Work In Progress.....

We got back from Cape Cod late Friday…. I’m already missing the fresh seafood!
I didn’t get much of a chance to try the teleconverter while we were up there. The last two days of our trip the fog came in and didn’t leave until after dinner! But a few Margaritas took the edge off my disappointment…
So of course I was back out at Brick Pond Saturday morning to try and fine tune the teleconverter that I had rented. And by fine tuning I don’t just mean the teleconverter. Much of the blame for poor sharpness, especially with the long telephoto lenses, can be laid at the feet of the photographer. Shot discipline is an important part of shooting with a long lens. Making sure you have a good solid tripod setup and a smooth shutter release instead of punching the shutter can go a long ways toward getting sharper images. So I’m still working with the converter and my shooting discipline. I think it’s getting better but I’ll let you be the judge…

Nice of him to turn the fish so I could see it….

Nice of him to turn the fish so I could see it….

The one that almost got away…..

The one that almost got away…..

No need for a knife and fork….

No need for a knife and fork….

He needs a drink after that meal!!!

He needs a drink after that meal!!!

Th-th-that-that’s all folks!!!!!!

Th-th-that-that’s all folks!!!!!!

And there’s more! I have a short sequence of a GBH who was nice enough to move about 20 yards from my left to right so I could practice my BIF shooting!

Cleared for takeoff…..

Cleared for takeoff…..

Serious stretch!!!

Serious stretch!!!

Showing off!

Showing off!

What a difference cloud cover makes….

What a difference cloud cover makes….

A bit of a bumpy landing…. But thanks for flying Blue Air!!!!

A bit of a bumpy landing…. But thanks for flying Blue Air!!!!

I’m sure it will take the rest of this year for me to get comfortable with the teleconverter but Hell, that’s half the fun!!!! Thanks for looking!

Down Time.....

We went to Cape Cod for a couple days this week for a short vacation. Mel has been working a ton of OT for the last 4 months so it was a good chance to give her some R&R. Haven’t had much of a chance to get out and shoot up here though. The last 2 days the fog has been terrible. It’s been like pea soup until after lunch!
But we stopped by an old grist mill that they turned into a small museum that is right on the main drag in Yarmouth. There’s a small pond that feeds the mill, which is where the Swan pics came from the other day. And behind the mill is a brush lot with typical sandy scrub pines and small oaks. Nothing special but we wanted to stretch our legs so we took off down the trail. About a hundred yards in we saw movement up ahead and eventually this small flock of turkeys came right by us! They didn’t pay much attention to us and continued to feed all around us until another couple came down the path. The birds moved off the path but didn’t go far. It was obvious they were used to human presence. Which makes sense because we were in one of the busiest areas of the Cape! We had seen another flock a few years ago when we were up here with Jack and Mary Lou but this time we were able to get much closer! But for 20 minutes it seemed like we were in the middle of the deep woods! We had a blast! And of course on the way out we saw the Swans so we stopped and got a few more of them too! Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking!! Click images to enlarge

Camouflage…..

Like mother, like daughter….

Berry picking….

Mama is giving me the evil eye….

Not what I was expecting out of this trip, but it sure beats the Hell out of working!!!!

Research And Development, Part 2.....

A few days back I wrote about my first attempts with a 1.4 teleconverter that I rented from LenRentals. I had received the converter late in the previous day and I had not tested it at all before I took it out on a shoot. BIG mistake!!! The pics weren’t terrible but they did not meet my standards or expectations so yesterday I took the time to fine tune the auto focus when using the 400mm and the converter combo. The best way to get this combo to work is to sacrifice a really good case of craft beer to the photo gods! The testing seemed to go well, (from what I remember) but you still don’t know for sure what you have until you get out and start shooting. I was at BP this morning and I ended up taking about 700 images! Different apertures, shutter speeds and lighting conditions so I could be at least fairly confident this week when I go to shoot in Cape Cod. I think I’m pretty close to where I want it sharpness wise and I’m fairly happy it came together quickly. I have attached several images and I want you to be the judge. Constructive criticism is the only way you will improve as a photographer, so don’t be afraid to speak up……

Checking for basic focus accuracy…..

