photoartflightGarter Snake On Road
Posted on May 10, 2018
We saw this Garter Snake sunning on the access road as we were walking out of Davidsons Mill Pond Park to the parking area. I have seen them before but never saw one this large. I was amazed people were just walking by and did not see it. When we stopped, quite a few people did notice it and seemed very wary of the Garter Snake. It did not seem to be bothered by the people at all. It seemed to like the warm pavement and seemed content to just stay there and watch the people go by. After a while it slithered off the roadway into the woods.
7 shot pano, 400mm f/4 lens
Closeup head detail shot, 400mm f/4 lens
Head detail shot, from behind. 400mm f/4 lens
Another panorama series
Chipping Sparrow In Tree
Posted on May 9, 2018
While I was photographing the Bluebirds I saw a few different types of Sparrows and Finches. This Chipping Sparrow was watching me from a nearby tall tree, so I got a few shots while the Bluebirds were out in the fields. I usually photograph raptors and larger birds like herons, egrets, etc., so it was fun to photograph these smaller birds, but more of a challenge since they are smaller targets. Plus harder to get close images of them because they are so skittish. I found if I just setup in an area with a bunch of trees around me they would fly to where I could get good shots. I was shooting with a 2X teleconverter & a Canon 1.6X crop camera body so it was approximately equivalent to 1280mm on a full frame camera.
Below are a sampling of some of the different birds that stopped by to see what I was doing. A variety of sparrows and a House Finch.
House Finch In Top Of Tree
Posted on May 7, 2018
This House Finch was busy looking around from its high perch in the top of this tree. It kept singing and looking around. I had to crop quite a bit as I was using a 400mm f/4 Canon DO lens with a 1.4x teleconverter and it was a very tall tree! The House Finch was fun to watch while it was singing away.
Bluebirds Checking Out The Bluebird Boxes
Posted on May 6, 2018
The Bluebirds are starting to come back to Davidson’s Mill Pond Park and occupying the Bluebird Boxes. Some Tree Swallows have taken over a couple of the Bluebird boxes which they were fighting over with the Bluebirds a few days ago. Here are a few images of the Bluebirds checking out their new homes.
Roseate Spoonbills
Posted on April 30, 2018
These were from a previous trip to Florida. Did not post these then, but was working on older files and found them and decided to work on them. They are a fun bird to photograph and almost comical in some ways. Plus they are a large and colorful bird so easier to fill the image and get interesting poses. It is fun to watch them interacting with each other. You just have to make sure you do not overexpose the whites especially in bright sunlight.
Original X-Wing Fighter.
Posted on April 19, 2018
While I was photographing this Slaty Skimmer, it reminded me of the X-Wing fighter in the original Star War movies. I wonder if the Star Wars X-Wing fighter was drafted from dragonflies. I guess we will never know.
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron
Posted on April 9, 2018
I was looking through one of my backup Hard disks and found a series of images from a trip to Florida years ago that I had not worked on. They were from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm with a lot of birds nesting in the trees. There were lots of Black & Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, Egrets and others. I was told they like nesting here because their nests seem safer because the alligators take care of predators that invade their nests.
Sunbeam Through Opening In Clouds
Posted on April 2, 2018
While I was working on files from a previous visit to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland, I came across this image of a sunbeam shining through an opening in the cloud cover. I used a 400mm lens to isolate the beam so it was more prominent in the image. With a wider view, the sunbeam did not seem to stand out as much. I think the beam as is, is prominent enough against the clouds and I did not want to enhance the beam to make it stand out more, opting for a more natural look.
Double Sunbeams, 400mm f/4 with 1.4x Teleconverter
Osprey With Meal
Posted on March 9, 2018
Ospreys are one of my favorite birds to photograph. It is fun to see them diving into water to get a meal. Plus to see them defending their nests against other Ospreys or birds of prey. They also seem to really stare at you as you are photographing them as in this photo. They are very agile in flight which gives you some interesting photo opportunities.
Incoming Snow Geese Landing In The Early Morning
Posted on March 1, 2018
These Snow Geese were coming in for a landing early in the morning. In the early morning, the light was not great, so I was using a slower shutter speed than I usually like. I liked the blur on the moving wingtips because of a slower shutter speed but was fast enough to keep their bodies fairly sharp. It seems to give the sense of movement with the blurred wing tips.
Distant small group of Snow Geese taking flight
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