachman’s Sparrow. Like the woodpecker, it was far away and in low light. Perhaps a flash could have helped with this image, but I didn’t bring one as I’m sure the other participants would have gotten onto me for using flash. Here again is an unedited image. Cropping in is not really an option, as there is no feather detail for a bird this small in the frame at ISO 10,000.
Bachman’s Sparrow. Unedited image. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 10000.
Both of these birds were lifers for me, so that was great, but I was filled with disappointment as we got back on the bus because I knew my photos were not up to snuff. Our next stop was the Stick Marsh.
By reading the blog of Art Morris I was familiar with the Stick Marsh and the Roseate Spoonbills that can be found there, so I was really excited about this stop. The road out to the Stick Marsh is a 6 mile dirt road. When we arrived the parking lot was full of trucks carrying duck hunting boats. Duck hunters were coming and going, shotgun blasts were going off all around us, and it was weirdly Hitchcockian to be in a birding group surrounded by guys blasting birds to smithereens.
There were no Spoonbills in the area, probably due to a combination of high water levels and the duck hunters. But we did find, to our surprise, a male Vermillion Flycatcher. He was perched on a sign and would fly down to the water to grab a bug, then back to its perch. Occasionally it would perch on a bush, so I focused on that area. It was high noon, so the lighting was atrocious, but I was happy given the rough morning.
Vermilion Flycatcher. I was positioned on the shady side of the bird, as the bird was facing the sun directly. I liked the head turn because it allowed a catch-light to show in it’s eye. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/8, 1/1600, ISO 900.
Vermilion Flycatcher. I was trying to get a flight photo, but this bird was perched through some thick foliage and was flying down off the perch into the canal below. The only behavior I could capture was it singing. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 1100.
Our e-Bird checklist from this visit was quite impressive, with this flycatcher and several Snail Kites topping the list of awesome birds. Our guide told us that Snail Kites are not normally found in this area, having just appeared a couple of months ago. So if you go out to this area, you may or may not see Snail Kites. I should also mention that on the drive in we saw two Crested Caracara’s atop pine trees about 50 yards off the road. While I didn’t get any photos of those birds, I would definitely add this site to a list of places to visit - but on a weekday - out of duck hunting season - when the water level is low.
Our next stop was West Webasso Park where we ate box lunches and took a short walk through the oak scrub looking for Florida Scrub-Jays. We found two birds, one banded and one unbanded. Interestingly, both birds seemed to be gathering nesting material, which our guide says is unusual for January. Usually they don’t start nesting until later in the spring. We were with the jays for about 15 minutes before we loaded back onto the bus and made our way to Sebastian Inlet Park.
Florida Scrub-Jay. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/8, 1/2000, ISO 5000.
Florida Scrub-Jay. Gathering nesting material. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 lens at f/8, 1/2000, ISO 5000.
Sebastian Inlet was absolutely PACKED with people (I honestly don’t know how people can enjoy themselves crowded on a tidal lagoon or a beach like that) and I didn’t take a single picture. The most interesting thing I saw was Magnificant Frigatebirds that were gliding high above. We were there for 30 minutes and we headed back to the Radisson in Cape Canaveral.
Back at the Radisson, I popped into the Expo Hall where booths were set up. All of the booths, except one giving info about native plants, were dealers selling optics (binoculars and scopes). If you’re interested in birding optics, this would be the ideal place to shop all the brands and make a purchase.
On my way back to Patrick Space Force Base, I stopped at a local restaurant, ordered a pizza and a beer, and began uploading and editing my photos. The next day I was supposed to take another day long trip, but the thought of getting up at 3:30am again - especially when I had such a bad day of photography - was just not in the cards. I had no regrets sleeping in till 7am.
Final Thoughts
For me this experience exemplifies what constitutes a successful BIRDING trip vs. a successful BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY trip. If I were a birder I would have been thrilled. We saw the Federally Endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrows, a Vermilion Woodpecker, two Crested Caracaras, several Snail Kites, Limpkins, Magnificent Frigatebirds, and more. As a bird photographer, though, I was disappointed. Seeing a bird is just one variable out of many that go into making a great bird photograph, and birding field trips are primarily about seeing birds, often at a distance.
Although I didn’t get any portfolio shots, I did find attending the festival worthwhile for two reasons. First, the guides were very helpful, providing information about the birds that was both interesting and useful for future field work. Second, it was good to see some new locations and get a better sense of target birds at those sites and when and where to go.
I have a few months to wait before my next birding festival which will be the 2024 Florida’s Birding and Photo Fest at the end of April. Between now and then I’ll spend some time in south Florida and at Fort De Soto. If you’d like to do some proper bird photography, consider joining me on a Photo Walk. My next one will be at Circle B on March 31, and a couple days at Fort De Soto mid-April at the start of the Spring Migration.
Hope to see you out in the field!
Happy birding!
