Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

Last Saturday's Eagle chase yielded some surprising guest shots.  One of the unexpected guests was a pair of Sandhill Cranes.

This was a very cool event.  Through a long clearing, over a mix of water and grass, a pair of Cranes flew just about right over the spot where I was standing.  I watched their approach for I'm guessing, about 300 yards.  I heard them before I saw them.  I'm guessing I watched them for about 15 seconds - but felt like minutes.  In a good way.  Plenty of time to get the camera up and acquire focus.  No rookie mistakes.  Even had time to breathe.

One of the few events I could watch the entire event unfold through the camera, and not miss much.

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Flight

NIKON D850 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (Auto)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Very cool experience to have a subject fly so close.  Will be tough to beat.

Eagle with Dinner

A week ago, I was in 80 degree weather.  Today, 40 degrees, 8 knot winds and drizzle.  The only difference, about 1,000 miles.  I'll get back to South Carolina.

Today, I had an invitation to see an Eagle's nest in Clarkston, Independence Oaks County Park.  Can't pass that up.

Did I mention the weather was pretty crappy?  All of the sky shots will end up being deleted.  Anything eye level or lower, or with a dense tree in the background turned out OK.  And in reality, I'll be back there when the sky is much better - someday.

But we did have a few moments of excitement when one of the parent Eagles hit the water for an un-suspecting catfish and departed for the nest in what seemed to be one move.  I missed the business end of the bird and fish, but did get the water takeoff.  There is a fair amount of distance involved, so the cropping is fairly aggressive.  Won't win any prizes, but looks good on the monitor.

A bird and a fish.

All photos were taken with the D6/200-500 f/5.6 combo, 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6 and ISO between 2500 and 3600.

The Herons of Kensington Metropark

I live under a rock.  Not sure where I picked that up.  Most of the people I grew up with are natural inquisitive explorers.  I balance that out.

There is a metropark that I have passed numerous times in the last 25 years of my life in Michigan.  Last weekend, I finally paid the $10 to spend a few hours exploring.

My photo club has started going there in the past year.  I've never been able to join them on these excursions - but I have heard the tales.  This past weekend was the perfect time to go.

I was hoping to see some bigger birds of prey, but that was not to be.  I did get to see a number of small birds chase a hawk through the trees, followed by a number of photographers.  That lasted for about 15 minutes - and for me at least yielded no useable shots.

The metropark does boast a Heron Rookery on Wildwing Lake.  I've seen photos of rookeries in the southern states, but none close by.  It is a Rock thing.

Heron Family Portrait

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 180 (Auto)

EV 0, Manual, Size FX

GBH in the Trees

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (Auto)

EV 0, Aperture Priority, Size DX

GBH Returning Home to the Kids

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6

660 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

EV 0, Aperture Priority, Size DX

The first shot was taken while I was walking around for my initial survey.  The shot was hand held.  But while I was there, I know I would return with heavier equipment.  In a rare display of forward thinking, I had the D500 combo-ed with the 200-500 lens ready in reserve.  I also now have stored permanently stored in the truck, a monopod with appropriate gimbal.  All came to good use.  In the middle shot, I decreased the shutter speed to 1/800 from my usual 1/1250 speeds.  That doesn't happen often.

Ospreys of Port Mahon

Port Mahon, Delaware.  Population 0.

The getaway to Delaware for a long weekend was scheduled to be two days at the Dover Airshow.  Ah, schedules.  Didn't work out that way.  Saturday at the show was so hot that Sunday at the show was not in the cards.  On to the famous Plan B.

The core of Plan B was was coastal travel and sightseeing.

Late in the afternoon, we hit Port Mahon, population 0.  There were no habitable buildings there, so I'm guess no zip code either?

Apparently Port Mahon was a port for Little Creek and Lepsic.  OK, I guess coastal villages need a port.  Works for me.

Maybe I was expecting too much.  When you see a sign that says Port Mahon to the right - you think Ice Cream in 15 minutes, right?  Population 0.

But with any combination of land, water and some activity involving fishing - the birds are everywhere.  In the case of Port Mahon, the birds seem to be Gulls, Cormorants and Ospreys.

Sounds like fun.

I had the D850 and the 80-400 combo as the primary equipment for the day.  

I was all in on Osprey watching.

