Odd and ends

It's been a while since I've posted here.  I guess I'm just waiting for the bald eagles to show up.  Here are a few I have shot recently but haven't posted.

08-25-12 Gold Finch

I was photographing a butterfly and lost sight of it.  As I was scanning the area to find it I noticed this gold finch deep in the cover.  I stood as still as possible and he flew up to this perch where I could get a clear shot of him.  "Clear" with the exception of the one out of focus stick running through his body.

A gust of wind came up and ruffled his feather.  A different crop, but the same out of focus stick.

Here's that butterfly ... or is it a moth? I'm not sure.

The above were all from Rockwood State Park.  Later I took a cruise out to Lock and Dam 13.  Not too much going on there.  Here's a heavily cropped photo of a pied-billed grebe.

And finally a turtle with a dragonfly on it's nose.  

08-11-12

I don't know what to say about this one so I'll let you write your own caption.

Every lens has a minimum focusing distance, if you are too close you won't be able to focus.  I set up my camera just outside that minimum distance from the perch to make the birds as large as they can be. I still end up cropping a bit on the sparrows and finches but when this robin landed on the perch I was too close.

Boring old female house sparrow but I like it because she has a seed in her mouth.

I like these house finches but I still haven't been able to get a good "pose" from a male.

Mourning Doves clean up the spilled seed on the ground.

08-09-12 Better Background

I got some pointers over at BirdPhotographers.net on what to do with the background.  I like this much better.  I have also posted the original background below for a comparison.

08-08-12 A Better Look at the Bald Cardinal

I rearranged my setup a little.  I'm not pleased with the background but I think I can fix that for future sessions.  Tonight I got a better shot of the bald cardinal.  His body is looking better than it did on Saturday but he's still bald.

08-05-12 Black-Capped Chickadee

I struggle with my perch set-ups trying to find good light and a good background.  I have solved some of the background problems by setting up lower perches and shooting down on them so the background is the actual ground behind the perch instead of a far off tree.  My current set-up gets about an hour of direct sun starting at about 7:15am.  Today I caught this cardinal during that time but I think the direct sun is actually a bit harsh.

After the direct light goes away, I have to lower my shutter speed which isn't the best idea because these little birds never stop moving.  I don't mind the soft light of open shade but it lacks the pop of direct sun.  Here is a black-capped chickadee taken only a few minutes after the cardinal above, but in totally different light.

08-04-12 Goldfinch and a Bald Cardinal

I've had a finch feeder with niger seed in it since March and haven't seen any goldfinches on it.  (Nicole saw one and managed to snap an iPhone picture of it or I'm not sure I would have believed her)  I've seen them out at Rockwood Park but not in the yard.  Today I finally saw one on my hanging feeder, eating sunflower seeds.  This was shot out my back window.

Here's another back window shot.  When I first saw this bird, I thought I might have a new species in my yard.  It flew off before I could see what it was.  It came back later and I realized it's a cardinal with no head feathers.  I did some searching around the internet and found several reports of this condition.  There is some debate about the cause of this, some believe parasite or disease but others claim it is just unusual molting.  Molting is the process all birds go through of shedding feathers and re-growing them. They normally don't loose enough feathers at a time to look this bad but apparently some individuals do.  Anyway, it's a sad looking specimen of such a beautiful bird.

It's been awhile

I have other hobbies in addition to photography and one of them is running, but I haven't been able to run much this year. I had knee surgery in February and about the time I was recovered from that, I developed sciatica.  The recent dry spell in posts to this site is because I have shifted my focus to running again.

A couple things caused that.  First, I was in downtown Chicago with my wife and another couple on the 21st and 22nd.  I got up before everyone else on Sunday and went to get some coffee only to find that the Chicago Rock and Roll half marathon was going on.  Seeing thousands of people run down Michigan Avenue made me miss being in shape to participate in an event like this.  The following weekend was the Bix7, and event I had planned to run until the sciatica hit.  Watching the Bix on TV was another big push for me.

So I'm back to running which cuts into photography time but I haven't given up on the birds.  I'll find a way to make time.  

07-15-12 Male Cardinal

I finally got a shot of a male cardinal.  The perch is in the shade and the background is in the sun making it yellow.  I've been trying to stay away from flash but I may have to try it because the lighting is a bit dull in my opinion.  

07-07-12 Sandhill Cranes!

