Hi Y'all,

I thought that it might be a good idea to start a thread where we can share info on our favorite spots for wildlife photography. So feel free to add your favorite spots to this thread.

I'll start it off with the most spectacular spot I've visited so far. That would be the Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico.

Its located near Socorro NW and its open an hour before sunset to an hour hour after sunset. Admission per car is $5.00 and an annual pass costs $15.00.

SOP for Bosque is to fly into Albuquerque, rent a car for the hour drive to Socorro where you rent a room in one of the numerous cheap motels. On an average day you usually leave before sunset, shoot through the morning, break in midday for lunch and a nap and then return to Bosque for the late afternoon shooting.

The temps usually range from the low 20's in the early AM to the mid 40s and low 50s in the afternoon. Dressing in layers is vital as well as having gloves and hand warmers for the early AM shooting.

Bosque offers sublime lighting



outstanding backgrounds


the moring blast-offs have to be seen to believed


If you like silhouette images Bosque provides lots of opportunities.

I forgot to go this year, but next year.....

Great shots Harry, and good idea for a thread.

Good idea! Hey Harry,
This would be a perfect thread to incorporate a google map. With that people could pinpoint where they take the shots and if you click on someones marker (and they uploaded a shot to it) you can see the shots taken from that area. Given enough participation you could have access to a huge database of places for photographers to go. Just a thought.

My favorite place is close to home and covers a large area. The Hood Canal in Washington State. It is perfect for waterfowl, eagles and blue herons. In the mornings I can travel up one side and have the sun at my back and the other side for the afternoon. If I want to get out a walk a while there is the Theller wetlands right at the tip of the canal.

Northern Pintail


Great Blue Heron fishing


Eagle on a cold winter day



On the hunt

Originally Posted by dlplumer I forgot to go this year, but next year..... Great shots Harry, and good idea for a thread.

I wasn't able to get there this year but I will definitely going there next year. Right now I'm talking to two other photographers about getting a small group together to shoot there.

Originally Posted by Harryb I wasn't able to get there this year but I will definitely going there next year. Right now I'm talking to two other photographers about getting a small group together to shoot there.

Please let me know. I would love to join you.

Well for all of you who make it to Northern California I will offer up the Butte Sink area for your wildlife opportunities. Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
http://www.fws.gov/sacramentovalleyrefuges/

Raptors too

Also GrayLodge Wildlife Area run by CA DFG
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region2/graylodge/


Mammals too


Though most would say it is not Bosque del Apache the California Delta with the Consumnes River Preserve http://www.cosumnes.org/ and the Isenberg Crane Preserve serve up the Sandhill Cranes and Waterfowl in great numbers and the light is not too bad. Flyins and outs in several locations. November there is the Lodi Crane Festival http://www.cranefestival.com/
California Dept Fish & Game Tours http://www.dfg.ca.gov/regions/3/cranetour/




Sunset View


Many others but those are the most interesting and accessible ones.

Wow beautiful work everyone. I'm so glad to be a part of nature preservation, I'm working on awareness in my area, Orange County, Ca. Thnx Harry for the post.

I'll add a slide show of some of my favs...taken in Orange County, Ca., at both Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Huntington beach and San Joaquin Wildlife sanctuary, Irvine. The most frequented areas around here for birders and wildlife lovers.

http://www.ocwildlife.com/Photograph.../6074301_6SwoS

you can choose fast speed or click through right arrow to speed it up.

Great idea for a thread Harry!

Can Yellowstone really be topped for a nature photographer?
Grizzly ... Not a super shot ... but it was "full frame"!


And closer to my home ....
Cades Cove and Great Smoky Mountain National Park


Pileated Woodpecker


Whitetail Deer



The Alligator Farm - St. Augustine, Florida



And one last location ....
Harris Neck NWR in south Georgia

Green Heron

Anyone know of locations in the UK around yorkshire? Cheers

Just about anyone on the East Coast is close to Chincoteague NWR - my favorite spot for egrets, herons, and wild ponies.

Great Egret


Cattle Egret hitchhiking on a wild pony


Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron, thinking he's camouflaged


I really need to spend more time there to get better light....

