photoartflightGlossy Ibis Along Shoreline
Posted on May 22, 2017
We saw this lone Glossy Ibis at the start of the Wildlife Drive at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville NJ. It was rare to see a lone one. Usually you see 3 or more in a group working an area for food. It turned around and started to go out into the water in the channel, then returned and disappeared in the grasses. I wish it had been a sunnier day to bring out more of the colors in the Ibis. The lighting was very dull, so I brightened it up a little and added a little saturation.
The Ibis started walking out into the water then turned around and went into the grasses along the shore
I found this Glossy Ibis along the shoreline at the start of the Wildlife Drive. It was working the shoreline looking for a meal, plus scratching in between. I got a few images before it wandered off into the grasses. The lighting was very dull, so I brightened it up a little and added a little saturation.
Squawking Willet
Posted on May 21, 2017
We went to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend. It was a very gray overcast day. Which worked for closeup images, but was dull for subjects in the distance. But it was a fun day out anyway. This is the first time we have been here since they reopened the completed fixed Wildlife Drive. Before you only could use a very small section then had to turn around. I was surprised to see so many Black Skimmers in large groups. It was so windy it was hard to open the car door, so what was flying usually had a hard time getting where they were trying to go. Some just blew sideways or had very erratic flights. Very difficult to smoothly track in flight subjects. So a lot of my images were of subjects on the ground or in the water. I saw this Willet on a mound in front of some grasses. It posed for a while so I got quite a few images. Shot at 400mm with a 1.4x teleconverter.
Early Morning Cloudscape Panorama
Posted on April 1, 2017
I liked the colors and shapes of these early morning clouds. I did not want to use a wide angle lens because I did not want a lot of foreground and darker sky above the clouds. I used a 400mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter with a series of 7 overlapping handheld images combined in Photoshop CC2017. This way I can also print it quite large if I wanted.
Great Blue Heron Across Gull Pond
Posted on February 16, 2017
There was not too many birds to photograph, but I liked this lonely Great Blue Heron in one of the trees across Gull Pond. It looked a little lonely but I saw another about to land but banked and flew over the trees.
Birdscape – Roosting Great Blue Heron
Osprey With Baby Green Heron Meal
Posted on February 15, 2017
I photographed this Osprey flying at the Brigantine Division of The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey in the Summer. I had not noticed until now it was carrying a young Little Green Heron in its claws, bringing it back to the nest.
Snow Geese In Early Morning Waking Up
Posted on February 14, 2017
We had found these Snow Geese early in the morning. It seemed that they were just waking up and getting ready for their day.
Pair Of American Black Ducks
Posted on February 13, 2017
It was fun to watch these ducks moving along in the choppy water, bouncing around with the waves, trying to make some headway as they were paddling in the semi rough water.
Mute Swans
Posted on February 12, 2017
Most of the Wildlife Drive was closed for repairs so access was limited to the refuge. Some of my favorite areas to photograph birds were not accessible. But I did find a few Mute Swans that cooperated and did a slow swim by for a few photos.
Gull Pond Panorama
Posted on February 11, 2017
When I am shooting with a long lens, quite often I also carry a m43 Camera with a 14-140mm lens. It comes in handy for “grab” shots when the longer lens is too long, and is lighter to carry then 2 bigger cameras. With this lens I can go fairly wide to fairly long, 28mm to 280mm with close focus (35mm sort of equivalent) in a small light weight package. Also I do not like changing lenses on a windy day out in the field. This is a six shot (vertical framing) panorama, assembled in Photoshop.
Before we left the clouds really came in and “brightened up” the landscapes with more dimension. Just a plain blue or overcast sky is just boring.
Usually there are Gulls, Swans, a few Great Blue Herons or a variety of ducks, etc. here but it was a slow day for wildlife.
I have posted quite a few panoramas lately, but that was most of the opportunities I had on this visit.
3 image panorama, 17mm m43 camera
Pintail Ducks
Posted on February 9, 2017
We found this pair of Pintail Ducks while we were at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine Division in Oceanville New Jersey. It started as a grey overcast day but brightened up a little before we left. They were swimming away from us but I was able to get a few photos. The featured image is cropped a little, the second I waited for the female to finally turn her head a little so it was a better image. I had wanted to do a 2 shot image stack. The first focused on the male, the second on the female, but she was too quick for me. So in this image she is a little “soft” in focus. With Photoshop it it is fairly easy to do a multi-image handheld focus stack on moving subjects, especially with long lenses.
Male & Female Pintail Ducks swimming away
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