St. Augustine alligator farm and bird photography

I am planning a two week trip to south Florida at the end of next February and am considering a visit to the St Augustine alligator farm. I am wondering if it will be worth the long drive up from south Florida to photograph at the alligator farm? Will this be "prime time" to visit and should the birds be in full breeding plumage by then? What species should I expect? What are the logistics of photographing there? I understand that you are pretty close to the birds........what length lens works best? Is it a morning or afternoon shoot? What other bird photo ops are in the are? Sorry for so many questions but any info will be helpful..........thank you.

I've just returned from South Florida and have made several trips

previously in February. The Everglades National Park should provide

you with many photo opportunties of alligators and birds. Birds were

not as plentiful on this trip, but the water level was much higher

than it will be in February. But there were a couple alligators on the

Anhinga Trial and one at Eco Pond. Shark Valley also had a couple on

the trail within walking distance from the tram center. A couple of

years ago, Corkscrew Swamp had alligators of all sizes.

 

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Other hot spots for birds are behind the Holiday Inn at Ft. Myers

Beach, Sanibal and Captiva Islands(Ding Darling and the Nature

Center) and the Venice rookery. I've always seen alligators at Ding

Darling.

 

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So I'd say there wouldn't be a need to drive to St. Augustine, but if

you do - be sure to stop a Merrit Island NWR near Titusville.

Hi Brian. I've told you before: stay out of Florida and start

concentrating on flowers! (Only kidding, Bob, Brian and I are

friends.) Though I do not have extensive experience at the Alligator

Farm, Charlie Jarman, who ran workshops there for years, has

repeatedly told me not to visit until May (that is when he conducted

his workshops). I have though, gone in late April and shooting has

been excellent, though it has been better in May. Each year varies,

but the management there has done a great job of planting lots of new

trees after a good deal of habitat was destroyed several years ago

(by storms, I think). The easist species to photograph is Snowy

Egret. Several years ago I was able to photograph tiny chicks in a

nest with a 28-105 zoom lens! In addition, there are many pairs of

Great Egrets; there nests are a bit higher up and a bit more distant,

and I have never had a good opportunity to shoot chicks in the nest

(but others--often with spectacular results--have). Little Blue and

Tricolored Herons also nest within yards of the boardwalk, the latter

are much easier to photograph. Numbers of nesting Cattle Egrets have

been increasing in recent years, but the nests are not real

accessible. Last year a few pairs of Wood Storks nested high up (one

pair might have been successful).

As you know, individual birds reach the height of breeding plumage at

different times in the season, and some birds, even breeding birds,

look rather crappy even at their best. But the best bet for finding

a spectacular tricolored or snowy would certainly be sometime in

May. In late June and July (in most years) chicks are all over the

place. On a hot, hot day (in early July, two years ago, I think), I

visited and found several barely fledged Tricolored chicks walking on

the railing of the boardwalk. (It was unimagineably hot.) Joanne

Williams' shot of a baby tricolored in the current issue of Birder's

World was made at that time; I used a 100-300 zoom to make many

similar images.

All in all, the Alligator Farm is a superb place to shoot, but almost

surely not--in most years--in late February or early March. Now

where was it that you shot those Red-necked Grebes with chicks?

You didn't say where you're going to be in South Florida - if it's on

the East Coast, you might want to consider Loxahatchee National

Wildlife Refuge for both birds & up=close alligators. The Refuge is

located on Lee Rd. which is off of US441 just West of Delray Beach

and Boynton Beach. Another good location, that few people are aware

of is Wakodahatchee Wetland; this is a wetland boardwalk which is

great for bird photography (you'll also see an occasional gator) and

is located on Power Line/Jog Rd. about 1.5 miles North of Atlantic

Ave. in Delray Beach.

Where exactly is the Alligator farm int St. Augustine?

Sorry for my earlier question, I hadn't scrolled far enough down the list to see it has been asked and answered already.