I drove all the way up to the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Green Island, Iowa which is across the River from the Savanna Army Depot.  I saw lots of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons but didn't have any great photo opportunities.  On the way home I decided to swing into Lock and Dam 13 for the third night in a row and what do I see but two Sandhill Cranes walking along the roadside.

This Great Blue Heron was too far away to shoot with my 400mm so once again I attached the 2x converter and manual focused the now 800mm f11.

07-06-12 Egret and RWBB at 800mm

I saw this Great Egret near the intersection of Holly Road and Rt 84.  The light isn't very good but I was pleased with how this came out considering I'm handholding my 400mm with the 2x converter attached, using the open car window for support. (and manual focusing)

Stopped back in at Lock and Dam 13 to try the red-winged blackbirds again.  This is also at 800mm but on a tripod this time.  This one doesn't have the out of focus foreground and all the bugs that yesterday's did but I wish this was a male rather than a female.

07-05-12 Princeton 2

I made it to the Princeton Wildlife Refuge after an earlier failed attempt.  I saw several Blue Herons and Egrets but couldn't get any good photos.  Here is a cell phone shot of the area.

Not seeing any opportunities, I decided to head north to Lock and Dam 13 where I was able to get my best red-winged black bird shot to date. I love the light and the colors in the background but I don't like all the out of focus bits blocking the main perch.  I'm not sure how I feel about all the bugs.  I think I wish they weren't there.

06-26-12 Florida

We took a family vacation to Florida and I left the SLR and telephoto lens at home.  That didn't stop me from getting some point and shoot shots of birds along the way.  Below is a Brown Pelican at Clearwater Beach, FL.  The pelicans out on this fishing pier are pretty accustomed to people.  We even saw one chase a guy who had just caught a fish.  Trying to steal lunch.

Here is the same pelican showing off for Nicole and Madison.

Earlier in the week I got this shot of a Great Blue Heron in the ocean at Cocoa Beach.

06/17/12 Blues

I went for another hike at Rockwood Park today.  At a clearing in the path near "The Oak Tree" I saw this bluebird.

While driving, I spotted this Indigo Bunting.  I parked the car and shot out the window.  

06/16/12 Male House Sparrow

I think I mentioned before that the male house sparrows don't seem to use the perch, they fly right to the feeder.  Today, I finally got one on the perch but his position caused me to have to do a lot of photoshop work.  (More on that later)

I also moved the position of the feeder and perch.  Instead of facing north as I shoot, I am now facing east.  In the afternoon this position gets full sun.  I think the light is much better in this one than in my previous post of the female house sparrow.

Below is the original image.  I need to find a way to keep them away from light stand.  Maybe some leaves will do the trick.

06/09/12 Princeton Wildlife Refuge

I jumped on my motorcycle and headed to Princeton, IA with my camera.  The Iowa Audubon site lists the Princeton Wildlife Refuge as a spot for bird watching.  Princeton is a very small town so I didn't bring any specific directions to the wildlife refuge.  After cruising the river road to a dead end in each direction and not finding it, I was temporarily lost.  Thanks to modern technology I found directions on my phone and discovered that it's actually north of Princeton about half way to Folletts, IA down a road called 280th Street.

It turns out 280th street is a dirt road.  Not gravel, just dirt.  Did I mention I was on my motorcycle?  It looked smooth and fairly well packed so I headed down 280th street.  It didn't take long to realize it wasn't well packed and was more like sand than dirt.  Less than half way down the road I almost lost the bike and decided I should turn around.  The Princeton Wildlife Refuge will have to wait.

I'll bring four wheels next time.

06/09/12 Female House Sparrow

I spent 30 minutes in my blind this morning and the only thing that landed on my perch was this female house sparrow.  The male's don't seem to use the perch.  They fly directly to the hanging feeder.

06/02/12 Eastern Kingbird / Dickcissel

I'm four months out from my ACL surgery and my knee is feeling good.  I'm one month out from developing sciatica and it is now tolerable so I've started to run again.  I am trying to alternate running one day and walking the next.  Today was a walking day and I decided to go to the park and hike a trail. I saw this bird which I didn't recognize and snapped a couple shots.  I had some trouble identifying it but thanks to Facebook and my uncle, Charlie I now know it's an Eastern Kingbird. (Rockwood State Park, Morrison, IL)

This is a Dickcissel.  It flew away before I could try to get any closer.  I may try to bring my blind out there some time.

