I knew about the Venice Audubon Rookery from seeing other photographers photographs. So when I had the opportunity to be in the Sarasota area I decided to stay in Venice Beach, not far from the rookery and historic downtown Venice to do a couple days of birding. The Venice Beach Fishing Pier also seemed like a good place to spot pelicans and other shorebirds. Plus, I had two days to drive around and discover other good birding locations.

Rarely do I get to spend more than a few hours birding so I was hoping the weather and the birds would cooperate. The forecast was for a couple of days of rain, wind and possible tornadoes! After I checked into my hotel room around 6 pm on Thursday night, while there was still a little sunlight left, I headed directly to the Venice Beach Fishing Pier where I hoped I might see and photograph some Brown Pelicans.

The water was a beautiful emerald green with swirling whitecaps from the gusty wind. With no pelicans in sight I walked to the end of the pier where there was one Snowy Egret looking for handouts from the people fishing. There was also one lonely looking cormorant that was being fed tiny unwanted fish.

Then I noticed a number of Sandwich Terns flying down low, close to the water. They were diving into the rough surf and coming up with tiny minnows. I had my 100-400mm lens and I was tracking them the best I could as they raced around like kamikazes. It was like shooting skeet! I killed a lot of time trying to photograph them as the light was diminishing.

While I was enjoying the challenge I noticed a single Brown Pelican coming closer to the pier and dive-bombing into the surf right near the shoreline. I don’t often see one so close to the shore at the beaches near home so I walked as fast as I could back down the pier to the beach. With low lighting conditions I photographed this one pelican dive bomb time after time, eating fish after fish until it was close to 8 o’clock at night. I knew my camera wouldn’t produce very good pictures with such high ISO settings but it was fun trying.

I hadn’t eaten lunch and it was very late for dinner so I headed straight into quaint historic downtown Venice, named after the Italian City of Venice. Northern Italian Renaissance buildings and boutique shops along with the many canals and waterways make this a charming place to visit. I love good Italian food so during my pre-trip reconnaissance I had scoped out a highly rated Italian restaurant, Cassariano Italian Eatery!!!

After 9 hours of driving, no food, and 2 hours of birding there I was, seated in Cassariano Italian Eatery with a strong IPA and a couple of dinner rolls with soft butter, waiting for my homemade Pappardelle in Salsa di Funghi e Salsiccia! It was an outstanding dining experience and a great way to end the long day!

I was up early to be at the Venice Audubon Rookery by around 7 am when the lighting is supposed to be the best. Well the sun was in and out but was mostly overcast. The rookery is on an island in a small lake. It was relatively late in the mating season but there were still quite a few egrets, two Great Blue Heron nests, nesting anhingas, and Black-crowned Night Herons.

These are all birds that I photograph a lot at home so when I discovered a pair of Tricolored Herons nesting in a tree on the outskirts of the lake I spent quite a bit of time focusing on them.

When the birds all settled down for their late morning nap I decided to head back to the fishing pier where I was surprised to see a good number of Royal Terns resting on the beach.

It was now time for a late lunch. Dockside Waterfront Grill was calling my name! :) One of the best if not the best grouper sandwiches I’ve ever had!

Then it was on to search out new locations. I headed to North Jetty Beach in Nokomis, not far away to find more pelicans and beach birds. On the way there was a draw bridge next to a marina with pelicans flying all around. I pulled over and had a fun time photographing them on pilings, dive-bombing, and posing in front of the seafood restaurant called Pelican’s Alley. Then it was on to the nearby beach where I found even more Royal Terns gathered near the water.

Another long day of birding was over and I couldn’t imagine leaving town without another homemade pasta dish at Cassarianos! It was Friday night and packed with a sign on the door Reservations Only! :( I turned around at the door and a waiter encouraged me to go in and see if they could work me in. I lucked out and got one of the last seats at the bar. This time it was sausage and broccolini stuffed homemade ravioli with an alfredo cream sauce! I paired it with a smooth Cabernet Sauvignon.

Saturday morning I was back at it, birding at all of the same hotspots starting at 7am. Again the sun was in and out. I knew a lot of my images would be mediocre because of the lighting challenges, but I still enjoyed having so much time birding. Part of the enjoyment for me of birding is figuring out the best settings on my camera for the given moment. When I hit on the right settings and a photograph turns out well it is very rewarding.

Well, after 7 hours of birding I decided to have a late lunch and skip dinner. I couldn’t imagine leaving town after having the best grouper sandwich without going back to Dockside! LOL. This time I had the Gulf Red Grouper entree with red potatoes and corn salad. Of course I had a tasty local IPA to wash it down. :)

I don’t know what the birding is like in Venice, Italy but I am speculating that the pasta dishes and seafood I had in Venice, Florida would rival any Italian restaurant!

I hope you like the pics from my trip to Venice. Florida that is. I didn’t get to see any Roseate Spoonbills, White Pelicans, or Sandhill Cranes so that was a little disappointing. But, I still get excited over the more common shorebirds. I even got excited over having a bad-ass looking male Red-winged Blackbird land very close to me. They are hard to photograph because they are so black and very fast in flight. I quickly managed to change my settings for a super close up still shot with a big lens on my camera.

All of my photography is resource material for future paintings. I’m not sure which images will become paintings, but I would love to hear which if any you think would make a good painting.

Thank you for your interest in my photography and my art. I’m in the process of finishing a 40” by 30” portrait of a Brown Pelican preening while standing on a piling. I’ll be posting it soon on social media! Thank you for reading my journal!

“One of the joys of being an artist is having the freedom to follow my passion….”

— William R. Beebe

Birding in Venice and Dining Italian ~ Venice Florida!