Checking for basic focus accuracy…..

She bit off more than she could chew!!!

She bit off more than she could chew!!!

Photobomb!!!

Photobomb!!!

A little different composition….

A little different composition….

What do you do after shooting a horizontal? Shoot a vertical!!!

What do you do after shooting a horizontal? Shoot a vertical!!!

We have to give the GBH’s some love too!!

We have to give the GBH’s some love too!!

Trying different shutter speed/ aperture combos…..

Trying different shutter speed/ aperture combos…..

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I have no idea what the Hell this is!!!!

I have no idea what the Hell this is!!!!

Poser…

Poser…

Some artistic license….

Some artistic license….

I’m heading for Cape Cod for a few days. I can’t think of a better place to fine tune this lens combo…. Stay safe and take lots of pictures!!!

Not Every Photo Is A Winner, But They All Have A Story To Tell...

There are some days that you wonder if you should have just stayed in bed, and today sure felt like one. The fog was as bad as I have seen it in a long time. It was hanging very low and thick and when I left at 9am it hadn’t changed much!
It looked like even the birds weren’t big fans of the fog. The Green Herons just sat there looking very uncomfortable and dripping wet. So you know shooting conditions were less than ideal. But you never know with fog, it can lift in a very short time and that’s what I was hoping for.

Just after “sunrise”, if that’s what you could call it…

Just after “sunrise”, if that’s what you could call it…

Shaking the water off….

Shaking the water off….

But what made the day worthwhile was what a Green heron did to a small flock of Wood Ducks. The ducks were all sitting on “the log” preening and relaxing when a Green Heron landed on the other end of the log. I don’t know what got into this heron but he definitely didn’t like the fact that the ducks were on his log! He immediately ran to the other side of the log where the ducks were and began to harass them! He got in their face so bad they all took off! Usually it’s the wood ducks who are the mean kids on the block but this little guy gave the woodies all they could handle!!

Move it out woodie!!!!

Move it out woodie!!!!

And don’t come back!!!!

And don’t come back!!!!

I could have post processed these image to look much brighter and more vivid, but that would defeated the purpose of these images. Which is to show you that I should have slept in today!!! (not really, I still had fun!) Maybe the camera will dry out by Sunday and I can get back out….. Thanks for looking!

Research And Development, Part 1.....

Santa Clause stopped by my house yesterday and delivered a package I had been waiting for: A Nikon 1.4 Teleconverter. I own and use a 1.7 teleconverter but I just don’t have any faith in it. I never know what I’m going to get with it. Sometimes the images are okay (never as good as without a TC) but then other times I am disappointed with the quality of the images. So when this showed up late yesterday I knew where I had to be this morning, doing research at Brick Pond.
Of course the day I wanted bright diffused light to fairly test the converter I ended up with a cloudy morning. Most of these images are shot at 1/500 of a second at f5. I’m using a 400mm f2.8 and with the converter attached the minimum aperture is f4. I tried to hedge my bets a little and stopped down to f5. Normally 1/500 second is plenty for stationary subjects especially with vibration reduction active. But action shots usually require a significantly faster shutter speed. So I really didn’t know what I would end up with quality wise but it seems so far the results are mostly acceptable. And don’t forget, I haven’t fine tuned the converter to the lens yet, so hopefully that will get me where I want to be sharpness wise.
So the following images are the start of a 2 week R&D exercise. Stay tuned……

He actually jumped off the log after a fish…..

He actually jumped off the log after a fish…..

Scrambling to get back on the log….

Scrambling to get back on the log….

To the victor go the spoils….

To the victor go the spoils….

Little bit closer…

Little bit closer…

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He’s got a fish stuck in his throat….

He’s got a fish stuck in his throat….

I just wish this was sharper…. I love the composition!