Osprey in the Nest

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 (Auto)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

Osprey and Gull

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (Auto)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

Osprey Flying Away with Dinner

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (Auto)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

Osprey with Lunch

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

400 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 (Auto)

EV 0, Shutter Priority, Size FX

I follow some very good photographers of Ospreys - and these won't crowd their space.  But you have to start somewhere.  For me, the primary point is the eye.  The rest is window dressing.  If we had more time to watch, maybe the dive and food retrieval.  But next time I get to Dover, this is on the agenda.  Agenda 1, Population 0.

Tobico Marsh Cardinals

I usually don't have much luck with small birds.  So far.  Maybe I need a change of location?

While walking the Tobico Marsh, I found my way to an observation tower.  At the top of the tower, there really wasn't much to see.  Except, after about five minutes, the small birds showed up.  Not close enough as in food expectation, but maybe 20 feet?  Maybe 15 feet?  Normal small bird stuff.

The most camera friendly were two Cardinals.  And they didn't move when I did.  I never tried to crowd them, but it has been my experience that most small birds will move when I do.  Usually moving farther away.

But this time, these two stuck around for a few minutes.

Female Cardinal

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKON 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6 ISO 560 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Male Cardinal

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKON 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6 ISO 250 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Female Cardinal

NIKON D500 Ver.1.31/NIKON 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6 ISO 400 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not that I'll ever get a number of the small backyard bird shots, these were fun to be a part of.

Eastern Screech Owl

Today (Saturday) at the For-Mar Nature Preserve & Arboretum, the Wildlife Recovery Association paid a visit to show off some of their resident birds of prey.  The Nature Preserve often has events for a few hours on the weekends.  Great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday.

The WRA brought in four different owls, two falcons and some other 'peaceful' birds.

Part of the event was reviewing the mission of the WRA, and a bit of history of the birds on show.  The birds that were there would never go back in the wild.  The injuries that brought them to the WRA would never heal sufficiently to allow any chance of survival.  The critters in their care that will be rehabilitated to the wild will never be this close to humans.  Never thought about it before, but makes sense.

Aesthetically speaking, fun to see such magnificent creatures close up.  They catered to the kids a lot, most of the attendees were young accompanied by parents.  The birds were brought out to and through the audience.  Lots of phone close ups.  Great experience for kids.

Photographically speaking, the light was awful.  I'm recently used to wide open skies and subjects relatively far away.  This somewhat bit me as my initial aperture settings introduced a very shallow Depth of Field.  Unfortunately for the first bird to make an appearance, the Eastern Screech Owl, I was shooting f/3.5 for some of the early shots.  Nice bokeh, but something important was always out of focus.  At some point I figured it out.  Like I had to figure out the ISO.  I had a limit set for 200.  That worked for some of the shots outside of the pavilion.  Inside the pavilion, I had to bump that limit to 1000.  To be fair to me though, I figured that out before the birds took the stage.  

This is the first time I've seen owls up this close.  Awesome.

This first shot of the Eastern Screech Owl was making the rounds before the show started.  Always arrive early.  Lesson for life.

Eastern Screech Owl

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED

185 mm, 1/200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 250 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

At least the eyes are in focus.

This next shot was taken in the pavilion.

Eastern Screech Owl

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED

200 mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.0, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

This shot is a prime candidate for a background replacement.  Something for the winter.  The change of aperture yielded an in-focus glove.

Great day.  More photos of adorable critters to follow.

Kurt Meets the Monster Richfield Snake

 The Video journey continues.

During the Thunder over Michigan airshow, I was introduced to the 360 degree video concept.  After some research and seeing it in action, I was hooked.  New technology.  New Toy.

Last night was the obligatory walk around the house.  Just enough footage to figure out the software end.  Footage to accompany lots of YouTube time.  After a few hours one can understand the process.  Still have a long way to go, as I just have the basics.  First step.

Today's adventure was just to see how long the thing can go on one battery.  And to see what it does.  The default resolution is 5k at 30 fps.    I'm not a fan of 30 fps, seems to pixelate more than I'm comfortable with.  I had settled on 1080 @ 60 fps for the cameras and GoPro.   Lowest common denominator that is still HD.  This camera does not have the option, so went with the default for now.  I caught what might be some pixilation or might be a stich issue.  For the most part though, the final product is more than acceptable.  After one try.

So I shot a lot of 'footage' today.  Just for testing.  And to be deleted.  Soon.  But during today's walk, the one thing that you hope would happen, happened.  Something unexpected, nature close up.

