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?

Broadwing Hawk Re-Do

Call it Throw Back Thursday.  One of my favorite bird shots came up as a screen background last night on the home PC.  As I looked at it, I started to think I could re do this photo a bit better these days.  And an afternoon project was born.

I am far from a Hawk expert.  I scoured lots of web photos to come up with this is a 'Broadwing' Hawk.  And I looked for help from other websites such as the page that lists what birds were seen at the Refuge for the day, or recently, as reported by much more expert birders.  So if someone says this isn't a BWH, I counter with the photo is good enough that you can tell and I really did try to identify it correctly.

The photo comes from September of 2018.  I was hiking the Nature Refuge with the D7200 and 70-300 lens.  I came across a veteran birder at the Grefe Tower observation deck.  He instantly recognized me as a person who could only ruin his day if I was allowed to roam freely.  Thankfully he did not carry a stun gun that day.  But as a nice member of the birder community, he motioned me to be quiet, and to come up on the tower.  (The tower is about four feet off the ground.)  He motioned for me to look over the far end of the tower deck, look over past the road and in the trees.  Looking back at me like I was a freshly fried donut was this BWH.  It was relatively far away at probably 20 to 30 yards.  The original shot frame is this:

For me to get this shot I had to extend the lens to its full reach.  And shoot with a reduced sensor size.  It's a physics thing.  Anyway, this is an effective lens angle, or reach, of 600 mm.  If I remember right, I braced myself on one of the tower rails for the shot.  The BWH did its part by just sitting still, even when a car passed within six feet below it, it just sat still.  (I bet the car occupants didn't even see the bird.  Rookies.)  Other photo information, 1/800th sec, f/5.6, ISO 640.

When this showed as the background on the monitor last night, I thought with some improved processing techniques and newer software I might be able to improve on this result.  This is the image from the original post in January of 2019: Eyes on Eyes

This was from a time when I was framing the finished shots with a black and white border.  I have since gone borderless.  The eye in the shadow always bothered me as well.  I have since improved on my shadow work.   The 'improved' shot.

I didn't boost any of the colors as much in the re do shot.  I could be talked into maybe giving it more of a vibrant look, but I seem to be going in a more realistic look phase.  The improvement of shadowed eye is reason alone to delete the original photo.  The bird's feet and tail also improved with more definition.  The overall definition or sharpness improved a bit.  In the end, the dampening of the eye shadow is the difference until you get into the pixel peeping.  I did use Gigapixel to help out, I think it is worth the time.

Heron Reflection

Along the drive on the Refuge, there are multiple waterways.  It is easy to miss the scenes because one is always looking tot he skies for the birds in flight.  It is an easy miss.
I don't have many Heron shots up close.  Most of the time I see them in parts of the Refuge away from the drive.
This time, I saw one close to the drive.  I think I got it right.

Heron Reflection

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

390 mm, 1/1000 sec. f/5.6, ISO 2500 (AUTO)

EV -1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Easily best Heron, non-flight shot so far.

Post Storm Juvie

Sometimes it is good to know the power of software.  I've often heard in discussions with other photographers that the better the original image, the better the post image.  The more you have to 'edit' the shot, the more you lose in quality.  I'll go for that.
But sometimes I can put myself in a position where a 'save' is needed.   Happens more than one would think.
When I arrived at the Refuge last weekend, the first thing I did is take a test shot or two to get my settings close to what I need.  Usually I don't have to make many changes after that during the visit.  And this time I followed the process.  And it worked until...
On entrance to the park, the first chance at wildlife is driving north.  The wildlife is usually on the right, east.  Into the morning sun.  Birds in the trees at his point early in the morning are not a good shot.  But I was there well after sunrise and this wasn't an issue.  But with the storm passing, the sun still wasn't in a favorable position and created a very flat sky.  Welcome to mid-Michigan.  But the Juvie in the trees like this is not something witnessed every day.  Got to make it work.
Usually, this isn't a problem.  Until it is.
A copy of the original RAW image:

That's a mess.
Forensic photography indicates the light is bad, the sky is flat and worst of all the EV was set at -1.  A holdover setting from the previous week.  The camera was metered on an unusually dark bird, in darker than normal light with an EV of -1.  It ain't the camera's fault.
But what is life without a challenge?
To save the image, I need to lighten the subject, the trees and try to get some definition in the sky.
First, to lighten the bird is easy.  ACR does a good job.  But when the bird is lightened the sky looks worse, if possible.  After a while, playing around with the settings I determined that the bird was worth saving but the sky had to go.
To split the sky from the bird, I usually turn away from PS.  I've been a big fan of the Topaz AI products lately and I planned to use their Mask program.  I tried for an hour to get that to work without success.  I've used it before on simple photos.  This should be simple, the sky is one colored.  Match the color, press a button and the sky should be erased.  Didn't work that way.  So turned to On One.  
The On One masking is simple, fast, intuitive and it works.  I used On One a number of years ago but found their software with each passing 'upgrade' put more of a load on my PC.  I've upgraded to a PC built for photography, and I tried the application the day after I fired the PC up.  And it still did not work well.  There were some other issues that I would call personal issues that moved me on to Topaz.  
The one aspect of On One that I liked in the past was their masking process.  That was going to save this image.
The bird is wet, after the passing storm.  Feathers are everywhere.  Not an easy mask.  

I was able to remove the image sky in less than five minutes.
One of the personal issues I have with On One is the file management.  It took longer to get a file that PS liked than it did to remove the sky.  Again, what is life without a challenge?
Then I needed to find a sky that wasn't too different from the original, but had some definition.  One thing I'm in the habit of doing is taking plain sky shots.  I like to get a lot of clouds in the shots.  I'm sure I can find something that will be a close match.  And I think I did.
In the end, this is what I came up with.

Post Storm Juvie

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

720 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 (AUTO)

EV -1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

That bird was still drenched, as was its buddies in nearby trees.  I might have added a bit more light than was there, but the wet feathers on the wing and body is something you don't see every day.  Usually the birds are a nice brown and fluffy all the way around.
And most importantly, this photo has an element that seems to be my trademark.  A branch in the way of a subject.  Its removal would be the next project.

Great Egret - Walk this Way

My first year at the Refuge, I took more photos of Egrets than I know what to do with.  Elegant bird for sure.  Big, slow, nice yellow eyes.  And not real skiddish in front of the camera.
As a photographer, what's not to like?  As a white subject in sunlight, or even cloudy, it is very easy on the camera for metering purposes.  
Last year, I didn't take that many photos.  I had many from the year before.  So, unless something interesting happened.....
After the storm passed through, many birds were stationary in the trees.  Although I have seen Egrets in the trees before, at this visit there were more in the trees than usual.
As there were no cars behind me, I could watch a few birds in the trees for a few minutes.  I saw this one bird, a bit anti-social away from a group.  As I watched, it started to 'walk' along the branch.  I thought a transition to flight was imminent.  All I could think of was any versions "Walk this Way".

Walk this Way

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

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

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

One of the other 'action' shots of the Egret was a take off.  I had watched this one 'land' and it did appear to be on the restless side.  Just be a little patient.
I had the camera set for 5 FPS.  If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with 7 FPS.  But I got what I got.
I liked this shot because the colors stood out.  The storm was recent, the ground was wet and the sunlight was cracking the clouds.  Different.

Take Off

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

690 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not bad for shooting out of the truck window.

Pelicans, Pelicans, Pelicans

The Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge re-opened last weekend after being closed for almost two months.  The closure was in reaction to the floods in may caused by multiple dams failing during a weekend of heavy rains.  Or was that the Johnstown flood?  Anyway, lots of rain, mis-managed dams and a lot of down stream damage in both cases.
I couldn't get out last weekend due to the paying job.  And this weekend was a toss up between a horse event and the Refuge.  The weather was the decision maker.  I elected to stay in the truck.
And I haven't been to the Refuge after a good heavy rain and storm.
The storm, I believe definitely had an effect on the bird behavior.
There is a lot of water in the Refuge.  The flooding accelerated the filling of the area.  A lot of the wildlife used to come close to the drive, now not as much.  Have to up the game a little.
Saw a new bird, will be another post.
Saw a few Sand Hill Cranes close to the drive and the pictures came out well.  Nothing in flight, but good grazing shots.
But the Pelicans were out.  Not flying, just huddled together.  I've seen them collected in a group before, but a bit more loosely.  I'm wondering if this is a post storm meeting?