I just wish this was sharper…. I love the composition!

Bath Time!

Bath Time!

Thankful For Another Good Day....

At my age you learn to appreciate every good day that you get, because you know they won’t last forever. I was back at Brick Pond again this morning and man was it ever foggy! I almost left thinking that the fog would never lift. But eventually it lifted but didn’t dissipate, which is golden for photographers. It give you a bright, soft light without harsh shadows. It’s almost like having a diffuser for the sky! And the birds cooperated. So I count this as a very good day and I made the most of it. Nothing unusual, but some decent images. I ran into a birder on the trail who told me he spotted a Gallinule nearby and also a Pintail duck. It looks like the early migrators have started, which is more good news for us! Enjoy the images! Click to enlarge…

Early and foggy, but who doesn’t like fish for breakfast????

Let the games begin!!!!!

Like little fighter jets!!!!

Up to his armpits….. maybe he has short legs….

Always watching for danger from above….

Straining for altitude….

How about a nice frog for dessert????

Dazed and confused…..

I’m outta here!!!!

Sharp dressed man……

Time to put on my travelin’ shoes…..

That’s all folks!!!!!!

Just remember….. They’re ALL good days….. just that some are better than others!!

You Have To Suffer For Your Art.......

It was a quick, but busy day at Lindsay Parsons this morning. I had been seeing a flock of wood ducks using a small cove not too far from one of my stands so I thought I would spend some time there and see what might happen. The woodies came in like clockwork at about 5:45. Sunrise isn’t until almost 6:30 so all I could do was watch and learn. Unfortunately by the time there was enough light to shoot, the ducks had wandered off out of camera range. I thought it might be an early exit for me until a trio of Green Herons showed up. Green Herons are quirky birds. I swear to God their whole purpose in life is to harass each other! But the good thing is they usually don’t go very far when they are disturbed by their siblings.

Lurking…..

Lurking…..

And so it begins…..

And so it begins…..

Not to be outdone, a GBH came by later although much farther away….. These two herons couldn’t be more different. The green heron does not have nearly the patience of the GBH. If they don’t see any fish in the first few minutes they are off to the next branch or stump. The GBH’s on the other hand will stand silently for a considerable period, hoping breakfast will come to them.

The king of patience….

The king of patience….

But this morning was pretty much all about these 3 green herons. Because they were always on the move, I was able to get some different compositions. Unfortunately because they were so interested in bothering each other, not one of them caught a fish the whole time I was watching!

Balancing act…

Bird on a string…..

Bird on a string…..

It was fast and furious for about an hour. It’s a shame none of them thought to catch a fish or a frog…..

All the dead trees had spider webs on them, which makes for a different look….

My what big eyes you have….

He’s trying to make it look good….

My favorite image of the bunch…

This one and the last one would make a nice Diptych…..

Finally getting a decent BIF!…..

Finally getting a decent BIF!…..

And last but not least, a GBH pic…. I like the light on this one. Not the sharpest but you can’t win them all. This one was taken with a 1.7 teleconverter attached. I have a love/hate relationship with the teleconverter. I lets me down far too often. It’s not real sharp, even at f7.1….

Love the composition with the strong verticals in the background but just not real sharp….

Love the composition with the strong verticals in the background but just not real sharp….

All in all it was over far too quickly, but it was a Hell of a ride!!!!
Oh, and about the title of the post. I was on my way out and I decide to stop and clear a new area for a new blind setup. It had plenty of cover and it was only about 150 yards away from the car. The only thing I had to do was clear out a big old wild rose bush. And I knew that I was going to get stuck by the thorns, but what I didn’t know was that there was also a hornets nest in the bush! At first I thought I had just grabbed a thorn but when I looked at my hand it had several hornets on it! I really didn’t think an old fart like me could run that fast!!! I haven’t run that much in 20 years!! I made it to the car and only ended up with four stings. If I hadn’t had a jacket and gloves on I’m sure I would have paid a heavier price!
That’s all I have for now, thank you all for taking the time to look!!!

