By Mia McPherson, on February 4th, 2012 
Resting Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanolueca) ~ Fort De Soto County Park, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/160, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Obtaining a low angle with small shorebirds can bring the viewer into the bird’s world by being down to their level. When I photographed shorebirds in Florida I was either constantly covered in sand or mud, wet or all three. I looked a mess but I really didn’t mind sand-crawling through mud and sand, sitting or laying down in the water to get the low perspective I desired. Sometimes it actually helped to cool me off when the heat was on.
I photographed this Greater Yellowlegs by sitting very low in a lagoon then bending down to get the bottom of my lens just above the surface of the water. The rising sun gave the bird a nice glow and the eye contact plus the head turn worked very well. I also liked the bubbles on the surface of the water.
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanolueca) in a quiet lagoon
Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light
This image was taken in the evening, the bird was in the lagoon and I laid flat on my belly at the edge of the water to get this low angle shot with part of my upper torso in the shallows. How nice that the shorebirds will often look in the direction of the sunlight as there are some bird & animal species that don’t seem to enjoy the sun directly in their eyes, Coyotes and several owl species come to mind.
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanolueca)
Nikon D200, handheld, f14, ISO 250, 1/250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 210mm, natural light
I photographed this group of Greater Yellowlegs by kneeling in the water, bending forward and placing my elbows on the lagoon bottom to brace my arms and use them to steady my camera and lens. I used f14 for my aperture to try to get enough depth of field to get all the birds sharp and that dropped my shutter speed to 1/250, I could have bumped up my ISO to get more shutter speed but I felt that I was steady enough to get a sharp image even though the shutter speed was slow.
Mia
More Greater Yellowlegs images
By Mia McPherson, on February 3rd, 2012 Loggerhead Shrikes are interesting birds, they are classified as song birds but they also have raptor like behaviors in my opinion. They are fierce, handsome and they can be quite vocal. I usually hear them just before I see them.
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) expelling a pellet ~ Davis County, Utah
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or set up
Yesterday I spotted this Loggerhead Shrike singing away on a branch of a tree, it was really raising a ruckus and it sounded like these Shrike’s do when they are in mating season. With as little “winter” as we have had this year maybe the birds and animals are getting confused.
Anyway, I loved the wonderful setting I found this bird in, out in the open, no distracting branches and the background was so distant that I knew I’d get a nice, smooth look to the background because of the bokeh of my lens. This might look like a typical Bird on a Stick (BOAS) set up shot because of that, but this is completely natural and taken in the wild.
Loggerhead Shrike
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or set up
While watching and photography the Shrike’s behavior I could tell that it might regurgitate a pellet because it would open its bill without any sound which seems to be an early indicator of pellet expulsion. Pellet expulsion occurs rapidly so I didn’t want to take my eye off of the bird. I should have looked at my EV settings though. I really didn’t need +0.7 exposure compensation, I could have gotten away without making any adjustment to my compensation but I was able to reduce the brightness in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) easily because I shoot in RAW.
In the image above the pellet can be seen in the throat at the base of the bill, when this behavior happens the Shrike almost always has its head pointing down which often means the lack of light in the eye but in this case because of the angle of the sun I was able to get a catchlight.
Loggerhead Shrike
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or set up
In the image above the pellet has moved further towards the tip of the bill and the bird appears to be struggling a bit less in the process.
Loggerhead Shrike ~ pellet expulsion completed
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or set up
These images represent four out of five frame that I took while this Loggerhead Shrike was regurgitating the pellet. If I had reached for my coffee, sneezed or even glanced away from the bird I would have missed this behavior and getting these photographs.
Mia
More Loggerhead Shrike images
By Mia McPherson, on February 1st, 2012 The weather outside hasn’t been good for bird photography today but since I am always behind on editing I thought I’d process this Red-breasted Merganser image that I took in Florida a few years ago.
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) ~ Fort De Soto, Florida
Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light
Of the Mergansers that I have photographed Red-breasted Mergansers are the ones that I have taken images of most often. In Florida I would see them most frequently during the winter through late spring feeding in shallow lagoons or out in the Gulf of Mexico. The “serrator” in their Latin name comes from their serrated bill which is used to grasp the small fish they feed on.
I had been kneeling in the water of a tidal lagoon photographing this bird and several Royal Terns that were giving me great views of their mating displays when I noticed that the merganser seemed about to take off in flight so I trained my lens on the Red-breasted Merganser and caught this lift off shot. They sure take off fast!
Mia
More Red-breasted Merganser images
By Mia McPherson, on January 31st, 2012 It was slow photographing this morning, the light wasn’t the best due to clouds coming in and there were very few birds close enough to photograph but you just never know when you’ll spot one cooperative bird and that is what happened today when I was on the way home.
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) male ~ Davis County, Utah
Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 800, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light, not baited
This bird displayed interesting behavior, it didn’t appear to be hunting but it would dive into the vegetation where it would make a sound that reminded me of parrots chattering. Then it would lift up, fly a few feet and drop back down into the vegetation where it would chatter again. It repeated this for at least thirty minutes. At one point a female flew close and this male chased her for about half a mile, they did interact by diving towards each other and at one point I saw the female flying upside down with her legs extended towards the male. The male then flew back to the general location that it had been when I was photographing it.
This male is transitioning into adult plumage, the primaries and secondaries have begun to attain the gray color of an adult male but the shoulders, head and back are still the brown color I expect to see in a juvenile.
Because of the light I didn’t come home with as many acceptable (by my standards) images as I would have liked but I’m pleased with this one.
Mia
More Northern Harrier images
By Mia McPherson, on January 30th, 2012 
Preening adult American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) ~ Fort De Soto County Park, Florida
Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
This American Oystercatcher image was taken nearly three years ago, it seems difficult to believe that is has been that long but I like it as much today as the morning I photographed it. The pose makes me want to laugh and perhaps give the image a caption like “Pilates anyone?”.
The morning light fell on the bird so nicely, illuminating the long orange bill, lemony yellow eyes and the beautiful brown and white plumage. I think American Oystercatchers are lovely birds right down to thier black Goth-like toenails. Although it was only February when I photographed this bird the Oystercatchers were already pairing up in preperation of nesting season.
I have yet to see and photograph the related Black Oystercatchers found on the Pacific coastline, one day soon perhaps!
Mia
More American Oystercatcher images
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon
Focusing on Wildlife Contributor
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