Home Town Hero Fly Over - Flint Style

What a great day to get out of the house.  The beginning of a Michigan summer has finally arrived.  We haven't had snow for a little over two weeks.
We heard over the airwaves that there would be a WWII warbird flyover on Saturday.  I looked all over the place for a web page with information, no luck.  Then reading Twitter (Don't judge me.) yesterday, I saw it was postponed to today due to high winds.  And the postponement notice had a bit more information as to location and times.  Bingo, C and I had something to do today.
There was no information I could find on the aircraft for the day.  Might sound too picky, but here was my quandary.  If it was a WWII flyover, I needed a prop camera set up.  If not, and there were jet aircraft involved, then I needed a jet setup.  Our best information was it was a WWII era fly over, and the prop was the setup to use.  Although I did take a backup camera that could have handled jets, just in case.  Not much time to make changes in a single pass event.
The camera setup.  I need to keep working with the D780.  And one of the reasons for the monster lens is aircraft.  That was easy.  For the backup was the D500 and 17-200 lens.  There might have been some walk around opportunities.  So for the aircraft, going on the assumption they would be T-6 class/family I would be ready for them.  This is my favorite class of racers at the Reno event.  Big target, slow target, but slow props.  Knowing this, for a good shot I need to be around 1/200 second for shutter speed.  Again, fortunately for me, I have had two years at Reno to understand this type aircraft.  Please, don't screw this up.
One of the new pieces of photographic equipment I acquired over the winter was a neutral density filter, 3 stops.  Fixed, not variable.  For the monster lens with a 95 mm opening that was not cheap.  So today was the day to find out if it was going to work.  Feast or famine.  Without it, all things being equal, today I would have to use 1/2000 second at f/5.6 and ISO 100 for the settings.  With the ND filter, the speed was 1/200 second.  Pretty much what I had calculated for the purchase of the filer.  So far so good.  Photo-Stop math can be confusing at times.
The target set up.  From what we could tell the flight path was planned over central Michigan in the Flint, Lapeer and Owasso area.  The end of the flight pan was the Great Lakes National Cemetery in nearby Holly, Michigan.  The end of the plan was to conclude with a missing man formation.  C and I would head off to the national cemetery.
And as an unexpected surprise, we ran into a friend of mine I met through the camera club, at the cemetery.  We'll just say his name is Bob.  Anyway Bob is a Marine Corps veteran who has served with the USMC honor guard which covered the cemetery for veteran funerals.  He knows the place well, and was nice enough to ask us to join him.  He had picked a great place to photograph the aircraft for what we thought the flight path would be.  We had about an hour to chit chat before the aircraft arrived.  It's all good.
And finally, a few months before my father started his next adventure in life he passed along to me what I will call a charm that I've worn on each aircraft photo-op.  I would have it with me today and I felt it would help.  I've also carried it with me on some of the Eagle adventures, because he liked those shots as well.
So, with the right camera, the right lens, the right company and the right charm all I needed was the right aircraft and it would all come together.
And with today being the anniversary of the 1889 Johnstown flood, what could go wrong?

Home Town Hero Fly In

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

I took around 50 shots.  Out of the 50, 10 were horribly out of focus mostly due to camera shake.  I was OK with that hit rate.  Others were a bit out of focus due to heat waves.  Stuff to learn.  Other stuff to learn I found out in post was I had a vignette that I didn't expect.  It was correctable, but I'm thinking it is the ND filter as this is the first I've seen it.
But so far so good.  Props looking the way I like them.

Home Town Hero Overhead Bank

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

There were four aircraft in the group.  And I tried to get four in each shot.  I don't know if that was the best plan, maybe a close up of each?  In these flybys, there is usually only one pass and that is all.  Today, there were two passes and with that information, maybe I would have tried it?  In the end, this is a group effort, therefor a group photo.

Home Town Hero Overhead

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

230 mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

It might be a small thing, but the sun reflection off the props is awesome to me.  Right place, right time, right setup.  As these aircraft are just about directly overhead, this is about the time I am close to falling over backwards.