An Early Exit.....

A beautiful sunrise but otherwise not a very productive morning….. The Beavers were busy (duh), and the Kingfisher stopped by to say Hi and scold me. But I did have 3 Green Herons fishing from the beaver lodge. Just a couple pics to show you I wasn’t actually sleeping in this morning!

My lady friend came to say good morning….

My lady friend came to say good morning….

Practicing for the bird Limbo competition….

Practicing for the bird Limbo competition….

Like shooting fish in a barrel…..

Like shooting fish in a barrel…..

There was a piece of yellow plastic garbage just in front of this bird. You can see it in the second image. It was bright yellow. I was able to clone it out in the first and third image but it was too close to the bird in the second image. So I darkened it down as much as possible so your eye wouldn’t be drawn to the garbage. Sometimes Lightroom cloning works great and other times it makes the image worse! I got lucky this time.
All for now, thanks for looking!

Rain Delay.....

I was up at 3:30 this morning, which gives me time to enjoy a cup of coffee and eat breakfast before I head out to the woods or marsh or wherever I’m shooting that morning. But around 4:15 I could hear the unmistakable sound of rain on the roof. And if I could hear it that means it was raining hard. So this changed my plans for the day. I spent the day on other things (fun things like a nap. I’m retired, remember?) and as I was eating dinner out in the sunroom I could see the Hummingbirds fighting out at the Lilac bush. My devious mind saw a way to salvage the day with a quick photo shoot before it got dark. I grabbed my camera and tripod, set it up in the sunroom looking out to the Lilac bush and waited. I wish all wildlife shoots were this easy. There I was in shorts and a tee shirt, with not a single mosquito in sight!

Papa Smurf

Papa Smurf

Mama Smurf

Mama Smurf

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The birds were constantly looking up to check for dive bombing rivals…..

An example of the male showing off….. or as a warning…

An example of the male showing off….. or as a warning…

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I don’t have a clue why he is sticking his tongue out. Maybe he is taunting one of his rivals!

The Hummingbirds weren’t the only ones around this evening. The Goldfinches showed up for a late dinner. Goldfinches are late breeders and they are just finishing up their season, so they still have some color. This little one below heard the shutter click from the camera and was very intrigued by the sound.

Can’t quite figure out where that clicking sound is coming from….

So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The day didn’t turn out the way I intended it to, but hey, beauty is where you find it. Keep looking!

Even On A Bad Day.......

I was at Lindsay Parsons this morning, enjoying another beautiful sunrise! But today was definitely not a busy day of photography. I don’t know what it was, maybe the birds took a day off or they called in sick. But I definitely wasn’t deluged with shot opportunities. Maybe that’s just as well because it gave me the chance to just enjoy the day for what it gave me.
Eventually the photo gods allowed a small group of Wood Ducks to wander through on their way to breakfast. This group was just getting their plumage back and they were starting to look presentable again. The males look especially ragged when they are molting. There’s something about the color palette of this image that I like. I think it’s the desaturated color look. But the ducks didn’t stick around for long….

Beginning to look like wood ducks again….

And I almost got an image that is on my to-do list: A bird in flight shot of a woodie. This is harder than you think. The way wood ducks fly is like watching a drunk walk down the street…. at 80 miles an hour! They twist and turn on their way in to a landing so that it’s nearly impossible to track them. And I say almost because I’m not in love with the image below. It’s okay, but I posted it to keep me motivated to get a great one!

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And this Kingfisher? I need to have a talk with him. He spent 2 hours fishing without catching a single fish!!! He’s got to pick up his game or I’ll replace him with a GBH…..

This guy is going to starve to death the way he fishes!!!

This guy is going to starve to death the way he fishes!!!

And last but not least, even on days that no other birds show up, you can depend on the Canada Geese to be there for you. So they get their props from me today…..

They had reservations for breakfast….

Even on the worst day, it beats the Hell out of workin’……… Enjoy!