What to take away from this is had I been "Vlogging" with a Gopro, this capture is not made.  With the Insta360, even though I was the star and subject of  my walk, when the unexpected happens, you still got it.  So what I get from this is:  I still like the GoPro.  I think it has a better output.  You can get ND filters to help improve the final output.  But the Insta360 makes walking alone almost like walking with a film crew.

I'll keep the GoPro.  I'll keep videoing with the Nikons.  But so far, I really like the Insta.

First SNWR Eagle Shots for 2021

The Shaiwassee National Wildlife Reserve Wildlife Drive opened on the first of June this year.  Today was the first day I could get there for this season.  And I had a guest to whom I have said this is the greatest place, ever!  Or in mid-Michigan.  So the pressure was on to deliver some wild life.

For today, this time of year, the critters delivered.  We didn't see great numbers, but there was diversity.

We witnessed two really interesting critter acts.  The first were multiple groups of pelicans moving from an area to someplace else.  All moving a loose form of unison, but more about them later.  The next was an Eagle in a place I've never seen one before.

On the way out of the Refuge, the last half mile of Wilderness Drive usually doesn't have a lot going on.  Just after I made the statement to my guest, she says Hey, there's a bird over there.  And after confirming that the critter on the ground was a bird, I could confirm it was an Eagle.  On the ground, just by a pool of standing water.  Didn't look like it was feasting, but who knows? 

I watched the Eagle for a few minutes.  I could tell it was getting ready to do something other than sit.  And then it transitioned from ground forager to aerial predator.  And all I can think of is don't screw this up.  It was fun to watch, and I didn't screw it up.  So I end up with a series of an Eagles low flight path that ends up going nose up into a tree.

For the initial transition, since the Eagle was not in a tree with altitude to lose to trade for speed, it just went horizontal with about two steps and then low level flight.  I thought the wing action would be fast and chaotic.  Not the case, just fast.  This is the fist shot in the sequence I have with the landing gear up and locked.

Eagle First Flap

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

310 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

If I didn't know that this was a take off event, you could make the argument that the bird was trying to slow down with the wings in a forward position.  But this bird is stretching its wing forward to push itself for more speed.

The Eagle eventually ended up on a branch in a tree.  I thought that was the end of the chase.  Again, I was mistaken.  Although in a tree, somehow the sun found a way to light up the head.  And somehow I didn't miss this one.

Eagle in the Sun

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 450 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Aside from the really lucky positioning of the sun, this is really sharp, detailed photo.  Not sure I get the same photo with the D500.  And a mostly unnoticed element, the feet and talons really stand out.  In the takeoff sequence, it happened so fast, I couldn't get the zoom all the way out to 500.  With the Eagle sitting in the tree, I had time to get the zoom right.

So good at the Refuge.  My guest had a good time.  Wonder if this photo will end up in her house sometime?

Bringing Home the Food - Part II

Today was not the best day to be out and about.   Heavy overcast.  Just plain flat.  But I needed to get out and walk around a bit.  Good day to get back to basics.  I've been relying on high shutter speeds (over 1/1200th sec) to help with focus.  Call it a crutch.  And to really handicap myself, I used a polarizer.  The polarizer just arrived and I was looking to use it, no matter what.

I wanted to check out the Eagles in Richfield Park.  I've stopped by their nest a few times this year, but always appeared no one was home.  I heard from a friend that the nest was still being used.  So the nest was a destination today.

Over the last three years that I've been observing the nest and Eagle life, I've come to the conclusion that the more time that is spent at the nest, the better the chance to see something more than a bird in the trees.  You have to work for it.  Except for today.  I spent about 15 minutes at the nest.  One of my favorite sights is to see one of the Eagles fly directly overhead bringing home some food.  It's not easy, because it is silence coming to you from behind.  Sometimes I can see the reflection in the pond water, but not today.  

The Eagle is in flight above my head in view for only 3 to 5 seconds.  Hate to say it, but if I was using the 200-500 lens, I probably miss it.  With the 70-300 lens, much lighter to swing around.  The difference is 1.5 pounds to 5.25 pounds.

Bringing Home the Food

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/640th sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

A year ago, I was able to catch food being delivered, here.  It almost looks like as spring brings out the greens and life, it's also a good gage on the new life of the Eaglets.  Didn't see this until I started looking at the photos on a monitor.  Eaglet!  Need a serious crop to get the little one.  Big eyes and a lot of fuzz.