06/01/12 Female or Juvenile Cardinal?

I spent about an hour in the blind tonight and got this shot of a cardinal.  I'm not sure if this is a female or a juvenile.  I like the pose but unfortunately the eye is not tack sharp on this one. (My backyard, Morrison, IL)

Here is another case where I'm not sure if this is a female or a juvenile.  I'm 99% sure it is a house finch though.  I would say this is as close to portfolio worthy as I have come so far.  I just wish it was a prettier bird, like a cardinal or even a male house finch.  I would also be happier if the tail didn't intersect the perch which is why I giving myself a year to get ten images... so I can be that picky.

I normally prefer a natural perch but I thought the arch of the shepherd's hook made for a nice composition.

I was about to go inside when these two house finch's showed up.  It was pretty cool to see the male feeding the baby even though it happened right next to the duct tape mess.  I could try photo-shopping it out but I would be missing the baby's tail.  Another option would be cropping really tight but this was shot at 1/125 of a second and the overall sharpness isn't good enough to handle that tight of a crop.  I have already cropped down to about 60% of the original image.

05-28-12 House Finch on Perch

I was happy to get a shot of a house finch on my perch.  The head position isn't god enough to make it a portfolio candidate though.  Little birds never stop moving so it's tough to capture the perfect "pose". (My backyard, Morrison, IL)

    

Here's a cell phone photo of my set-up.  It's just a twig duct-taped to a light stand and placed over a hanging platform feeder.  The birds often stop on the perch to scout for predators before going down to the feeder.  I hide in the blind with my camera on a tripod and wait.

05-28-12 No photo but I saw a Yellow Throated Wood Warbler today.

A few years ago, I took an interest in photographing trains.  At first it was about taking the best shot I could at a given location but soon became more about trying to photograph as many different locomotives as I could.  I found myself choosing locations based on my ability to photograph every engine on the train from the side.  Now I don't think I could pick out ten shots that I thought were good enough to call a portfolio of train images.  That experience played a part in deciding to make this bird project about collecting ten great images instead of just photographing as many different species as possible.  

Today, I was walking on Lister Road and saw a new species of bird.  I was carrying my phone (aka pocket computer) so I pulled up the iBird app and punched in Illinois, Secondary Color: Black, Head Pattern: Masked.  The app returned seven birds that matched those descriptions and I easily identified the bird I saw as a Common Yellowthroat of the Wood Warbler family.  If I had been carrying my camera I could have gotten a snapshot of it, but in the end it would have been nothing more than a side shot of another locomotive.

05-27-12 Coots

This is a coot, they float on the water like a duck but when it's time to move to a new location they run across the top of the water.  (Lock and Dam 13, Fulton, IL)

I couldn't resist attaching the 2x converter to my 400mm lens even though the 2 f-stop loss means I am using an 800mm f11 and auto-focus doesn't work when your maximum aperture is f11. The results weren't too bad.  There are a lot of things that could have made this shot better but a coot standing on top of a turtle was worth posting. (Lock and Dam 13, Fulton, IL) 

I took this shot of a Killdeer from my car.  I wish I could have gotten down to ground level but if I had tried to step out of the car he would have flown off. (Lock and Dam 13, Fulton, IL)

I started the morning at Rockwood still trying for a portfolio quality shot of a red-winged blackbird.  It's tough to get a shot of a whole bird because the vegetation is getting so thick.  I think this is a juvenile red-winged BB.  The females are this same color but they're heads aren't quite so "fluffy" (Rockwood State Park, Morrison, IL)

05-19-20 Afternoon at Lock and Dam 14

I was in the Quad Cities so I decided to go home through LeClaire and stop at Lock and Dam 14.  When birds are in water it is best to get down as close to water level as possible.  I was able to do that but since the opposite shore line is so close, it brought a horizon line through the birds neck.  Having the horizon through the middle of the frame is not my preference. (Lock and Dam 14, LeClaire, IA)

This is a tree swallow.  Watching them swoop, dart and dive is almost like being at an air-show.  (Lock and Dam 14, LeClaire, IA)

 

Tree swallows are also a beautiful bird to see perched.  A barbed wire fence isn't the ideal perch but this will serve as my best tree swallow shot for now.  (Lock and Dam 14, LeClaire, IA)