Home Town Hero To the Barn

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

440 mm, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

Optical illusion, these aircraft are done for the day and are heading away from us and back to the barn.
In the small world of aviation photography, I have my second instance of the same aircraft in two different events.  The first was a L39 jet that I saw in Traverse City and in Reno.  The second instance was today with the aircraft that has the fixed landing gear.  There is a post for this aircraft with some close up photos here.
Today's event aircraft made two passes over the cemetery which was fantastic.  The noise alone was well worth the trip.  Nothing like it.  Great visuals as well.  Did I say the noise was great as well?

Bringing home the food

A few nights ago I watched a NOVA TV program that dealt with Eagles, and one of the story lines had information of feeding and growth.  There is a lot of both.  Quickly.
I've wanted to get a photo of an Eagle bringing home the food, and today I got close.
From my viewing spot, there's not a lot of warning with an Eagle gliding to its nest to get the bird in flight.  I thought my best tactic would be to focus in on the nest and fire away if I saw the shadow over the pond.  For this, could have used a higher speed?  For now though, it will do.

Fish Delivery

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I figured with a growing Eaglet, or two, were still in the nest the food express should be every 90 to 120 minutes.  I was at the nest when this delivery was made.
As can be seen, the leaves are really filling in.  Could be a sign I've worn out my welcome.  Until fall at least.

Richland Park Juvenile Eagle Close to Flight

Last night's encounter with the juvenile eagle was a lot of fun.  This guy has to be close to flight.  yea, the light wasn't all that good.  Maybe I'll get some better shots today.  The sun is out, at least for a few hours.  Anyway more from last night.
Just watching this guy jumping around was so interesting.  If I had seen this 50 years ago, who knows where my life might have gone.  I have a few nature related encounters that i will always remember.  For example, in the prior life we (aircrew) were transiting Ascension Island and I witnessed the nighttime trek of the Green Turtle coming out of the Atlantic Ocean to lay eggs on the beach.  And now I'm seeing the growing of the Eaglet.  So, nature has been going on for thousands of years, and I see I'm just a visitor.  Very cool.
Photographically, this has been fun to finally get to use AI Gigapixel.  Sure it would be nice to have a mega-telephoto lens.  And again, I am just an amateur with a somewhat limited budget.  I have to use the equipment I have.  Yea, I'd like the images to be much sharper when cropped this close, but as long as they pass the office monitor test, I'll take it.
This was as close as the little guy got to facing me with it's wings opening up.  Looks like either through jumping or flight, off the ground with a nest safety net.

Juvenile Eagle Moving

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 12500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 900 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

There were a few times I saw the wingspan.  As wide as the nest.  The first shots I have of the Eaglets this year is March 26th.  I can see two little heads just above the nest rim.  Lots of nest material in the way, but you can see them.  Little fuzzy things.  Eight weeks later, the wingspan is across the nest.  That is a lot of growing.

Juvenile Eagle Wingspan

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 12500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Think I'll return to the park this afternoon.  Better light, warmer and take a book to listen to.  Social distancing, not an issue.

Juvie Eagle Peek a Boo

The start of Memorial Day weekend.  It's not raining.  I needed to get out of the house for a while.  Off to the park.  I went a bit later in the day, or evening than my usual visits.  Light could have been better.  When I got to the nest, one parent was sitting in the trees.  Another post.  I stayed at the nest for almost two hours.  The parent took off about 10 minutes after I arrived.  I stayed that long thinking that the bird would return.  It didn't.
But, as it turned out it was a great stay.  Seems to me there were two eaglets in the nest earlier in the year.  I only saw one today.  The one I did see was getting big.  After a while it would get up and stretch its wings.  Flapping a bit.  And sort of hoping around.  Fun to watch.
I'll probably post a shot or two of the wing stretch.  Most are only interesting because of the workout, but the bird was always looking away from me.  Wonder if there was a wind direction thing?
One of the photos from the evening has the Eaglet looking right at me.
This was so cool.