Mom and Eaglet

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/640th sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Tomorrow is forecasted to be a much better day, light-wise.  Sunny.  Maybe.  I read where the Eaglets spend most of their day eating, so the food train has to keep rolling.  Maybe get another shot.

Heron Snack Time

Another sign spring is on the the way, or in progress.  A Heron on the ground.  There was a single Heron at the Reserve this weekend.  Just standing in the water.  For me, there was a lot going on at the pond.  No offense to the Heron, but I was looking at the Hooded Mergansers most of the time.  But every few minutes or so, I'd look back to see what the Heron was doing.

To be honest, I failed my pre-event checklist before heading out.  I skipped the step of checking my EV.  It was set from the past outing at +1.  Not a killer miss, but it certainly doesn't help.  But that's not the issue here, I caught the mistake earlier.  The shot is light, should have gone with -1 for the day, that is the miss that hurt.  And the angle of the Heron's head is a direct flat reflect from the sun to where I was standing.  Really messed with the camera.  What are the chances?  Reverse luck.  But the total subject works for me.  Yep, this took some time.

Although technically not the best photo ever taken, I try to balance the 'value' of a shot between the technical aspects and the aesthetics.  If it is interesting, it doesn't have to be perfect.  The fish may disagree, but this is interesting.  Not your everyday Heron shot.

Heron with a Snack

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

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

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size: DX

Not being able to fix the clarity issue with the yellow eye keeps this from being a really good shot.  Room for improvement.

I take this as a sign warmer weather is on the way and better times ahead.  But, maybe not for the fish, who did not make it to the next shot.

Tree Sparrow - In Flight shots

On my travels to the Shiawassee Nature Preserve, I would often see these small 'fluorescent' birds moving around very quickly.  Seems I missed every opportunity to get a good shot as no shots were attempted.  I do that a lot.  Part of the journey.  On Saturday's venture to For-Mar, I had a chance to miss more shots of these birds.  Fortunately, I tried a different approach.  Take a shot.  Or two.

I found two of these little birds at the beginning of my hike.  They are hard to miss, even at a distance.  The coloring is pretty unique.  Practicing my best slow approach, I was able to get within ten yards of the tree a pair were sitting in.  I took a number of shots of the pair.  Sometimes they would fly off, never going too far but always returning to the tree.  The short round trip efforts never lasted more than 30 seconds.  Because of these trips, I had multiple attempts at something other than a bird sitting on a branch.

And I needed multiple attempts for an inflight sequence.  I had narrowed my AF down quite a bit, because I was expecting to mostly target stationary subjects, not birds in flight.  For the most part that worked.  And again being a seasoned rookie at this, it never dawned on me to change one setting.  In the field.  One command dial motion.  Yet another lesson.  And the journey continues.  

But there was some success.  If I ever go professional in this field at any level, I'd consider the name Blind Squirrel Photography for my business.  Or the next blog.  Because sometimes you just get lucky.  True, you can increase your chances at a good shot, but for me often it is luck when I get one of these quick action shots.  With aircraft, you know they are coming and at what speed.  Small birds are an entirely different set of skills.  And I count luck right up there.

The first shot is of a stationary subject getting ready for flight.  I'm not kidding anyone here, the bird's movements are so fast none of this beyond the bird's placement was planned.  I hit the shutter release at the time the bird was going to change locations.  Luck.

Tree Swallow Pre-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

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

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I was lucky enough to get a shot of one in flight with some great wing motion.

Tree Swallow In-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This next shot is a pair of Tree Swallows in flight.  Again, very lucky to get the AF on one of the birds.  Also what gets to me is the bird on the right appears to be looking back at me.  Wonder what is going through that brain.

Tree Swallow Pair In-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

It is fun to see these photos turn out.  A lot more interesting in its own way.

Northern Flicker

Life was a lot easier when I didn't appreciate the smaller bird.  Something moves in the bushes, I have to find it.  Some sound comes from above, I have to investigate.  Prefect segue to my introduction to the Northern Flicker.  I was walking around For-Mar, heard some commotion in a tree ahead of me.  Followed the noise to the source.  There was some avian altercation going on that ended with two birds flying off in different directions.  And after the two ruckus participants had moved on, there was movement on the tree limb.  And I waited.  You have to work for it.  And I waited.  There was movement on the branch.  And the sun hit the bird and....

