robert_pelkey

<p>All times of the year offer incredible birding opportunities in Florida, particularly the SW area where I live and photograph birds regularly. There is a trade off required when you may visit with cooler weather where you will have to tolerate relatively crowded highways (delays) and higher prices for accommodations. Late winter to summer offers the best breeding colors in the lores of the wading birds. Stay close to the beaches whenever possible for wading birds, shore birds, birds of prey, and passerines in the mangroves. I have spent the last five weeks, when possible, observing and photographing the mating behavior of the must see Burrowing Owl in Cape Coral, west of Fort Myers and south of Tampa. You may indulge in my recommendations of places to visit with views of what you may see through photographs at my wildlife blog which links to my pbase site for hopefully your enjoyment and usefulness . . . <a href="http://swfloridabirder.blogspot.com/">http://swfloridabirder.blogspot.com/</a><br /><img src="http://www.pbase.com/jkrnm5/image/123147714/original.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Athene cunicularia <br />Burrowing Owl near (south of) Cape Coral Library off of Skyline Boulevard <br />Cape Coral, Florida USA</p>

The Canon EOS 1D Mark III (576XXX) that I've had in the bag for a mere few months (6575 shots) was a pleasure to use until I encountered the Err99 shutter mechanism fault with the camera. It was, needless to say, an extremely unpleasant experience to be in the field and have this happen. I immediately tried the removal and reinstallation of the battery and turned the camera off and on again as the camera instructed and the shutter continue to fail.

In reporting the malfunction to Canon (a day later after service was available), 1-800-OK-CANON had me remove the lens, memory cards, and battery. I was then instructed to reinstall the battery and fire some shots. At that point, the shutter apparently worked flawlessly. I got the impression that I was discouraged to send the camera in for repair. I was told that it could be an isolated problem that may not happen again. I was given all the details to send the camera in to have it looked at nonetheless. I'm in agreement that this camera can never again be trusted as it should be.

If I were aware of this potential problem prior to the gear's acquisition, I would have likely chosen the Nikon equivalent (decided against to save money on the lenses).