Just Another Shitty Day In Paradise...... With a Nod to Jimmy Buffett…..

I gotta tell you, this retirement gig is awesome!!! Pretty much any day I want I can get out and watch the world wake up! The ducks and herons come by on their way to deal with their own busy lives, and I get to document this stuff. The lion’s share of the images never make it to the light of day, but that’s my fault and a story for another time.

This morning was very foggy at Brick Pond. I had set up in a new spot, about 30 or 40 yards in front of the new blind. The water level is so low that you can walk out into what used to be two feet of water! This gets me closer to the beaver lodge, which is where most of the birds end up at during some point in the day. That’s because the lodge still has water around it with fish in it, something the herons seem to enjoy.
It didn’t take long for the GBH’s to show up. And with the water level being so low it didn’t take long for them to start catching fish.

Doesn’t get any fresher than this!!!! Click to enlarge.

But these Great Blue Herons seem to be a bit on the sadistic side. This guy above spent 15 minutes picking this fish up, dropping it, and then spearing it again with his bill. Then he would dip the fish into the water to clean it off and start the process all over again! I wouldn’t want to be a fish around here. There’s no future in it!

Back at it!

And of course the Green Heron tried to get in on it but he was wayyyyyy out of his league!

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And the Kingfishers aren’t any better. When they catch a fish they bash it against the branch they are perched on until the poor fish pretty much falls apart!

Yes, he is ready for his close-up!!!!

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The wood ducks stopped by for a quick shower and some preening. It’s really hard to spot these guys with all the brush that has grown up at the pond. But they were fun to watch!

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After bath time is over, they of course need to dry off. So they rub their little heads along their wings and that seems to be good enough for them!

The classic GBH pose….

So that is my tale of woe. No great images so Nat Geo won’t be calling. But I got to spend a beautiful morning with my friends. What could be better than that???

I Owe You One Teri......

I was talking the other day with Teri Franzen about the problems down at Brick Pond. Essentially, the pond had to be drained to have work done on the water control system that keeps the pond from getting too high and with the dry weather this summer it appeared that BP was in trouble. I commented that BP was done for the year, whether or not the water came back. I had been over to visit a few times recently and the pond looked like a big open field. But Teri cautioned me not to write the obituary yet, that she thought it could come back.

So I made a trip over to BP this morning with my camera, not expecting to see much of anything. I was in the blind on the south side of the pond and the sight lines were terrible. The high grass obscured a lot of what water was left. But there was some open water around the Beaver lodge so I figured I would stick around for an hour, and after seeing nothing, I would head out to DD for a coffee. Well, I never got that coffee!
Shortly after dawn two Green Herons went zipping over my head, hightailing it for the far shoreline. And there was a goose following right behind. I thought it was very odd that a goose would be with a heron and when I got my binoculars on the birds I found that I was looking at a mature Bald Eagle! I think Heron was on the menu for the Eagle but he really couldn’t match the speed of the herons in a distance race……

After the Eagle gave up, the Herons came back and began to feed around the beaver lodge but I couldn’t get a good shot. There ended up being 3 of them competing for territory. I think they just like harassing each other! Then the Kingfishers moved in. It’s a long shot from the blind to the beaver lodge on such a small bird so I didn’t get anything awesome, but I can live with what they gave me.

There were 3 of them, but I couldn’t get them all in the same shot!

This little one kept me company…. this pic shows the effect of a long lens at a short distance in low light. Almost no depth of field! Note the tick right behind the eye….

This little one kept me company…. this pic shows the effect of a long lens at a short distance in low light. Almost no depth of field! Note the tick right behind the eye….

Then it was the Great Blue herons turn. One positive thing about the lack of water is that the birds are more concentrated, making it easier to find the birds. And this guy was having a great day fishing!

What a pig!

It took him several tries to get the fish down his throat!!!!

Look at the difference in the white balance in the first two images versus the last two images. I left it that way purposely to show what a difference light quality makes in an image….