Northern Flicker

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED

200 mm, 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

For me, there is a lot going on.  First, it has been some time since I used a polarizer.  usually, using a CPL will deepen my sky blues.  It is supposed to also help with contrasts.  Without a non-CPL shot to compare to it is tough to know what is or what isn't.  Under the category of what is, to me this is one of the technically better shots I've done.  The D850 and the 2.8 lens are turning out to be an awesome combo.  There is a pretty aggressive crop going on.  Still looks like full frame image.  The wood in the tree has a lot going on as well.  I did lighten the shadow of the perch a bit, trying to remember it is a shadow.  As to the subject, I've never seen anything like that pattern.  When I was looking on-line for what it was, one identifying mark was red on the back of the neck.  Tough to see from this angle, but if you look close enough the red is there.  I didn't see any of this until I looked at the photograph.

Hooded Merganser, Right?

Spring 2021 is getting here.  Rain instead of snow.  A warmer cold instead of a colder cold.  For sure, I'll take anything at this point.  Feels like a super long winter.  Like all of 2020 was winter.  Today was nice sunshine in mid-Michigan, very little wind.  On the ground was a lot of standing water.  The rainfall over the past 24 hours had no where to go.  When walking, you can still feel the frozen ground layer less than an inch below the surface.  No mono-pod work today.  On the positive side, my boots from the last two weekend hikes were cleaned.  Important stuff.  The boots can come inside the house now, the banishment to the garage being lifted.

Along with the nice sunshine that greeted me at For-Mar, noise filled the air.  Sure a lot of the noise was the Canadians (Geese), but others in the park were clearing their throats as well.  I was expecting a good day.  Something more than the Canadian Geese and squirrels.  And with any luck, by the end of the day I'll have to look up the name of a new to me bird.

The primary unit today was the D850/70-200 , backed up by the D500/200-500.  Over the winter I had purchased CPLs for the new lenses.  I wanted to try them out and there was certainly enough sunlight to drive the CPL on the 70-200 today.  Not sure if I will get one for the 200-500 as it is pretty expensive, but we'll see what the difference was to day between the two sets of photos.  With that said. the best shots for the day were from the secondary unit.  That big lens trumps just about everything when looking for small birds.  Other 'improvements' for the day.  Go with a slower shutter speed.  I didn't need to be close to 1/2000.  I should be shooting in that area for the 2X focal length rule, somewhere around 1/1500th.  Trying to dial it back a bit so I don't have to rely on software as much to clean up the shot.  My targets for the day were going to be pretty much stationary birds, not much speed needed there.

One of the new birds for me today was a pair of Hooded Mergansers.  A male and female pair.  You would be correct is stating that I couldn't describe this bird 24 hours ago.  Truth is, I've seen other photos of these birds before.  Still didn't know the name.  And I've read that they are all over Michigan.  So today when I was walking around one of the ponds, I saw something small on the water.  When I focused in, it turned into the good news/bad news scenario.  Good news, I see one of these birds on the water.   Bad news - don't screw up the photos.  No pressure.

Hooded Merganser

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, F/5.6, ISO 500 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Those colors are fantastic.  Black, White, Gold eye with black dot.  Copper/gray.  Wow.  Add a little water reflection.  

Pair of Hooded Mergansers

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, F/5.6, ISO 720 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Very cool to know where to find these.  There was another pair on the pond at the same time.  Something to look for next time out.

Today's Birds - Recovery from last Weekend

I've been looking forward to getting out and about this weekend.  I can't go too far as I'm wearing the work leash for this weekend and next.  But last weekend my efforts were far below where I need to be.  It's one thing to misfire on far off Eagles, but to miss aircraft on Final to FNT?  There was even an American Eagle flying into FNT - all the funny blog post headers will have to wait.  Root cause?  I think that even shooting at 1/2000th of a second was not enough to cure lens shake.  I also bought into the notion that Vibration Reduction could be turned off at high speeds.  I may have to re-think some of those moves.  And I may have to consider really working with the mono-pod.

So today arrives and I'm out the door, mono-pod in hand and lens VR On.  There will be a clear photo or something is going in the trash - including the one holding the camera.  I believe in technology, it's usually the human on the business end that has the issue.  That comes from years of tech support in some form or other.

And clear shots were had today.  As to the far off BIF, I saw a hawk of some breed that came in pretty clear but is so far off the contrast of the bird just isn't that good.  Can the sun offer too much light?  But great improvement over last weekend.  Confidence restored.