Juvie Eagle Peek a Boo

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2500 sec, F/5.6, ISO 1100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

First, I was pretty lucky in that as the leaves are starting to come in there is less of a clear view of the nest.  I don't have a lot of room to maneuver in the viewing stand, and past experience has often shown a wayward branch in the way.  In this shot, clear sailing to a view.  But there was an issue to overcome.  This is not a 500 mm shot.
This is the original 500 mm shot.

That's a lot o' crop.
The only way this works is if you can see the Eaglet.  A little closer.  If you can see the eyes good enough.  It was a good project to try AI Gigapixel.  I tried the deep crop process with PS and AIG.  The Gigapixel did a fantastic job.  I also thing the D780 image to start with helped.  Not sure if the crop on the D500 would crop this deep.  But with the crop factor on the D500, this is a 750 mm reach - but would require a crop as well.  This combination worked well.  This passes the home monitor test easily.

Eagle Glide, Almost Eye Level

I have about ten shots in this series of the Eagle gliding, or wing stroke, that I think are good enough to post.  But at some point I don't want to limit myself to being an Eagle site.  I have other interests, just can't get to them yet.
In a way, I want to segue to to what's happening in mid-Michigan.  The flooding in mid-Michigan will have an effect on the Refuge.  The flooding Tittabawassee River merges with the Saginaw River at the north end of the Refuge to form the Shiawassee River.  The Refuge drive is closed today, which leads me to believe water will cover parts of the drive.
The work done at the Refuge last year was to increase the wetlands by water control.  A lot of the Refuge will be protected by the drive, but I'd think the water levels will increase.  And they were high last weekend.
There is a lot of debris coming with the flooding waters.  By the time the floods hit the Refuge maybe a lot of the debris will have deposited along the way.  I'll just have to see in a couple of weeks.
Water by itself will not hurt the Refuge.  More water, more small critters, more life.
What a difference 24 hours make.

Eagle Close Glide

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I like this shot for two (three) reasons.  The first reason, unseen, it is technically pretty good.  In focus and after that, it's all good.  But the two elements I see are the wing tips and the yellow feet.
The Eagle wing tip feathers doing the spread thing really get my eye.  And there is just enough of the feet to add the color.
This might be as close to eye level Eagle shots as I will ever get.  The background isn't all that bad either.

Two Juvies in Flight

Most of the time I see a juvenile eagle, it is solo.  That is not a hard and fast rule.  Last September I saw a few playing together, and with some pelicans.  But the solo sightings are the majority.  Last weekend, I did see a few playing together.  I don't know what the distance was, but it was far away.  When this happens, I'm torn between watching and moving in closer without disturbing the subjects.  And then of course, they move.  Usually away from me.
Shots like these underscore the need to find some way to stabilize the camera, more than fast shutter speed.  And I probably should have jacked up the speed a bit more.  And I should have got closer.  Nix the closer bit, they were on the verge of distancing themselves from me anyway.  A marginal shot is better than no shot.

Two Juvies in Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

720 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Quality wise, there are better.  But being at the right place at the right time I'm not sure that will happen again.  Two juvies in one frame.  Looks OK on the small screen and I can live with that.  Sometimes the subject just outweighs the final image.

Manny, Moe and Shemp

One of the critters at the Refuge that can be counted on, when the sun is out, are the turtles.  Usually they are confined to the Shiawassee River that runs along the west side of Abbott road.  I can see them sunning their cold blooded bodies on the tree debris. 
These three, however, were not in the River.  These three are on the east side of the road.  The light seemed to be better.
I saw these three and instantly though of sets of names, Manny, Moe and Jack and Moe, Larry and Shemp.  I think it fits.

Manny, Moe and Shemp

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not that turtles have always been a favorite critter, but since I took a photo of one in the park and noticed the skin pattern, I've been looking forward to to getting a good close up of one.  This may, or may not, qualify as a close up, but its what I have going for me.  Almost looks like tattooing?

