How do you decide — from hundreds and hundreds of pictures you had taken — your favorites from the past year? Well, it wasn’t easy.
There are photos that are my favorites because of the subjects. Or the lighting. Or the location.
I was forced to narrow my choices down to 13 for a calendar I created for some family members (a cover photo and then one photo for each month of 2026). Oh, but I did not like that.
I limited the calendar to just bird photos from Florida — which excluded some photos that I really liked from 2025 that weren’t from Florida and or weren’t birds. Or duplicated types of birds.
So, here are my Top 25, er, Top 28 photos for 2025. Think of it as a Top 25 with three honorable mentions or some ties. They’re all listed here chronologically, so you can decide your own Top 25.
Here’s hoping 2026 will be just as much fun for my photography.
Reddish Egret on the beach at sunset, Sebastian Inlet State Park, January 2025.Whooping Crane, making a landing in Osceola County, January 2025.Roseate Spoonbill, Orlando Wetlands, February 2025.Sandhill Crane colts and parent, Orlando Wetlands, February 2025.American Robin, Mead Garden in Winter Park. February 2025.Black Skimmer, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, February 2025.Red-winged Blackbird, Orlando Wetlands, February 2025.American Flamingo, Indian River at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, March 2025.American Flamingos, Indian River, April 2025.Male Cape May Warbler, Fort DeSoto State Park, April 2025.Juvenile Black-bellied Plover playing tug-of-war with blood worm, Fort DeSoto State Park, April 2025.Roseate Spoonbill family, St, Augustine Alligator Farm rookery, May 2025.Juvenile Great Egrets, St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery, May 2025.Three Juvenile Eastern Screech-Owls, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, May 2025.Juvenile Eastern Screech-Owl, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, May 2025.Marsh Rabbit, Orlando Wetland, July 2025.Bald Eagle, Sitka, Alaska, July 2025.Humpback whales bubble-net feeding off Juneau, Alaska, July 2025.Female Snail Kite, Osceola County, September 2025.Female Snail Kite, Lake Kissimmee, August 2025.Male Snail Kite, Twin Oaks Conservation Area in Kissimmee, August 2025. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Orlando Wetlands, August 2025.Crested Caracara, Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, August 2025.Male Prairie Warbler, Orlando Wetlands, November 2025.Palm Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, November 2025.Palm Warbler, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, November 2025.Male Hooded Merganser taking flight, Oviedo, December 2025.Bald Eagle and Turkey Vultures, Osceola County, December 2025.
A couple of trips to different spots at Merritt Island — Gator Creek Road, Black Point Wildlife Drive and Scrub Ridge Trail — gave me some expected and unexpected subjects to photograph this month.