Lots of work with the mono-pod today.  Worked on important subjects such as how to carry the mono-pad and camera a long distance.  That's more important than one would think.  And once shooting is in progress, what hands go where?  Yes, there is bad news on this - I missed two shots that I might have had without the pod.  But in the end, what I did get was pretty good.

One of the fun parts of the day is researching the birds I have photographed.  I know not much about bird recognition in the field.  But in front of a PC - I'm starting to get the hang of it.  Today's bird of choice is a Whit-breasted Nuthatch.

White-breasted Nuthatch at the End of the Tree

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

460 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I spent about fifteen minutes with this little birdie.  The bird would move around quite a bit looking for food.  We played a form of hide and seek.  With no counting.  The sunlight on the white feathering played havoc with some of the shots.  But it's all good.

In searching on the web for the identification for my new friend, the description was just about dead on.  Most notably the description said there was a lot of time in the bird's walking travels spent upside down.  And that is where I got this one.  I had a few shots with this pose, but I needed to get the side coloring with out the sunlight washing everything out,

White-breasted Nuthatch Looking Down

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1800 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

All in all a good day and good rebound from last weekend.  Certainly more critters out and about enjoying the improving weather.

Laughing Gull - 2019

It's odd to calculate what missing 75% of 2020 did to me.  I'm having some fun speed living 2018 and 2019 air shows through my photos.  Some of those folders have literally hundreds of shots.  Many of them are burst sequences.  I don't save everything, but I do save more than I should.  It's OK - I can still remember the stories around them.  If I could only figure out how to get that burnt AV gas to spritz out of each shot - or get the noise.  I can neither confirm or deny that sometimes late at night there are Youtube video sounds of airshows or C5 T and Gs that can be heard coming from the office.

As I think of my upcoming annual trek to SC and getting warm again I go back to 2019.  Yep, my annual trek that I've been going on for 1 years now.  And a one year reset in 2020.  A couple of weeks now if the CDC doesn't put on a travel ban.  Or a new strain doesn't show up on the SC shoreline.

Speaking of Youtube, I started following a photographer out of Florida.  Phenomenal bird shots.  He does a lot of videos as well - he's out there.  He seems to focus on the big predatory water birds.  I'm trying to figure out how he makes a living doing this.  I looked up his web site and he takes people out to photograph birds.  I saw what he charges for four hours.  I need to move to the shore.  Retirement job.  But I'd pay his charges to get the lay of the land, and the bird shots.

So all this preamble leads up to this.  A water based bird in 2019, in a photograph.  So in 2019 I spent a day in Charleston, dockside.  To a rookie northerner, birds everywhere.  Now that I think about, they were the common scavengers, or beggars.  The birds I saw were working the tourists, not working nature.  Not that I'm complaining, you have to work you're way up.  So this year, I'll do better.

But back to 2019.  Charleston.  Walking the docks.  I had no idea what this bird was.  But he/she/it was on a piling.  Watching tourists passing by.  Scanning everyone for food.  Until I showed up.  This bird didn't flinch.  I was less than six feet away.  And stuck a camera lens even closer.

Photography-wise, this appears a bit soft to me.  Trying to figure out why.  The combo in use here is a D7200 and DX 18-200 lens.  It was a backup for the day.  This takes me back to where my first shots with the 70-300 full frame just blew me away and the difference from the DX lens.  I'm going with that.  The eye is sharp.  Maybe it is just a fuzzy bird.

Laughing Gull

NIKON D7200 Ver.1.04/Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

200 mm, 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Yea, how exciting is just standing around?  Not much.  But it is part of the journey - and in 2019 I thought this was pretty good.  Also in 2021 half the fun is trying to figure out what this was.  I am building a decent list of websites to help me with bird identifications.  And that is part of the learning journey as well.

Weekday Quick Visit to For-Mar

The days are getting longer!  Today was sub-freezing all day. but the sun was out and it felt like spring skiing.  There was two to four inches of fresh snow overnight.  I usually don't get out much on weekdays, especially work weekdays.  But there are sometimes you just have to get out.

When I got to the park, I headed out to my tree stand with hopes that the little birds would want to get out in the sun.  I arrived at the stand and .......  Silence.  Only the traffic noises.   But I still got out and walked around.

