FIRST PLACE GROUP A - SCORE 96.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 96 | Pat Ford 97

SECOND PLACE GROUP A - SCORE 97.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 97 | Pat Ford 98

Nikon D850 | F/6.3 | 1/800" | ISO 220
Focal Length 500 (150-600)
Taken on March 2024

THIRD  PLACE GROUP A - SCORE 95.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 94 | Pat Ford 97

FIRST PLACE GROUP B - SCORE 92

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 92 | Pat Ford 92

SECOND PLACE GROUP B - SCORE 92.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 94 | Pat Ford 91

THIRD PLACE GROUP B - SCORE 92

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 94 | Pat Ford 90

NIKON D3400: 1/50 sec at f/8.0 ISO 200; 36mm Taken in my garden on 4/28/2024 at 6:22 PM. <br />
We found "Jolly Roger" (a wild Mitred Conure) in our garden, with a broken wing, on Christmas morning, 17 years ago. The vet said he would never fly again. He's been with us ever since and is every bit the pirate his name implies. His hobbies are eating the orchids and roses I work so hard growing. They have a lifespan of 30 years or more. We're in for the long haul.

GROUP A - SCORE 92.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 95 | Pat Ford 90

GROUP B - SCORE 90

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 89 | Pat Ford 91

This Green Jay is a happy inhabitant of the Aviario Nacional de Colombia about an hour south west of Cartagena, Colombia. Photo was taken last year. The bird was comfortably perched on a branch and happily posed for me for awhile, although it chose not to show its wings.

Shot on Nikon D7500 | f/5.6 | 1/320 sec | ISO 400 | 300mm

GROUP B - SCORE 89.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 95 | Pat Ford 84

Rooster strutting around Tropical Park. Taken with Nikon 5600 at 130 mm.

GROUP B - SCORE 89.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 93 | Pat Ford 86

 Red-Shouldered Hawk with his catch of the day.

GROUP B - SCORE 86.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 87 | Pat Ford 86

Nikon D3400 | 70mm 

 GROUP B - SCORE 86

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 86 | Pat Ford 86

Taken at Amelia Park, Hialeah, FL

GROUP A - SCORE 84.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 86 | Pat Ford 83

Nikon D850 | F/ 6.3 | 1/800 " | ISO 800
Focal Length 220 (150-600)
Taken on March 2024

 GROUP B - SCORE 87.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 85 | Pat Ford 90

Learning to use masks.

GROUP B - SCORE 86

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 84 | Pat Ford 88

NIKON D-3400: 1/2000 Sec at F/5.0 ISO 800; 155MM Taken in my garden on 4/29/2024 AT 5:58 PM. I Love watching these little birds. They are playful and entertaining. From the Audubon Website: When a few Red-whiskered Bulbuls escaped from an aviary in the Miami area in 1960, they found an environment perfectly suited to their needs. The climate was not too different from that of eastern India, where they had originated; and the suburb of Kendall, Florida, was heavily planted with exotic trees and shrubs, providing the bulbuls with abundant berries throughout the year. The birds quickly became established, but they have not spread much beyond Kendall. Another introduced population is common around Honolulu, Hawaii.

GROUP B - SCORE 87.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 87 | Pat Ford 88

 This nice bird show was taken at the aviary at Zoo Miami in June 2022. This feeder is a great place to take a bunch of great photos of different groups of birds that take turns eating and socializing.

This family was frolicking and eating together for a couple of minutes before they were bullied out by a bigger bird. The perfect photo was ruined by "Rufus" who decided he wanted to stuff his face while everybody else was posing for the photo.

The lighting was not the best. I toned down the highlights as best I could and I toned down all the colors to give the photo a bit of a dreamy quality.

Shot on Nikon D7500 | f/5.6 | 1/400 sec | ISO 200 | 135mm

GROUP A - SCORE 90.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 92 | Pat Ford 89

 GROUP B - SCORE 93

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 94 | Pat Ford 92

photo taken in Iceland next to the coast. Nikon 5600 camera at 300 mm

GROUP A - SCORE 87.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 89 | Pat Ford 86

This image was taken at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. The image was shot from the tram during one of their tours. I like that I was sitting up high in the tram. This allowed me to shoot downward on the the heron. This is a view that is seldom seen. Usually we are looking up and seeing the underside of bird wings.

GROUP A - SCORE 91

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 86 | Pat Ford 96

GROUP A - SCORE 86

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 86 | Pat Ford 86

This image was taken at the harbor in Santa Barbara, California. This Western Gull was initially just standing on the sea wall which was not very exciting. I was hoping to catch the gull as it took off. I knew it would be a challenge to capture the instant of peak action. But as I slowly inched my way closer to the gull it looked like it was about to takeoff. I took the picture and was very pleased when I discovered that I had indeed gotten the take off perfectly. The Western Gull is a different species from the gulls we see on the east coast. The Western Gulls seem to be larger and more robust than their east coast cousins.

GROUP A - SCORE 88

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 86 | Pat Ford 90

GROUP A - SCORE 92

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 93 | Pat Ford 91

GROUP A - SCORE 85.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 83 | Pat Ford 88

GROUP B - SCORE 83.5

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 83 | Pat Ford 84

Nikon D3400 | 70mm

GROUP A - SCORE 91

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 94 | Pat Ford 88

 Taken on the west coast of Florida

GROUP A - SCORE 88

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 89 | Pat Ford 87

GROUP A - SCORE 89

JUDGES: Lorraine Thomas 91 | Pat Ford 87