St. Andrews Park is a birdwatching paradise. I don't think I've ever seen so many different kinds of birds in such a small space of time before. There were seemingly endless numbers of herons and egrets, especially around Gator Lake.
Great egret
Wood duck
The wood duck above was one of my first shots of the day, and it shows one of the frustrations of photography in Florida. Here in the Southern states, we tend to overdo the air-conditioning once the summer heat arrives, and most places keep their indoor temperatures positively frigid. So transitioning from cold air inside to warm, humid air outside causes condensation on the lens and camera body. It took about 15 minutes for the lens to clear up, which was a real test of patience when there were birds everywhere. :)
Great blue heron
Least bittern
Great egret
Either a grackle or Brewer's blackbird - hard to tell without seeing the tail.
Northern cardinal
Brown-headed nuthatch
Downy woodpecker
Brown pelican
Laughing gull
For this trip, I opted to go with an all-in-one zoom (Tamron 18-400mm), and while it was nice to travel light, the image quality and focusing speed were no match for the Nikon I usually use. The new AF-P focusing system that Nikon has is pretty flawless - I can't count the number of times I'll take a shot thinking "yeah right!" and get beautiful results anyway. That thing is an absolute gem.
The Tamron wasn't a bad lens by any means, but I think it's better suited for stationary subjects and objects that are relatively close by. There are tradeoffs for everything, but I've made a mental note that if my travels will include bird or wildlife sightings, I should just bring an extra lens that is up for the task.
Good shots. I love #3.
Thank you!