photoartflightBlack-crowned Night-Heron Foraging for a Meal
Posted on August 30, 2015
It is fun to watch a Black-crowned Night-heron foraging for a meal along the shoreline. After coming out of cover from the thick grasses it was stalking the shoreline. Then stopped when it thought it found something. Then little by little they inch forward and freeze waiting for the moment to strike. In this sequence it was frozen for quite a few minutes and seemed like a statue before realizing, I guess, there was nothing there and then returned to its cover in the grasses. I was shooting all along this hoping to get an action shot of it getting its meal, but all I have is pretty much the same shot through the sequence before it returned to where it came out.
Eastern Carpenter Bee On Yellow Wildflower
Posted on August 29, 2015
It was fun to watch this Eastern Carpenter Bee buzzing around the wildflowers and it was a Large Bee, easy to photograph.
Osprey Flying In WIth Fish for the Family
Posted on August 28, 2015
At the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge there are many Osprey Platforms along the Wildlife Drive. If you watch one for a while you will see a lot of photo opportunities. Either the adults flying in & out with food or the young ones growing and interacting. Also you get closer flight shots as they fly in to feed the young.
Glossy Ibis Through The Grasses
Posted on August 27, 2015
I saw some Glossy Ibises feeding in the water to the right of the Heron & Egret Trees. There were a lot of tall grasses in the way, so I tried shooting through a few small openings in the grasses. There was a lot of strong contrasty light on them which helped on the dark colored birds.
Great Egret Landing Sequence
Posted on August 18, 2015
Sometimes it is fun to shoot a sequence showing action or wing positions. This Great Egret was flying into a tree which already had about 30 Egrets (Snowy, Little & Great) in it already. I was able to follow it in and show the sequence. It was moving fairly quickly and covered quite a bit of territory in this sequence. I used most of the images but bypassed a few that were to similar.
Osprey Nest on Osprey Platform Panorama
Posted on August 16, 2015
We went to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ to see what we could find. In the Summer there are lots of shore birds, Herons, Egrets, Ibises, Gulls, Terns, Ospreys, an occasional Bald Eagle, etc. It is also great for dragonflies and small birds. Along the Wildlife Drive there are many Osprey Platforms which are a good spot to wait for Ospreys to fly in with a fish for the younger Ospreys & other interactions with the younger birds. I liked the symmetry of the two adult Ospreys on the arms but did not want to use a wider lens to get them both in because I wanted to retain the detail. So I shot a series of 2 shot sequences with a 400mm with a 1.4X teleconverter for a panorama showing the whole platform. I liked these 2 the best out of my series.
Tern Hovering
Posted on May 24, 2015
We found quite a few Common Terns at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine Division. They seem to work an area for food, then move on. This one was hovering before diving into the water. I liked the head on angle of the Tern, with the wings in more of a vertical upright position, before it dove into the water. Usually they are so quick it is hard to get a shot, especially in focus.
Common Tern exiting water with small fish
Great Egret Breeding Plumage
Posted on April 25, 2015
This time of year the Great Egrets are showing their Breeding Plumage. They are great to photograph showing the feathery feathers, long plumes in the back and colorful lore with green around the eyes. Depending on their position, the plumage shows up either more or less. Wait to get interesting angles, which usually does not take long as they are active birds. Also if it is windy, the feathers blow in the wind and spread out more for more impact. They are also large birds which helps fill the frame.
Lowest Osprey Nest I Ever Saw
Posted on April 24, 2015
We found this Osprey Nest along the Wildlife Drive, along the shoreline by the water. It probably was only about 4 feet of the ground in a small tree. I have never seen an Osprey nest this low to the ground before.
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