So thanks Teri for setting me straight. I had a great morning!!!

Man Plans...... And God Laughs!!!

I posted a pic of a Green heron on FB this morning but there is a humorous(?) story behind it that all wildlife photogs will instantly recognize and I thought that you might get a kick out of it. Or at least feel a little bit sorry for me!
I was at Apalachin Marsh setting up for a sunrise shoot. I knew there were several Green Herons in the area as I had previously scouted the area. There was a dead tree laying in the water about 30 yards away and it had 2 branches sticking up parallel to the water. I knew that this could be a very convenient place for a wading bird to land and fish from, so I set my blind up with high hopes for the morning.
As dawn finally decided to show up I could see a family of wood ducks in front of me, feeding on the small floating aquatic plants. I was well hidden and the ducks never knew I was there, and fortunately they eventually worked their way out of view. I did not want them around if the Heron showed up because I knew sooner or later they would spot me and ruin the whole setup.
Suddenly I could see a bird flying right at me from about 100 yards away! I couldn’t believe it when he kept coming right at me and he landed on the exact branch I wanted him on! It was the Heron! I knew he would eventually walk his way down the branch to the water and begin feeding. With any luck he would catch a nice fish or a frog and I would have a perfect opportunity for a good action shot! There was no vegetation between me and him (or her), the light was a nice soft overcast light. I couldn’t have asked for a better setup. I silently congratulated myself for being so damn smart. But then…. the sonofabitch walked to the opposite end of the branch and hopped down right into a patch of heavy vegetation!!! The pic below he was on his way into the thick stuff!

I seem to remember something about not counting your chickens……

I wanted to jump up and say “Hey dummy!!! You’re going the wrong way!!!”. But I also knew that once again, the photo gods had given me a large slice of humble pie! So close, yet so far…. But if it was easy it probably wouldn’t be as much fun. So I am slowly learning to celebrate my successes and learn from the failures. The pic below was the only decent one I got from the morning.

We will meet again……

So that is my tale of woe…. I think I will have to go soothe my wounds with a Margarita!!!

Just Another Day In Paradise...

August is usually a tough time of year for local wildlife photography. The little birds are pretty much grown, the vegetation is thick, and the mosquitos are looking for blood! So there are days that I am a little short on motivation to get up early and drive somewhere just to be abused by the insect population. But it’s also true that if you don’t get your lazy butt outta bed your chances of success fall rather rapidly.
Brick Pond would be the logical choice for a local outing except this year you might as well forget about BP. They had to draw down the water level to make repairs on the water control system and it now looks like a big grassy field. There may be a few birds there but I’m guessing they are few and far between and they’ll be very hard to get a good shot. So my next local go to is Apalachin Marsh. Usually you are wading through standing water at the marsh but with this year being pretty dry you can get around the marsh without getting your feet wet. Except where you cross under the highway, which has a few inches of water in it.
I really thought I would just be out for a glorified walk, but I always take a camera because you never know. It was a beautiful, quiet morning with some pretty heavy fog covering the marsh. I walked the trail to the blind to see if there was anything on what was left of the pond there. I peeked over the top and there was a duck staring back at me, but not the kind of duck I was expecting!

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I want the birders to let me know for sure, but this looks like a male Ringneck Duck to me! Which is odd, because they are usually gone early in the spring. They breed in Canada and they usually use our area as a resting spot on the way up north. Below is a pic I took this spring at Brick Pond when they were in breeding plumage.

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There are only a few smallish spots of open water at the marsh, although this can be an advantage for photographers. The lack of open water concentrates the birds into a smaller area which increases your chances of seeing them. At least that’s how it is supposed to go!
The rest of the images are nothing special species wise or quality wise, but they are important to me. They are the reason I wake up early to do this……

perfect camouflage…

Busted!!!! I’m getting the evil eye from Mom!

Mama’s little baby! The markings tell me this is a juvenile wood duck..

The Mayor of the Marsh…..