My favorite turtle story comes from the old TV show Night Court.  The character Dan Fielding is hosting his parents in New York, when the parents start telling the story of when Dan was a child his favorite pet was a turtle.  After a few story twists and turns the punch line was that the turtle was actually a painted rock.  I still laugh.

Sunny Day at the Refuge

If there's one place where it is easy to social distance, it's at the Refuge.  It was a nice morning.  Road Trip.
I did three circuits of the nature drive.  The first lap was very cloudy.  The other two laps were perfect sunshine.
I was happy to see Eagles on all three laps.  On the first lap, there was a gaggle (4 to 6) of juveniles grouped together.  What fun.  Looks like they were playing.  That's another post.
On the second lap, I saw the juveniles playing again in the same area, but I have this one skimming the water.  Nice blue reflection.

Juvenile Eagle over Blue Water

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

450 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I am learning with the monster lens and a subject in motion, I almost have to rethink everything.  Note to self, speed needs to be a lot more than the inverse of focal length.  I was shooting today at 1/1,000 sec which is on the slow side for me.  I need to bump it the other way, ISO be damned.  But this shot was savable.   The other issue I have, and I just need more practice is I leave a lot of lens in the lens.  This was at 300 on the lens, I have a lot more to go.  One of the knocks on the 200-500 is the activation of the extra mm's takes a lot.  I've missed a few quick action shots.  For a static subject and I have time to think about it and move the lens, its all OK.  Practice, practice, practice.
Segue to what I saw on the way out of the park.  The last mile of the drive usually doesn't have much action going on.  At this point, I generally thinking of either taking another lap or departing the area.  There I was, lost in my own little universe when I saw this.

Eagle on the Dead Tree

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Great sunlight.  Somewhat close to the road.  No trees in the way.  Make your own luck.  Fortunately there was no one behind me, so I could take my time.  Again, with the bird not in flight I could get a good image.  I was able to stick around until it decided to take flight.  I could have done better.  There are lots of reasons.  First, I wasn't really ready when it took off.  Raising the camera at 750 mm, it ain't easy to find the target quickly.  And coordinate the focus.  just another reason to return, but this was really a great opportunity.  Missed.
But not a total loss.  I didn't try to get much closer and disturb the bird.
But it did take off and I did get a few good shots.

Eagle Take Off

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/00.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 (Auto)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

In a perfect world, I'd have set up a tripod with a gimbal head.  I was lucky, not perfect today.
All in all great day.  With the weather starting to warm up a bit more, maybe we'll see more activity with other birds.

The #Strong Day

Tuesday was quite a day.  Two fly overs.  For someone who has missed a few air shows this year so far, just what the doctor ordered.
First, I have to thank the folks I work with to cover me while I was chasing my lost dreams for 2020 today.  I told them what I was doing, and everyone understood.  People you work with who understand your weak points, priceless.
Enough about them, my day.
I did put in a few hours at the paying job this morning.  Thankfully, no fires.
For #AmericaStrong the Blue Angels were flying a pattern in the Detroit area.  After looking at the maps of the flight path, it looked like the northern most point was just east of Troy - where I used to work.  it's just over an hour away.  Doable.  Road Trip.
It looked like the flight path was using the Beaumont Hospital as a waypoint.  C and I just had to get there.  And find a good place to park.  While practicing social distancing.  No problem.
We arrive in the area about an hour prior to the flyover.  By luck we found a park, just north of the hospital - the Donald Flynn park.  When we got there, not issues finding a parking space.  Seriously, twenty minutes after we arrived, it was packed.  Timing is everything.
People of all shapes and sizes were everywhere.  Most were family groups.  Lots of dogs out for exercise.  Wonderful to see.
I had a decision to make on what equipment to take.  I chose to take the D500 and the monster lens combo.  Not knowing where the flight path was, I wanted the extra reach out to 750 mm.  No good to me leaving it at home.  As it turned out, our location was good enough for 500 mm.
Time to dial in the camera.  Looking for my first formation flying candidates.

