Roseate Spoonbills in Cedar Key…

Posted on January 28, 2012 by CK-blogger

For the last couple of years I have been hoping to get some nice shots of Roseate Spoonbills while in Cedar Key. Even though we would hear of them being at this or that location, we didn’t have any luck being there at the right time.

Over the last several days a friend of ours told us they were seeing them at a certain location during low tide. So, for the last several days – during low tide – I have taken my camera with a 400mm telephoto lens on it to where they were supposed to be. But, to no avail.

Well today I hit the jackpot! As I drew near where they might be foraging, I spotted some pink through the brush. So, I ever so carefully kept walking until I had a open view of them.

Along the way, I spotted a group of White Ibis flying overhead, and got a shot of them…

And.. as soon as I had turned a corner, just as the Spoonbills came into sight, I saw this Great Blue Heron soaking up the sun…

And this Brown Pelican flying past…

Before getting shots of these guys!

Most of the time the Roseate Spoonbills were across a channel from me. As it turned out, I didn’t have to be too concerned about spooking them. After about 20 minutes of photographing and observing them, a kayak came paddling by not more than 20 feet from them. It didn’t bother them in the least. Then a while later an airboat came cruising through the channel and all they did is move a few feet.

As I was getting ready to head home, I noticed this Great Blue Heron walking about on a pier.

And another one off in the distance…

All in all, and very enjoyable morning!

(Click any image for a larger view)

Beautiful sky over Cedar Key

Posted on January 27, 2012 by CK-blogger

Another beautiful sunset at Cedar Key! This image was captured from a vantage point along Airport Road.

This is one that should be clicked on to fully appreciate the scene.

A few Cedar Key shots of the day…

Posted on January 25, 2012 by CK-blogger

On our morning walk around Cedar Key, I took along my Fuji X100 camera. With it’s high resolution sensor, retro styling and leather case, it makes a great walk around camera.

Here are a few shots from today.

An old pier off Dock street silhouetted against an early morning sky. This is where a lot of birds congregate to dry out and clean themselves between feeding sessions.

This is a smaller than usual group of birds. Often the pier will be very crowded with Double-crested Cormorants, Brown Pelicans and Gulls.

The fishing pier at Dock Street. Normally there would be quite a few people fishing off of the pier. This was a very quiet morning.

The Thomas Guest house early evening. The Cedar Key pier can be seen on the left, and Atsena Otie Key on the right. The sky melting into the gulf is a very common sight here. Often it’s difficult to see exactly where the transition is.

If you have ever wondered what kind of birds are hanging out on the Thomas Guest house, this close up shot shows that they are Double-crested Cormorants…

Sunset from G Street. Cedar Key sunsets are often referred to as “million dollar sunsets”, and it’s easy to see why. Along with the beautiful sunset reflecting off the calm water, I like the way the stone seawall frames the picture in this shot.

I chose a vertical frame for this shot in order to include the streaks of clouds. On this particular night there were some interesting low hanging dark clouds.

You can click on any of the images for a larger view.

Cedar Key G Street view

Posted on January 24, 2012 by CK-blogger

Another beautiful day!

Below is a panoramic view of Cedar Key G Street and Atsena Otie Key as viewed from a point on Airport Road.

This image is a composite of 8 shots stitched together. They were captured with a Canon 5DMKII camera and an EF 24-105mm lens set at 50mm. When saved at full resolution the image is over 17,000 pixels wide by approx. 5,000 pixels high making for an 85MP file! I saved it at 4,000 pixels wide for the blog.

You can click on the image to better appreciate the view. Once it’s loaded into your browser you can click it again for a full size view.

An email from a Cedar Key visitor

Posted on January 23, 2012 by CK-blogger

I received the following email from someone who recently visited Cedar Key…

Greetings,
I discovered your wonderful blog recently and found it very interesting, including some stunning photographs of birds and Cedar Key in general. We visited Cedar Key last month and were enchanted by the place. I penned a short entry on my blog, http://eclegein.wordpress.com which I wanted to share with you.
Best Regards,

After receiving this email I visited the link he provided and discovered a very interesting and well written article about his visit to Cedar Key. He has some great photos too. While there, I spent some time exploring his site and found it to be very interesting.

I encourage you to read his article. His observations match those of most people who visit Cedar Key.

And, so as to not leave without a photograph of the day…

A clam fishing boat heads off to their clam site. This shot was captured with a Canon 7D and EF 400mm lens. (Click the image for a larger view)

Early evening at Cedar Key

Posted on January 22, 2012 by CK-blogger

These shots were taken about 1/2 hour before sunset in the same vicinity as the shots in the previous post… On many evenings the water around Cedar Key becomes glassy smooth offering beautiful reflections of the sky overhead.

Today was a fantastically beautiful day.

A sport fishing boat returns. Possibly the same boat seen going out in the previous post?

(You can click on the images for a larger view)

Early morning at Cedar Key

Posted on January 22, 2012 by CK-blogger

I had a little extra time before getting ready for church this morning so I took a walk through the Cedar Key park and along A Street. The weather channel is calling for 77° and mostly sunny today. Absolutely perfect weather as far as I’m concerned!

At the main boat ramp it was a typical morning scene – a mixture of sport fishing and clam farming boats launching for a day on the water.

Low tide this morning…

Heading out where the big ones are! A section of Atsena Otie Key can be seen in the distance.

From what I understand, Clam farming accounts for approximately half of Cedar Key’s economy, with tourism making up most of the balance.

Click [here] for Clams-101 presented by Cedar Key News.