I don’t know what this is either, but I liked the composition…

That’s all for now, enjoy!

If Only I Had My Other Lens..... A Photographer's Lament

I went to check out a new place to shoot yesterday morning in Dryden, NY called the Jim Schug Trail. This is an old rail bed that has been made into a walking trail and runs for over 4 miles through wetland and farmland. Mel and I had stopped there last week and I thought it showed promise as a wildlife photography destination. We saw the usual GBH’s, Green Herons and also a few Cedar Waxwings.
So I arrived yesterday morning hoping to get a few images of the Waxwings feeding on hatching insects coming off the water. I brought my 400mm f2.8 for low light shots and my 200-500 zoom for when the light was good enough.
Early morning the birds were just kind of hanging out and easing into the morning.

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I also noticed that there were many more Waxwings than we had seen just a few days ago. And my first thought was “boy, this will be easier than I thought”. Little did I know that I was about to be taken to photo school by these little speedsters!.

The calm before the storm…

As soon as it warmed up enough the insects began to hatch and rise up out of the pond. And the Waxwings went into action! It was like a squadron of fighter jets in a dogfight! These birds are extremely quick, and they can turn on a dime. It was impossible to find them quickly enough with the 400mm so I switched to the 200-500. Now this lens is very good in decent light but has one flaw. It does not focus nearly as fast as a prime lens and it certainly wasn’t able to lock focus on the Waxwings before they changed direction. And of course, the one lens that would have worked, my 70-200, was sitting comfortably at home.

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So I spent the morning trying to catch up to these speedsters but never really getting a good image. It was a very humbling experience and at the same time a great learning experience. I will go back with the right lens the next time and hopefully the birds will still be there!
The rest of these pics are just some that I got when they would take a break from gorging on insects. Enjoy!

I call this the “Trump” look…

That’s all for now! Stay safe and keep shooting!

I Think I Somehow Pissed Off the Photo Gods....

I was at Lindsay Parson on Friday morning. This is usually a fairly slow time of year for me. It’s hot, the baby birds have grown up, and the vegetation makes photography more difficult. But I just can’t stay home, it’s not an option for me. As the gray shadows of early morning slowly faded away a Great Blue Heron came gliding in and landed on a log in the water about 40 yards away. Perfect. Far enough away for a good composition but close enough so I wouldn’t have to crop excessively. Now I just had to wait for the light to come up and for the bird to start fishing. Well, this bird must not have been listening when his parents taught him how to fish because he was terrible at it! In two hours of watching this bird fish he only managed to catch one frog! He also didn’t understand the concept of deep water because he twice stepped off the log into water that was over his body. The first pic below was just after he managed to get back onto the log after taking an unexpected dive. You can see the cool blue light on the bird but right behind him you can also see the Sun beginning to peek out. I knew I would only have a narrow window of good light Click on the images to enlarge.

Not a happy bird.

Shortly after the previous pic he finally caught a frog!. And this is where the photo gods began to harass me. Instead of staying on the open part of the log to eat, he moved over two steps and stepped behind a small dead tree. What would have been a very good image turned into a ‘delete’. I couldn’t move because he was close and there was no cover between us. And moving a 400mm lens is not that simple.

Zoom in to see the frog

But I thought, well just sit tight and he will catch something else. Forty five minutes later and he was still hungry. And the light was getting very harsh. So I stood up to leave thinking he would just fly away. Nope, he sat there and watched me while I packed up my gear and took off my Ghillie suit. This was the dumbest GBH I had ever encountered! Finally he decide to take off and I got a couple of pics of his departure. The light was very harsh but I massaged them in LR and at least made them presentable for a blog post.

And the bird? He flew into a tree about forty yards away and watched me walk out of the woods. The moral of the story? Never trust the photo gods……

The Boys Are Back In Town....