Pelican Mass

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

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I like this shot a lot.  Blues and greens are separated.  The water is just right, not blown out or too blue.  And none of the subjects are acting up for the camera.  Interesting.

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.

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.

Juvenile Eagles at Play

After a few days of high octane airplane racing and all the good things that brings to me, I needed to slow down a bit.  Catch a sunrise.  At the Refuge.
This late in the summer, catching sunrise means after driving for about an hour, getting to the Refuge just before 7:00 is doable.  With an earlier sunrise, earlier in the summer - that's tough.
There's so much more action with the transition into the day from night.  Always worth the trip.  Even if the photography is a bit more difficult.  By difficult, I mean challenging.
I missed a few Eagle shots where one was flying close overhead.  Just not enough light to bring out the details.  I missed one wood duck shot, not enough light to aid the auto focus for a quick shot.  The mental images are still there and that's not all bad.
Like all people in this hobby, (I think) I need a bigger lens.  The 70-300 is very good for shooting aircraft.  I could use more of course, but trading off weight for actual use is a consideration.  Or lugging around a heavy duty tri-pod.   When the time comes, I'm sure there will be a post.
Anyway, I could have used more reach here.  This was a great situation with three juvenile Eagles taking over an area in the wetlands.  Not seen off to the left is a group of Pelicans.  I watched for about ten minutes as the pelicans lost ground to the Eagles and then just went in search of a new area.  All that is missing from this scene is t-shirts on the Eagles, with a rolled up sleeve covering the cigarette pack.  It was gang like.  Welcome to the Jungle.
This is about 200 yards away.  I tend to think in terms of a football field.  Maybe 150 yards.  But far enough away.  This was fun to watch and makes the early morning rise easy to deal with.

Three Juvenile Eagles at Play

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 140 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Juvenile Eagles at Play

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Where's the third Eagle?  Pestering the Pelicans.

Pelicans and Eaglet

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Fun to watch.  (Controlled) nature at its best.  For whatever reason, the Eagles spent most of their time not looking in my direction.  Turn it around, and these shots would be prize winners.

Morning Pelican Flight

A few months ago, I lamented that I had no Pelican bird images.  During my few days in South Carolina earlier this year, my host for the week made sure I had plenty of Pelican shots to take home.  Host of the Year stuff, that is.
As I read about Pelicans, there are only a few species in North America.  There is the Brown Pelican, which I saw plenty of in South Carolina, seen here.  There is the 9th MAS Pelican, which is more of a fraternity based in Delaware, but known to travel worldwide.

And there is the Great White Pelican, with a habitat area that includes Michigan.  And this a bird sighted in the Refuge.
I didn't see any of these birds at the Refuge last year.  I had seen them listed on the published bird sighted list, so I knew they were around.  And this year I can say they are plentiful.  
In the Refuge, the Pelicans don't have any photography friendly places close to a point I can use to take pictures that I've found yet.  I have some far off group photos, but nothing great.
Until today.  I went to the Refuge in time to see the sunrise.  I expected nothing great photo-wise, but wanted to see the sights.  It was beautiful.  I was trying to get to a specific point where the sun would be to my back, but didn't get there in time.  I saw this young juvenile Eagle in a small dead tree right next to the road.  Seriously, the tree was less than ten feet from the road, the the Eagle was about 10 feet up.  That's close.  As the truck crept by, the Eagle didn't move.  I passed the tree and went up the road about 20 feet, and then got out very, very slowly.  I have some good pictures of the Eagle.  Not quite in morning light, but close.
Back to the Pelicans.
As I was getting ready to move back to the truck, this flying Pelican formation came at me.  Usually this short notice opportunity is a recipe for disaster on my part in that because I shoot mostly in manual mode, something will go wrong.  But it didn't, I didn't miss this shot.
Originally, after doing some post processing, I thought I had messed up the pelican's wings.  Because it was mostly dark and I was shooting at a higher ISO, I thought I had flat black pixels under the bird's wings.  All the wings.  I thought, there was my disaster.
Turns out the Pelicans do have a black color component on the wings and this is normal.  I learned something today.
This is my lucky shot of the morning flight of a group of Great White Pelicans.

Morning Pelican Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

450 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

For me there's a log going on here past the Pelicans.  The mist off the water is pretty cool and the sunlight on the birds is fairly interesting.  I thought about cropping it closer, but I didn't want to lose too much of the greens, mist or sky.
Note:  I did warm up the image a bit, the camera had it on the cool side.  Cheating, I think not.