The tree stand is probably fifty yards long.  The first forty five yards can be best described as above.  But the last five yards had some bird chatter.  And some small birds.  And some color.  I thought I was taking photos of robins - but it looks like they were the Common Redpoll.  The photos aren't all that good.  Small birds at 30 yard morph into very small birds to photograph.  Those photos could be a rainy/snowy day project for AI Gigapixel.

But what I did get was this American Goldfinch.  Nice yellow and black.  Pittsburgh colors.  Give it a cap/helmet and a ball.  This was relatively at a distance and a pretty good crop.  In other words, I've done better.  And that's OK - room to improve.

American Goldfinch

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

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

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

For the small bird shoots, I need to use the D500 to get the extra 250 mm of reach.  And maybe a chair.  With the monopod.  And more time.

So after my pass by the tree stand, I did a short loop through some of the trails.  I was out, not one to waste a good walk.  I had to watch my footing a bit on the trails.  What was icy last weekend was now covered with a couple of inches of snow which helped a lot.  But still had to be careful.  I'd walk a bit then stop to look and listen.  Never much noise.  But the best part of the day for me was to spy this small group of Mourning Doves in the trees.  No noise.  Just me looking around and seeing something that was different.  A birdwatcher moment?

Mourning Doves

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

That's like a 360 degree view.  Front and both sides.  Fun 90 minutes to get out of the house.

It started as a bird chase

All week I'd been thinking of taking a suitable camera/lens combo to a bird stand I found during last week's nature hike.  I wanted sunny skies and 70 degrees - but would accept 50.  Maybe 40.  It's January.  I'd been looking at the Weather Channel website all week.  Sunny skies from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.  Wind around 5 MPH.  Whoo Hoo!  Temp - 18 at 8:00 AM.  24 at noon.  No one said this would be easy.

There were multiple objectives for today's outing.  First - birds.  I'll settle for birds at rest - or not in flight.  Second objective was to work with a monopod.  A late entry for the third objective was to say warm.

Woke up this morning to cloudy skies.  Dammit.  And 18 degrees.  Well, they got that part right.  Dammit.

Ten o'clock arrived, so did the sunny skies and 20 degrees.  Time to go.

I found a lot of robins in the bird stand.  I took multiple photos of the robins that would be later deleted.  Technically OK, but they could have been seagulls and been just as interesting.  Practice.  What I did find out was using the monopod was easy.  But getting it there and walking around with it ain't fun.  Logistics.

I took the monopod back to the truck, then took off for other parts of the park.  The park paths were covered with ice, but the sides were OK with a crusty snow or solid ground.  Still had to look down a lot to stay off the ice.  But I wanted to keep my eyes to the skies.  Looking for anything in the trees.  I wasn't expecting to find...

Squirrels.

The squirrels I saw must have been deaf.  I was crunching on lots of snow.  So I was off the walking path, walking in the snow, out of the ice, looking down.  I stopped at some point to scan the trees, and this one couldn't have been more than 20 feet away.  Sitting in a tree, doing its thing.  Eating.  And keeping one eye on me.

Nothing to see here

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV +.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

OK, its a squirrel, but....  That D850 takes a good shot when coupled with the 200-500 lens.  This was hand held.  Close enough to see the nose whiskers.  I'm good with that.

I tried to find a way around the squirrel without disturbing it.  No luck.  When I did get by, the squirrel moved from the tree, crossing the path above my head.  Not sure what the squirrel was thinking.  There were many possibilities.  Like, I got you pegged man.  Or real nature photographers use Canon.  Loser.

Eye in the Sky

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV +.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Still lots of great detail.  Love it when the sun hits the area.

And another squirrel saw me coming.  I thought it was yelling at me, but just was carrying around lunch.

Keep Moving Pal

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 900 (AUTO)

EV +.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

You can miss a lot when you have to keep your eyes on the path.  So stop and look up every once in a while.

I wanted to make one last pass through the bird stand before calling it a day.  This was a little past noon.  No activity at all.  Squirrels must have warned them.  But I didn't leave empty handed.  I saw a few deer in a clearing just off the path.  And then I saw this framed shot.

Framed Deer

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f5.6E ED VR

410 mm, 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I didn't notice it at the time, but the front legs have something odd going on.  There are some knees not going in the right direction.  Do I need a Bernie in a chair in front of the deer?

Good time to get out of the house.  Turned out to be a nice day to walk around.  Close to noon probably isn't a good bird hour.  Needs to be in the 8 to 9 area.  My guess.  Thankfully there are more weekends coming up.