Inflight Communications

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

510 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I'm guessing there are lots of flight hours for these two in formation.  Communication is key.  Probably no stunt flying - and I wouldn't want to be close by when they release 'smoke'.
But we were there for the Blue Angels.
We had a general idea in what direction the flight was coming from.  A thrill to see them appear.
Of the baggage I brought to the scene is that all photos need to shoot as close up to the subject as possible to be interesting.  Not so.  There is an interest when the subject is seen a bit further away.  C shot this with her phone.

There is a lot to like about this.  The skies belonged to the Angels for that moment.  Awesome.
At this point, there was no noise, just visual.
When it comes time for me to lose my senses, like vision, fashion, balance and common, I look forward to the time when my caregivers can just wheel me to an air show and I can get that afterburner sound.  Aside, from the TF-39 whine, my next favorite sound.  (Google it.)  But for the day, I'll take the General Electric F404 turbo fan.  When the formation got a bit closer, I could begin to hear them.  Sound of Freedom.  

Blue Angel Bank

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

570 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I don't know what the distance is, but that's as far away as I've ever tried to get a subject.  Not as sharp as I'd like, but hey - this is a hobby for me.  You can tell it is the Angels and I can live with that.
As I was there, thinking, hey these might just fly over us?
Guess what?  Hint:  We had the PERFECT viewing location.

Blue Angels Overhead

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This is an optical illusion.  They are flying level.  I, however, am getting ready to fall backwards.  At an airshow, stuff happens in front of you.  In this flyover, the over is overhead.  And the engine noise is going strong at this point.  Totally awesome moment.
The only negative issue of this location for watching was about to rear its head.  The flight path took the aircraft directly between the sun and me.  Directly overhead.  I try not to do that to the camera, you know take a picture of the sun.  Unfiltered.  
And on their way out.

Blue Angels Exit

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

420 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

The flyover was about 40 seconds long.  Well worth the 90 minutes to get there.
And the day wasn't over.
#MichiganStrong
With a little luck we could catch a KC-135 on a Flint Flyover.
The KC-135 is special to me.  The aircraft has been in service longer than me.  By a little bit.  But the aircraft is special to me because it was the first aircraft I worked on in the 80s was I was stationed on the island of Okinawa.  I worked on engines back in the day, the Pratt and Whitney J57 engines, with water injection.  Loud and smokey.  See them miles away.  And durable.  We'd get an engine in for overhaul and some of the T-wheel would be missing.  Yet is would keep flying.  Cold warrior.
Over the years, they've been refitted with more efficient and quieter engines.  Still, one of my planes.
C has never seen one before and today would be a good day to chase one.  
Luck was with us again, we found a great spot where the aircraft passed directly overhead.
I thought we'd be closer and the aircraft is larger and slower so I put the D780 at the other end of the monster lens.  It worked.

KC-135 Duo

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Not too exciting, and not the right noise.  But I would have not given this day up for anything.

KC-135 Overhead

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

380 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 360 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I like this shot as you can see all the navigation aids used at night for re-fueling.  Memories.
End of a great day.  I miss the airshows.
Earlier this year I was going to join two of the younger nephews at MCAS Cherry Point for their show.  I was really looking forward to seeing their faces with either delight - or horror at the right time.  And I recently found out that the youngest nephew is a Blue Angels fan, seeing them at the Chicago airshow with my father.  I have some work to do with the kids, and I couldn't be happier.
Thanks to the Blue Angels and the 127th ANG wing at Selfridge ANGB.
#AmericaStrong #MichiganStrong