Blue Heron and Purple Flower

Seem to me that last year, my images of the Blue Herons were kinda dull?  The bird was blue.  I'd look on line and see lots of colors that these birds were supposed to have.  Was the color lost in Michigan?  So far this year, I am happy to report, the colors are on the birds.  We can chalk it up to I didn't have a clue how to work the device between me and the bird.  I'm OK with that.
This year, seems I'm capturing more definition and color of the birds.  The one image of a Heron standing in the post Great Blue Herons got me going this year.  I started seeing colors.  So very cool.
In this image, the colors are so - there.  No post processing saturation needed.  Pretty much out of the camera.  OK - there are a few PP steps, but not much with the color.
The colors got me with this.  First, I'm usually not this lucky with the water.  Water I find is usually grey, due to overcast.  Of it if is clear, there is some shade of funky blue cause by the sun's reflection.  Not so here,   Great shade of blue.  The green in the sunlight is a different shade than when I get direct overhead light.  And I don't see much of the purple(?) colors in the Refuge.
So all together, this works for me.

Blue Heron and Purple Flower

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 220 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Eagle on the Dike (And the rest of the story)

This year's opening of the auto drive around the perimeter of the Refuge was delayed by a few weeks due to a 'project' that was in weather delay.  From what I can tell, there is an effort to increase the wetlands all around.  This means adding more dikes to keep the water in.  And to be sure, there is more water in the area this year.
One of the new dikes parallels the auto drive.  I saw this Eagle landing from a distance and 'crawled' the truck into position.  This image was taken from the truck.  When I got out, very slowly, the Eagle took off.  Not shown close by is a dead fish, I assumed it was for the Eagle's lunch.  I hung around for a while, but the bird did not return.  On my second lap, probably 90 minutes later, there were three juveniles at the dead fish.  My uneducated guess is that there was some dinner training going on.  Ain't nature grand?

Eagle Standing on the Dike

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 280 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

This is cropped fairly aggressively.  To me, the story behind it makes up for whatever it lacks technically.  Looks good on the small screens.

Juvenile Eagle Banking

When I go out to the Refuge, I plan on spending three to four hours there.  The earlier the better.  Anyway, just doing one loop of the auto tour just isn't enough.  It seems to alternate on which loop generates the best 'scenery'.  I've also been going out there enough that time starts to slow down a bit in that I can take in more options.  My first few trips out there I'd come home with 300+ images.  Now, less than 50.  But those 50 are much better or more interesting.  I still miss on the focus on a few, but my hit rate is OK.  The first sets of shots were all pretty easy.  Bird standing still.  Now, I'm looking for the flight action.  And I miss on the focus a bit more.
I'm also getting more comfortable with the 1.3 size option - which essentially cuts down the visual angle to the same as 600 mm.  It's the math.  But there is a price paid in that the pixel count is decreased.  But that's OK - there's software.  However, the margin of error in focus is a lot less when using the 1.3 size.  But if I get it right, I can work with it.
And when it all comes together, you get this.
Side note: The titling of images is not easy.  To a lot of people, the title of Eagle Banking might conjure up an image of an Eagle in line at their bank.  To aviators, you'd get the image of an Eagle in flight, making a slight turn.  This is the aviator take.

Juvenile Eagle Banking

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

That will be a good screen saver.

Blue Heron Head On

Today's trip to the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge started about an hour earlier than previous trips.  When I arrived, the skies were full of activity.  And the light was different.  Golden hour.
I had stepped out of the truck for a while, and I saw this bird coming in.  I was working with the image size of 1.3 which sometimes works - and sometimes not so much.  This was 50-50 ish.  
But I'll look at it as half full.  Took me a while to find the bird's head.  Ha.
The golden morning light is different for me and tossed me for a minute.  But the bird is coming straight on.  Pretty cool.

Blue Heron Head On

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 250 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

The bird was eventually going to 'land' on a tree not far from where I was standing and that's how the flight path worked out.
At some point the bird has to transition from flight to landing mode.  And in this case I was there just off the glide path.  The golden light here is just awesome to me.

Blue Heron Gear Down

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 280 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size 1.3

Early morning is the time to get out and see environment in action.