Tanagers, Cardinal & Allies

Shades of Blue – Wildflowers, Birds, Sky and Sea

By Mia McPherson, on April 17th, 2013%

Blue-eyed Grass – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/400, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas. Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) is one of my favorite blue wildflowers from the eastern United States. Blue-eyed Grass isn’t actually a grass at all, it is from the Iris family and may have gotten the “Grass” part of its name because the leaves are very thin and grass-like. I found and photographed this beauty under the pines of the Osprey Trail at Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida.

Great Blue Heron in the Gulf of Mexico – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 230mm, natural light

It seems to me that Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) are misnamed because they are more gray than they are blue, in fact when I see a Great Blue Heron posted on line that is very blue I scratch my head because they really aren’t that blue. I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it walked along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto’s north beach in Florida.

Little Blue Heron stalking prey in a tidal lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 360mm, natural light

Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) adults are more blue than Great Blue Herons, at least from the base of the neck to their tails, their necks have a reddish cast to them. I was sitting in the lagoon with the Little Blue Heron approached me while it was stalking and hunting prey at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.

Male Lazuli Bunting – Nikon D200, f8, 1/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

Male Lazuli Buntings (Passerina amoena) have a gorgeous azure blue head as well as some blue on other parts of their bodies. The word “lazuli” come from the semi-precious gemstone Lapis Lazuli which comes in various shades of blue with gold colored specks. I photographed this Lazuli Bunting in the San Rafael area of Utah and the background is the color of sandstone found in that area.

Mountain Bluebird - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4 TC at 400mm, natural light

Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) are one of the bluest bird species I have photographed, especially the males. I didn’t add any color saturation to this image at all, this is how blue the bird looked in the light conditions I had at the time I took this image at Red Rock lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. The males during the breeding season are a rich, vibrant blue.

Blue skies at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana – Nikon D200, handheld, f20, 1/160, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light

Some of the bluest skies I have ever seen have been at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana where on a clear (or not so clear) day you can see for miles & miles. I loved how this wave of clouds fanned out in this frame and added a nice contrast to the blue tones in the sky.

Amazing blues of Magens Bay, Saint Thomas, USVI – No techs, this is a panorama made from several images that were joined together

The colors of the seas and oceans have always drawn me to water because they can vary from the palest aquamarine to deep royal blues and everything in between. Magens Bay in Saint Thomas and the Atlantic Ocean beyond it give this image wonderful shades of blue that I find very soothing and it brings back nice memories of my stay on the island.

Shades of blue…

Mia

Western Tanager male at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

By Mia McPherson, on February 7th, 2013%

Western Tanager male in breeding plumage

This is the only bird I could find in my files that had the same colors of the Flaming Hibiscus I posted earlier this morning and since I didn’t want this to be a birdless day on Onthewingphotography I worked this Western Tanager file up in a hurry.

This was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana. I sure wish we had been able to get closer to this flame-colored bird, the cows there allowed us to get much closer.

Have a super day!

Mia

Lazuli Buntings near the San Rafael River

By Mia McPherson, on September 26th, 2012%

Morning at the San Rafael River campground – Emery County, Utah

Utah has so many stunning places to visit, awesome views to see and has an abundance of birds and wildlife to observe and photograph. The San Rafael Swell Recreation Area in central Utah is a gorgeous location that is far from towns and civilization. Locals call this area “Castle Country” and it doesn’t take much imagination to see the amazing rock formations as castles.

The San Rafael Swell is 2,000 square miles of public land and everywhere you look you can see stunning formations of Entrada and Navajo Sandstone. Some of the canyon walls are embellished with “Desert Varnish”, the varnish is the dark wash on the canyon wall on the right hand side of the image above.

Lazuli Bunting male with a sky background – Nikon D200, f8, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not set up or called in

I have enjoyed photographing Lazuli Buntings (Passerina amoena) near the San Rafael River at the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. These images were taken in the spring when the males were high on perches singing to attract females. The males sport a sky blue head, a mantle tinged with brown, a dull orange breast and a white belly. They are the colorful relative of the Indigo Bunting of the east. The name comes from the semi precious gemstone Lapis Lazuli, one of my favorites for making jewelry.

I like the sky as the background in the image above but feel the blue sky competes with the blues of the bird. I still won’t pass up a shot of this bunting even with a plain blue sky in the background though.

Male Lazuli Bunting with Navajo Sandstone in the background – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not set up or called in

In this frame the Lazuli Bunting is perched on a Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) shrub and has the Navajo Sandstone of the canyon wall as a background. To my eye the bird’s colors stands out better in this image.

That is just my own personal taste though.

Mia

More Lazuli Bunting images

More scenic images of the San Rafael Swell area (The petroglyhs and pictographs are great!)

Bananaquit in the Bahamas

By Mia McPherson, on February 14th, 2012%

I’ve been fortunate to travel to many beautiful locations in my life and I have been tickled to photograph birds on some of those places. I photographed this Bananaquit while on the island of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

Bananaquit (Corereba flaveola)
Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm

I saw literally hundreds of Bananaquits on the island but it was difficult to find them out in the open and to isolate just one bird. I was walking on a sandy path when I spotted this bird but it was behind a shrub. I really wanted a photo of it so very slowly I pushed my lens through the shrub in front of me. Luckily the Bananaquit was busy looking at something else and not at me so I was able to get just this one image before it flew away.

Bananaquits have been recorded as rare visitors to Florida, one was recorded at Fort De Soto County Park. Bananaquits use their curved bill to take nectar from flowers and they use it to pierce fruits to feed on the juices. They are also called the “Sugar Bird” because they will readily come to feed at a simple bowl of granulated sugar.

Mia

More Bananaquit images

*Click the image to view a larger version

Black-headed Grosbeaks

By Mia McPherson, on December 20th, 2010%

Male Black-headed Grosbeak perched on an old wooden building

Male Black-headed Grosbeak perched on an old wooden building
Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana
D200, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, near a feeder

Near the headquarters of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge there are several old wooden buildings, one of buildings had a bird feeder hanging in front and there were several different species of birds that were present. This male Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) sure caught my eye with its beautiful orange, black and white plumage. This is a well known and widespread bird of western North America that breeds in dense deciduous forests, along waterways, old fields and thickets.

Male Black-headed Grosbeak perched on an old rusty wagon wheel

Male Black-headed Grosbeak perched on an old rusty wagon wheel
Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana
D200, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, near a feeder

This was my first opportunity to photograph this species and I found the rustic wooden building and the rusty wagon wheel to be appealing perches though I would have preferred a more natural setting. I did not have very much time to take pictures of this bird, there was a pickup coming down the road that caused the bird to fly away but I know that when I get back to Red Rock Lakes NWR in the summertime I will be keeping my eyes open to look for the Black-headed Grosbeaks again.

Mia