I’m wrapping up three weeks birding south Florida, testing my new 70-200mm lens. I was inspired by a recent photography class through my local Albuquerque photography club, the Enchanted Lens. The instructor showed many beautiful images of birds using 600- and 700mm lenses. I can’t afford 600mm lenses. I wanted to see what I could accomplish with my new (and already very dear) 70-200mm. I’ve had a 70-300mm lens for 8 years now, but it is optically weak. It takes gray, lifeless images. It has a resale value of $12. With my new, colorful, sharp lens,  I’m falling in love with the 70-200mm zoom range all over again.

Below are my captures on this trip. I always learn more when I bring my camera; I get to study for an hour that which I saw for a moment. I see that macaws can have multiple colors on one feather. I find out what macaws are. I see which parts of the color were skin and which parts are feathers.

Some of the images below I shot in the wild. Others I shot at the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida and at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. I uploaded many more pictures at full res at my Flickr site, and my birds album.

A wild great egret

I couldn’t figure out what this guy was! He resembles a double-breasted cormorant, but all the example images I found of them had orange beaks. I found this fellow hunting in the wild.

A brown pelican at the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.

A rescued sandhill crane at the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.

A great blue heron at the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.

A yellow-crowned night heron at the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.

A white ibis at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

A flamingo at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

An indian ringneck parakeet and a sun conure parrot at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

A hyacinth macaw at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

A blue and gold macaw at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

A military macaw at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

A female eclectus parrot at Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.