I started getting serious about photography when I bought my first digital SLR (the Canon D30) back in November of 2000. My primary interest was nature and wildlife photography in general, but over the next year, I became fairly obsessed with birds, and this has continued unabated ever since. I think one of the reasons for this interest (in addition to their incredible beauty and diversity) is that while most wildlife are fairly restricted in terms of where and when they can be found and photographed, birds are a bit more accessible.

As I participated in various online forums, I learned about where many photographers travel in search of birds to shoot. I quickly found out about many of the 'famous' locations - Ding Darling on Sanibel Island and the Everglades in Florida, Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, Churchill in Manitoba, Machias Seal Island in Maine, etc. Destinations like these often require a lot of time and expense, which is fine for occasional trips, but I was also interested in finding places closer to home, where I could drive instead of fly, and visit on a more 'spur of the moment' basis.

I became aware of various "Birding Trails" put together by various states. These are not 'physical' trails as such, but a series of excellent birding locations in different states or regions, which could be visited even on only a 2 or 3 day week-end trip. Information on these trails can be found online, and you can also obtain brochures and maps from the sponsoring states or organizations.

Since we live in North Carolina, we started with some of the trails in the Southeast. The first one we tried out was the Georgia Colonial Coastal Birding Trail. In July of 2002, we headed south toward the Okefenokee Swamp NWR, staying at one of the cabins at the West entrance (Stephen C. Foster Park), for a few days. We did some canoeing through the Cypress swamps, hiking, took an evening tour with the Rangers at the park, and really enjoyed ourselves. We saw Little Blue Herons, Alligators, Foxes, Deer, Red-shouldered Hawks, Woodpeckers, etc.

We then drove around to check out the East entrance, and took a boat tour, which was fantastic - we saw a number of Sandhill Cranes, many of which were doing their mating dances, Great Egrets fishing and feeding, etc. The person doing the tour was a thoroughly enjoyable, 'colorful' individual, whose family had been living in this area for many generations.

We left Okefenokee and headed toward the Coast. We made a stop in St. Mary's, and saw a number of Cattle Egret en route. Our next destination was Ansley Hodges M.A.R.S.H. Project. This was an odd location, with parts of it getting surprisingly close to I-95, but it had quite a bit of wildlife. We started driving around the dirt roads to explore it, and soon came across a number of Southeastern Lubber Grasshoppers, many of which were in mating pairs. Even though birds are my favorite subjects, I still thoroughly enjoy seeing and photographing all kinds of wildlife. So I grabbed my macro lens, and was able to get some exciting shots of these extremely large and beautiful insects.

There was also a bird viewing platform, overlooking a fairly large expanse of marshy ground. We spotted and shot a number of Glossy Ibises, Black Crowned Night Herons, Little Blue Herons, etc. We made another visit to Ansley Hodges in January of 2004, and my wife and I had fun photographing a Belted Kingfisher. It had a couple of favorite perches, and I set up at one, while my wife walked back and 'guided' him to where I was waiting (it worked!).

Our next stop was Harris Neck NWR, where we again did some hiking and searching for wildlife. This was also a very productive area, and we found a very large rookery area with many Tricolored Herons, Little Blues with chicks in the nest, Black Crowned Night Herons, Common Moorhens, Pied-billed Grebes, turtles, etc. A return visit in January of 2004 found a large number of Green-winged Teal, Buffleheads, etc.

We also checked out Savannah NWR, and while we did saw a Great Horned Owl in a tree near the main entrance, it wasn't a good time of year for much of anything else. We could see the potential for this area during the winter months, but haven't had a chance yet to try this out.

In recent years my wife has developed a strong interest in Yoga, and wanted to attend a May, 2003 Conference in the Alexandria, Virginia area. We did some searching on the web, found out about the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, and decided to make a long week-end out of it. We saw the famous ponies at Chincoteague, along with Oystercatchers, Forster's Terns, Dunlin, Cattle Egrets, and even some River Otters. The weather was pretty dreary for much of the time we were there, but it cleared briefly, and I had an awesome time photographing an Eastern Kingbird that posed for me at the Dameron Marsh Natural Area Preserve, with the Chesapeake Bay as a backdrop.

We did learn a lesson or two on this trip, as we found that several of the locations we wanted to visit were closed (high water at one location, and a bird count going on at a different one). So it would definitely be a good idea to call ahead to any of the locations you're considering visiting!

We have also come across the Great Florida Birding Trail, but haven't yet had opportunity to check out the many locations included there. With the very positive experiences we've had so far, we'll continue to look for 'Birding Trails' in other states and regions as we continue to travel in search of new and exciting locations to photograph birds and other wildlife.

Links:

• Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding Trail
• Great Florida Birding Trail
• Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail

The following pages contain links to various Birding Trails, organized by region:

• East
• Midwest
• West
• South

A simple web search of "Birding Trails" will reveal a wealth of links and resources.

Photo Captions:

1. Red-shouldered Hawk - Stephen C. Foster Park, Okefenokee NWR

2. Sandhill Crane - Okefenokee NWR, East Entrance

3. Southern Lubber Grasshoppers - Ansley Hodges

4. Oystercatcher - Chincoteague NWR

5. Eastern Kingbird - Dameron Marsh NAP

About the Author

Don Cohen became interested in nature and wildlife photography while studying Fisheries Biology in College and Graduate School, in the early 1970's. But the demands of a growing family, and a career shift to Medicine, caused this to be put on the 'back burner' for several decades. In late 1998, his fascination with computers converged with his dormant interest in photography, resulting in the purchase of a digital camera (the Nikon Coolpix 900s). His involvement in Photography has grown exponentially since that first purchase, and he has spent countless hours pursuing his newly awakened passion, covering a wide variety of areas: artistic, technical, equipment, the unique needs of working digitally, etc.

In terms of equipment, he is now shooting with the Canon 1DMkII, an 8.2 megapixel digital SLR capable of shooting at 8.5 frames/second, with an ISO range from 50-3200. His passion for photographing birds led to his acquiring the Canon 600L/f4 IS, perhaps the best birding lens out there, along with a wide variety of other lenses and accessories.

He started his website (www.dlcphoto.com) in early 2001, which now contains over 500 images from a wide variety of locations both inside and outside the United States (Costa Rica, New Zealand, Fiji, Grand Cayman, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, etc.). His website also contains information on a wide variety of topics helpful to both beginning and advanced photographers.

The North Carolina Zoo at Asheboro has used a number of his photos, and his images have appeared on many covers of the Zoo Society's Quarterly magazine "Alive." He received First Place in the Member's Choice contest at the 2004 Carolina Nature Photographer's Association Annual meeting, which was the first time he attended this conference. In addition, his work has appeared in Lake Norman Magazine, Digital Camera (a United Kingdom periodical), and a variety of other publications. All this has been accomplished while still working full-time as an Ophthalmologist in his home town of Mooresville, NC. He sells prints both through his website, and through merchants in his home town.

He led a group of photographers in a "Photo Safari" to the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica in September of 2004, with plans now in place for another group December 2-10, 2005. He has made presentations to numerous Photography Clubs and other organizations, and now that he has taken a partner in his medical practice, will be devoting more and more time to photography and related pursuits.

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