Green Cay delivers again.

Green Cay is a joy to watch because it is the newest of the three wetlands in Southern Palm Beach County. Wakodahatchee is fairly well established by now, while Loxahatchee undergoes constant change as studies are conducted in the different compartments of the Marsh Trail. Green Cay is still fairly new and still developing. Surprises such as the Ruddy Duck, Greater and Lesser Scaups, and the Eared Grebe are hopefully only the beginning of what Green Cay will attract in the future.

What’s exciting right now is that Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks have, for the first time, produced offspring at Green Cay. The proud parents have been escorting their eight little ducklings around Green Cay to the delight of many visitors. Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks produce some of the cutest ducklings. Their distinct black and yellow bands earn the ducklings the nickname “bumblebees”.

Whistling-ducks are also known as tree ducks in other parts of the world. That’s because they belong to a group of ducks that readily rests on tree branches. There are many different types of whistling-ducks around the world, two of which can be found in Florida. The two we have are the Fulvous Whistling-Duck and the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. While the Fulvous Whistling-Duck has remained relatively shy of urban areas, the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck has greatly expanded its range. It is common in Southern parts of Texas, Mexico, and Central America. I first encountered Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in the wild while fishing from a boat in Lake Yojoa, Honduras. The Florida population of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks was once thought to have originated from specimens that may have escaped from zoos or private collections; but it seems more likely that the breeding population arrived from Mexico and decided to stay. In South Florida, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks may now actually outnumber the Fulvous Whistling-Duck which arrived and established itself in Florida much earlier.

August Gallery

Canon and Nikon announce new cameras and lenses.

You can find all the information about the new Canon EOS 40D, my next camera, at DPreview.com. The Canon 1Ds Mark III was also announced at the same time. Nikon also announced new cameras this week, including the D300 and the D3. It looks like a good year for camera owners. Canon's new lenses are the EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM, EF-S 18-55mm IS, and EF-S 55-250mm IS. Nikon has the AF-S 14-24mm F2.8G ED, AF-S 24-70mm F2.8G ED, AF-S 400mm F2.8G ED VR, AF-S 500 mm F4G ED VR, and the AF-S 600 mm F4G ED VR.

It's important to remember that when making a buying decision that you are purchasing a system, and not just a camera. Whether you choose Nikon or Canon, you will be using their system of lenses and accessories for a long time. Switching systems can be very costly.

Ants in my … err … camera.

August! So many things happen in August for me. My daughter’s birthday is in August. My wedding anniversary is in August. School starts in August. Of course Canon makes new camera announcements in August. So, will there be a new Canon 40D that will be announced in August? Only time will tell, but there is enormous speculation on the forums, especially dpreview.com. I’m hoping that a 40D will be announced because I really need a new camera. I’ve outgrown the 20D, and I can’t afford any of the professional bodies in the 1D series. My 20D is back at Canon service again, because it was recently infested with ants. That’s right, ants. I use the camera at least every weekend if not more often, so it wasn’t sitting in some dark corner of the house. Anyway, theories for the infestation range from having taken too many macro shots of insects to taking way too many “sweet shots”. In reality, very small ants like sugar ants and moisture ants are attracted to electronics. They will colonize computers and other electronic devices, especially in very hot and humid places. I’ve read some accounts on line about ants being a problem in the tropics. I’m not sure exactly how the ants got into the camera itself, but when I took out my camera from my camera bag to get shots of a Snail Kite; literally thousands of ants started crawling out of it. Most of them were hiding out in the pop-up flash, but they were all over the place. The battery grip and the LCD all had ants crawling around them. I shook and blew off as many of them as possible. The camera still worked and took some great images that day, but there were dead ants still stuck inside the camera. To prevent any damage from the decomposition of the dead ants or their eggs, it’s off to Canon for a cleaning.

Around the end of July and the beginning of August the farms around Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge begin planting for the fall. This is a great time to visit them as the wading birds and the Snail Kites are attracted to the area as the soil is prepared for planting. This past weekend we were able to observe Wood Storks, Egrets, Herons, Spoonbills, and Snail Kites at very close proximities just outside the gates of Loxahatchee. Inside the refuge itself there was little bird activity, but there was plenty of insect activity with butterflies and bees going about their business. Enjoy the August gallery.