Owl Prowl and Nature Walk

2021 seems to be starting out well.  Getting the Flint River kayak photo was a great way to start the year.  There was a wintery mix forecasted for yesterday that might have added to scenery for today's hike.  Never happened.  Michigan gray today.  And spoiler alert - no owl photos.

One of the county parks here is For-Mar Nature Preserve & Arboretum.  I've only been living here for twenty some odd years and I'm just finding out about these places.   To be fair, to me, I've know about the location but not about some of the interesting things you can do here.  And on this weekend's schedule was a Friday night owl prowl and Saturday morning nature Photo Hike.

The owl prowl was very interesting to me.  I am owl ignorant.  I could only go up from here.  It was way too dark for photos and I really just wanted to know about the owls who lived down the road from me.  There will be other photo opportunities.  I learned about owl calls.  I learned where they were in the area.  And more importantly I got out of the house for a few hours.  If you ever get a chance to go on an owl prowl, take it!  We had two screech owls fly past our group.  We were able to find where one perched so I have now seen an owl in the wild.  I do need to get out more.  And as much as I learned about owls in the wild, one of the more interesting facts of the night was turkeys sleep in trees.  Yep, what you can learn when you get out of the house.

In the category of other learned lessons, I need to up my technology.  In the field of of night lighting.  Subcatagory: Flashlights.  I was carrying around a 20+ year old, 3 D Cell mag light.  Dim dirty yellow.  And the batteries were new.  Nothing like an old, cold flashlight.  And for $10 I could have had a AA LED.  Ha.

This morning's nature photography hike was nice.  Temps just below freezing.  No wind.  And I bundled up like Charlie Brown.  Maybe 75% Charlie Brown.  The guides from the owl prowl were the guides for the nature hike.  What a neat job!  Something for retirement?  I liked the opening briefing.  The guides started out by talking about getting off the AUTO setting and moving to Manual.  Magnificent.  We walked around a bit, didn't appear to a set pattern.  Again, just good to get out of the house and talk to people.  Socially distanced people.

Since this was my first photo hike at For-Mar, and I could only guess what was going to happen, I spent way too much time over-thinking what camera/lens combo I needed.  The widest range lens I have is a 18-200 DX.  The first 'upgrade' lens.  Eleven years ago, I added that to my collection for use with a D90.  With all the upgrades in the last few years, that lens has not seen much duty lately.  Still a good lens.  So that was the front end on the D500 for the hike.  Most of the shots ended up being over 70 mm.  Next time out, the 70-200 will do.

There wasn't much going on, nature wise. What I do know about 'naturing' is that the critters are much more active at feeding time.  And 9:00 AM may be a bit late for the breakfast shift.  And middle of winter sort of cuts down on the residency numbers as well.  But there are full time residents.

Turkey Two Trot

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 (AUTO)

EV +0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

In aircraft terms, the Turkeys are in the T-6 class for me.  Big, slow, easy to photograph.  And somewhat colorful.  I stood still for a while, less than five minutes, and these two walked less than ten feet away from me.

During the hike, one of the hikees who wasn't watching where they were going spotted a solo hawk flying through the trees.  The entire group watched it for a while as it tried to keep us from watching.  At one point, the hawk was marginally close to us and this was the best I could get.

Far Off Hawk

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

200 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

EV +0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

After the hike was over, I did some extra exploring.  Why waste a good Charlie Brown get up?  I found myself in a grove of trees with a lot of little birdie wildlife.  Small and fast.  Sport class.  Among the bird I recognized was the common Robin.  Lots of those around here.  And to be honest, I wasn't interested it wasting disk space on one.  But while I was in target acquisition mode, the Robin departed.  Definitely a press and pray.  I may have had the best shot of the day for me.

Robin Exit Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

135 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2200 (AUTO)

EV +0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

And in the final category for the day's events, something new.  Cedar Waxwing.  I have never seen one before.  Or maybe I have and thought it was a Robin?  With the Robin shot and this one, I almost feel like a real birder.  If they only made the noise of two Pratt and Whitneys in full AB.  Probably better that they are mostly quiet in case they decide to buzz the house.

Cedar Waxwing

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

200 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV +0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

All in all a real good day and a fun evening spent in the park.  Really need to take the big lens out there.  Time to get comfortable with a monopod.  And practice patience.