I was back at Lindsay Parsons yesterday looking to get a good image of one of the young Kingfishers. It was 70 degrees at 5 in the morning so I kinda figured it was going to be a little warm. I was also hoping I might see the Otters again. There were very few clouds in the sky so it got light very quickly. The Kingfishers were there but by the time they started feeding the Sun was already throwing some harsh light. But I persevered, took some crappy pictures until about 8 o’clock when I decided to pack it in and go get a cup of coffee. I had packed up my backpack, taken off my Ghillie suit and was just turning to head up the hill when I saw that burnt orange color of a whitetail deer in Summer. I had been watching this doe earlier in the morning but I lost sight of her a while ago. She was feeding in the tall water plants at the edge of the pond. But when she picked up her head I realized ‘the boys’ were back. It was a very mature 10 point buck! I watched this bachelor group of bucks last year in the same area and it looks like at least two of them made it through the winter. So I had to unpack my camera quietly and get in position quickly. All of these pics are handheld and my telephoto is very heavy so I’m surprised that I got any keepers at all! There were at least 5 in the group but I only saw 3. These two 8 pointers were the same deer from last year but now the antlers were longer and heavier. By the time the antlers quit growing this year they will be 10 pointers. Deer antlers fall of in the Winter and grow back every Spring. While they are growing they are living tissue and very sensitive to the deer. By early September photoperiodism takes over and the tissue hardens and dies, forming the gleaming antlers you see in the Fall. But if a buck damages an antler while it is still growing, that antler will grow the same way for the rest of the bucks life!

Zoom in to look at the rack….

Zoom in to look at the rack….

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Now these images aren’t going to win any prizes, that’s for sure. But I will definitely keep my eye out for this group for the next month or so!

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Time Is Running Short.....

I know I’ve been shooting a lot of Orioles lately but there is a good reason. Probably by this time next week they will pretty much be gone. And I’m not ready for that yet. That means that Summer is making it’s inexorable march towards Winter. And I’m definitely not ready for that!!! I have two Oriole families that visit the feeder every year. One family is a bit ahead of the other and the young can feed themselves just fine now. But the other little ones still need some help from the parents.

It won’t be long….

Reservations only……

Generations…..

Insatiable…..

Give me my food NOW!!!!!

So as you can see I’m trying to capture my friends as best as I can so next February when the thermometer is telling me it’s too damn cold, I can look at these pics and believe that yes, Spring will come again….

And for you serious birders here’s a peek at a very rare specimen, Columba Livia. This is the only image I have ever been able to capture of this elusive bird!!! Don’t forget, this is a copyrighted image, no stealing!!

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It's Not Supposed To Be Like This.....

There I was, waiting for the birds to come in. But there was something that just wasn’t right. It was 70 degrees and sunny, I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I must be dreaming, or else I’m shooting in Florida. Usually I’m in full camo in a blind and the mosquitos are tattooing their names in my forehead. But here I was, with Mary Lou and Jack, waiting for the birds to arrive. And they didn’t disappoint us! There was at least a half a dozen near us at any one time, picking their way through the Serviceberry tree to get at the delicious berries that they came for.

The light was beautiful, the bird was beautiful, what more could you ask for???

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We got a few nice pics with nice light, but we knew it wouldn’t last. The birds started looking into the middle of the tree where it was all dappled light. It’s hard enough to keep up with the birds let alone an ever changing light!

Double Trouble….

Don’t get me wrong these birds are not easy to shoot. They are always on the move and with people walking on the Riverwalk the birds were always moving from one tree to the other.

these guys thought nothing of hanging upside down to get a berry!

Looks like she has been to the Salon!!!

The last two images I put in just to give you some interesting tidbits about the birds. The first image shows why they are called Cedar Waxwings. The wingtips and tail look like they have been dipped in wax and the body is the same color as Cedar wood. And the second image will show that they actually have red eyes, not black. But you can only see it when the light hits the eye at the right angle. I never knew that until I zoomed in on this pic. The stuff you learn! …… Hope you enjoyed the pics. There are several more in my gallery page. Just go here… http://longcreekphotography.com/feathers
That’s all for now. Thanks for looking!!!!