You can learn a lot by listening

I can learn a lot by listening.    It's just the distance between my ears and brain where the weeds can be thick and tall.
Earlier this week I went the park to get out of the house.  And to see the park Eagles.  
I have a favorite watching spot that is north of the nest, right at a pond's edge.  That gives a lot of clearing to view the nest.  Now the branches around the nest I can't do much with.  
My second best watching spot is west of the nest.  More in the woods.  To get there I follow an animal path.  Into the woods.  Yea, I said it twice, there is a lot of woods in the area.  There is a spot against the pond where there is a small opening to view the nest, and some of the pond.  There is a lot of natural growth, small vegetation that you can see around.  But the stuff gets in the way of a subject around the nest, or on the water.
Usually, I'm nest watching from this point.  But that evening there was a solitary Canadian Goose on the pond.  The goose was in a nice spot, with the sun lighting up its head.  The goose was just sitting on the water.  Behind, some small, distracting water plants.  In one way, some of the plants were framing the shot.  And of course, the rest were in the way.  And the goose wouldn't move.  In my world, it's all coming together very nicely.
The goose had to move.  Eventually.  I think it is a law of nature.  And laws will eventually be followed.  And this one was followed, after about ten minutes.
So the goose started to move around, and making goose noises.  Drew my attention to the goose.

Canadian Goose Calling

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Rookie mistake.  While I was focused on this subject, its mate was flying in.  Would have been a lot more interesting.  So lesson number one for the evening, in the books.  And we'll find out if the lesson was remembered.  If you know me, you know the answer already.
So, the dual goose adventure continued.  And the previous law of animal motion took flight.  Literally.  Not a good view for the camera, but the sight to the coordinated take was fun to watch.  A few minutes later, they returned.  Heard them thirty seconds away.  Still missed the shot.  Tried to get in too tight on the scene, couldn't find them in the view.  When I did, too late.  More lessons learned.  It's OK, all about the journey, right.  PPPFFFTTT>.
Still no action at the nest.
Time to move.  From the north spot, the sun was still lighting up the nest.  I was there for a while, and almost on schedule one of the Eagles showed up.  Sitting high above the nest.  In the sun.  Awesome sunlit white hood.

Eagle Calling

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I return now to the lesson of the day.  Again with my attention on the wheel making the most noise, the other slipped in to the nest.  DOH!
I will have to enroll myself in more remedial nature photography.  Ha.

The show must go on

This is prime air show time.  I had such plans for 2020.  
Instead of sitting at home, we should be in the stands admiring and cheering our favorite teams.  Blue Angles, Thunderbirds, Snowbirds and Patriots are some of the Jet Demo teams that are somewhat sidelined temporarily grounded.  In my case, no pictures, no travels and no souvenirs.  I miss my friends and family.  Airshows are just plane fun.  (I did not misspell plane.)
As it is tough to keep people down, it may be tougher to keep aviators down.  Recently the Blue Angles and Thunderbirds started a program of saluting the first responders by doing flyovers of major cities and virus hotspots.  Awesome.  Do what you can do.  Salute.
Today, the Geico Skytypers took the skies over NYC to show their support.   Starting at 11:30 AM and flying for an hour, the route started just south of White Plains, flying southwest to Brooklyn, back over the Bronx, out to Hempstead and finishing over Long Island.
Last year while on my southern therapy tour through South Carolina, I did get to see the Geico Skytypers at the Beaufort MCAS air show.  It is unique.
The skytypers are a group of SNJ-21 aircraft, formation flying to 'type' messages in the sky.
The SJN-21 is a variant of the AT6 family.  Sitting side by side of my Reno AT6 racing class aircraft, very tough to tell the difference.  Photographically, I was coming off my first year of photographing the A6s at Reno and I had an idea of what to do to get the right shutter speed.  Right idea, no practice.  Which is probably why these didn't get an earlier post.  But today is not a day to dwell on small details.
Skytyping is formation flying, in a line wingtip to wingtip, where the smoke is released such that letters, or images, are created.
Like this flag image:

To be fair, by the time I saw this, it had been completed for a few minutes and the upper level winds had an effect on the sharpness.
Hopefully, there were messages of thanks and encouragement.  
These are a few of the shot I had taken last year from the air show.