Ken

We have been lucky enough to visit South Africa a couple of times and although it is hardly "around the corner", it is magnificent! Highly recommended is Senalala Game Lodge (www.senalala.co.za) which is in the Klaserie Private Game Reserve, which is part of the Greater Kruger National Park.

By the way, can anybody tell me how you post more than one picture?

From early April through June you will usually find me in the rookery at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Fl.

Its located on A1A off of exit 311 of US 95. The closest airport would be the Jacksonville airport.

The daily admission into the farm is $21.95. I recommend buying the Photo Pass for $69.95 as it gets you in all year and it allows you to enter at 8 AM and to stay until sunset (after the park as closed). It also gets you a $30 room discount at the Sleep Inn Motel 5 minutes down the road.

From March until June the rookery is awash with great egrets, wood storks, tricolor herons, snowy egrets, cattle egrets and little blue herons. This year roseate spoonbills have nested at the farm for the first time.

The birds build nests, lay eggs and raise their young there because the trees are in water that is filled with gators. This keeps racoons and other predators from raiding their nests.

You can get close enough to some nests that you could reach your hand in pull out an egg.

My usual routine is to shoot there in the AM from 8-10:30 AM and then break until 3:30 PM. This avoids the harsh afternoon light and keeps you out of the heat on the boardwalk in the midafternoon hours.

a view of the boardwalk


flight captures are easy


its an opportunity to get chick images




portraits are easy too


you do get close to the action

Amazing thread and images!! I feel like I just went on a vacation!

Very nice thread.
Gatorland is a great place in Orlando. It has early pass for photographers.

What experiences hav y'all had at Pea Island NWR on Hatterras Is, NC?

The boardwalk



From the boardwalk











And off the boardwalk





Prairie flowers all over

My first bald eagle - in downeast Maine:

[IMG]file:///Users/gerrybill1/Desktop/thread/Baldie.jpg[/IMG]

thanks for your great thread and share some ofthe wildlife photoraphy on your area,
i live in bayarea pleasant hill , if anyone have some info about wildlife location at this area , i would be much apprectied , again thanks a lot

Fun to explore various aspects of this wildlife forum! I am into nature and landscape photography primarily and haven't focused as much on photographing birds as my husband is keen on this. My favorite places for landscape and wildlife photography so far:

Kenya - Masai Mara preserve
South Africa - Haven't been to Kruger but went on brief safaris in Medikwe (near Botswana) and Pilanesberg; also saw penguins in the Cape
Alaska - Denali National Park
Colorado - Rocky Mountains
Florida - Sanibel Island (Ding Darling wildlife refuge)

We are fortunate to have been on several trips to Europe, Africa and Australia on business. In these situations, opportunities to take photographs are a bonus rather than the purpose of the trip and we have to travel with minimal photography equipment. We were in the Ivory Coast and Kenya for three weeks in July and I used my Canon 7D and the 18-200 lens for most of my candid shots (including Masai friends, Kenyan school children, etc.) and only switched to the Tamron 18-270 when we went to Masai Mara. My husband brought a Canon 50D and a 100-400 lens, but found that we were often too close to the animals to get good shots. We had an excellent guide who helped us see 4 leopards one night (a leap of leopards), cheetah, lions, elephant, buffalo, hippos, etc. We would love to return to Masai Mara some day and be able to spend more time there.

No photos just now but will try to post some later. (There are 3 from Masai Mara in another thread I started.)

I have been remiss since I started this thread in not making a post about my favorite location the Viera Wetlands (aka THe Mitch Grissom Memorial Wetlands).

They are located in Melbourne, FL just off of exit 191 of US 95. The wetlands can be found at the end of Wickham RD. right behind the water treatment plant. They are open basically from sunrise to sundown and there is no admission charge. They are usually open to cars but vehicles will be barred from entry if we have had a recent rain.

I have found the Viera Wetlands to allow photgraphers the closest access to wildlife of any of the sites I have shot at. There is an amazing diversity of birds to be found there. I have found the period of December through March to be the best time to shoot there.

A few pics from the Viera Wetlands