Midlands Birding Blog

Florida might be the ultimate family holiday. Every child dreams of visiting the theme parks, and even the most skeptical visitor cannot help but be impressed by their scale. Fantastic weather, great villas and hotels and easy travel make a holiday destination that would be enjoyed by virtually any family. I have been to Florida 3 times, and these have been some of the best holidays of my life. It is unusual though that such a great family destination can simultaneously offer such great birding. Without leaving the confines of the theme parks, you could easily rack up a long trip list. In 3 trips in March/April, with only a handful of visits to actual bird reserves,  I have seen a total of 137 species in Florida! The parks are vast, and have many green spaces which allow for casual birding while you go on rides. Great birds really can be seen in the most unlikely spots. I have seen a White-winged Dove on the Dr Seuss Trolley Ride in Universal IOA, I have seen a Limpkin at Disney ...

If you read nothing else in this post, just know that I recommend this camera. It is fantastic. I'm very grateful to those on Twitter who responded to my tweet and recommended it to me. I could not be more pleased with my purchase so far. I wanted to write an article to capture my initial enthusiasm before I begin to look a bit deeper into modes and settings. Consider this as a review rather than a how-to guide, because I'm still very much learning! An initial disclaimer: I'm not a photographer - I know the photos I am posting wouldn't win any awards, but nor do I want them to. I am a birder with a camera. My main wish from my camera is that I can take a record shot (or slightly better) of the birds that I see and if the bird poses particularly nicely perhaps a photo that would be considered good. The P900 fulfils this purpose and surpasses it. This is largely due to its most impressive feature, and the feature that I'm sure will have initially attracted any...