Thanks to Geico and the air crews for the show today.  I'm sure it was great - and hope many were able to see it.

Juvenile Eagle on a branch

Today may not have been the nicest day of the year so far, but it was the nicest weekend day that I haven't had to work.  I did have to work a bit last night, but I can sleep later.
Off to the Refuge again on a couple hours of sleep.  I didn't see a whole lot going on there.  Or I just wasn't wasn't looking in the right places.
I didn't see any Eagles flying in the Refuge, which is almost a first for any one of my trips there.  I'll get to the photo here of a juvenile in the branches.  I did see a pair of adults flying over a farmer's field on the way home.  Fun to watch - no photos.
I know it's early in the season.  other birds are on the way north.  Probably still four weeks away.  And some must be home with the kids.
There are a lot of 'little' birds there.  Just something new for me to capture.  I'll have a post of these new birds I saw, when I figure out what they are.
On to this one.  This looks to be a very young Eagle, maybe only one or two years old.  As it is before the sun gets real high, there is a lot of shadow to deal with.  Without making it look to obvious.
I didn't see this one, it was point out to me by some refuge rookies.  People are so nice out there.  Anyway, there was a brief conversation where they told me they were rookies.  Good start to their career.  

Juvenile Eagle on the Branch

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Yes, that is a Michigan blue sky.  Awesome.

New Bird - Greater Yellowlegs

May 1, 2020.  Today, some of the Michigan restrictions have been removed, or altered.  This morning, the lawn dude was out to feed the lawn.  It's a step in the right direction.
One of the other openings today was the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge,  One month early.  Sometimes the stars just line up.
Seems the Refuge Eagle's nest along the drive was not used this past year.  And so the drive opened up a month early.  Spoiler alert, I did see some eagles there today, so there is a nest close by somewhere.
Seems to me that over the past two years one of the the things I've found is that most of the nature action is mid to later in the year with nicer weather and in the earlier time of day.  I had to do some work for the paying job today, but I had the afternoon off.  I was at the Refuge from about 3:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon.  So, zero for two.  But the day was nice and warm, sunny and I was not required to stay at the house.  A winner all around.
The Refuge was very crowded today.  Lots of nature lovers spreading their own wings today.
I like going early mornings to the Refuge because the lack of cars allows the critters to do their own thing.  I get my best action shots.
One thing I noticed about the Refuge this year is that it gave a new meaning to the term wetlands.  Place was completely flooded out, in a managed sort of way.  All the construction last year was said to be to hold water longer.  We'll see in a few months, but there was a lot of water there today.  And it looked like there were Beaver dens everywhere.  Not that I'm an expert and can always tell the difference between a beaver and woodchuck, but I have seen beaver dens and these collection of sticks could be it.  But usually when I've seen these before, the dam is not far away.  Here, no dam in sight.  Dam not needed, lots of man made water.
On the way in, just past the entrance, I saw a bird that I'd never seen at the Refuge before.  Or ever seen before for that matter.  OK, I need to get out more.
So part of the real fun of this was to try to find out what bird this is, or at least narrow it down.  There is a web site that list all the days bird sightings.  That's a good place to start, but it is a slow search as I'm not sure what many of the birds are.  Search plan B is to just do a internet search.  Michigan bird, long bill, yellow legs.  First picture, BINGO!  But that was the first part, still had to find the name.  And I didn't believe the name at all.  More checking.  And then to find out there are Lessers and Greaters.  Too funny.  In the end, the best I have is this is a Greater Yellowleg.  Today I have learned.  Or close to it.

Greater Yellowlegs

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00 /200-500mm f/5.6E

260 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Greater Yellowlegs

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00 /200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

One thing I did learn today is I need a lot more practice with the monster lens.  These 'close ups' came out OK, but at a distance many shots did not come out as well as I strive to get.  
Hope to get more practice this weekend.