Snowy Egret - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural, low light

Yesterday I posted a Snowy Egret in flight in what many bird photographers would call good light and the image had wonderful dynamics because of the action of the bird.

This Snowy Egret image was taken just after the sun had risen above the horizon in about the same location as the egret image I posted yesterday but at a completely different time of the year, September of 2008.

This image conveys a very different mood but both Snowy Egret images have wonderful appeal for me.

Mia

More Snowy Egret images

Snowy Egret about to land - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 185mm, natural light, not baited

People have nicknamed Snowy Egrets “Golden Slippers” because of their yellow feet, this image really shows off those yellow feet.

I have a very nice series of images of this Snowy, all of them photographed with me sitting on the sand instead of laying on it like I do for smaller shorebirds. I still had Sandy Pants at the end of the day though.

Love that beautiful snowy white plumage against the rich blues of the Gulf!

Mia

*I pre-scheduled this post because I am away, please feel free to share this with your friends & family!

More Snowy Egret images

My Nikon D300 is giving me the fits, I’ve had it checked out locally and they can’t replicate the issues I am having of the exposure going wonky intermittently, my shutter speed will go from 1/1000 or higher and then drop to 1/4 to 1/60 resulting in pure snowy white images. Yuck. At any rate right now I am using my backup D200′s until I can get the D300 sent to Nikon.

Black-crowned Night Heron lift off - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light

The day didn’t start off looking great, it looked like it might be cloudy but the light stayed over the refuge while to the south it didn’t look great. There were birds, birds and more birds on the auto tour loop and we were able to catch some wonderful action.

This heron was standing on a little spit of dry land at the edge of a marshy pond, for a bit it just stood there, then it preened a while. Before too long Ron and I could see the bird was going to lift off and fly away. We were ready!

I took a nice series of images as the Black-crowned lifted off and flew past us, I really liked the position of the wings, the look at the intensely red eye and those big, dangling yellow feet in this frame.

After leaving the refuge we stopped at the Maddox Drive In for great Hamburgers and fries.

Birthday Boy Ron appeared to have an awesome day but why wouldn’t we? Great light. Plenty of birds. Super company. I was a happy camper!

Mia

*I pre-scheduled this post because I am away, please feel free to share this with your friends & family!

More Black-crowned Night Heron images

Sidelit Piping Plover - Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a bit of movement and turned my head towards what I could see was a Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) looking for prey in the mudflats. The light was not what most photographers would call “great“, the plover was below a dune and the angle of the sun in the west caused the bird to be sidelit. 

Some photographers would pass on the shot because of the “tough”, “harsh” or “contrasty” light, but I simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Even though the sun wasn’t behind my shoulder and the light wasn’t golden this image has a great mood to it. I know I could have used flash to brighten up the bird and the setting but if I had it certainly would not be this moody, besides; I very rarely use flash.

This Piping Plover image reminds me to try to photograph birds in other than perfect light. Sidelit and backlit images can be spectacular so I don’t like passing up taking the chance that I might just get a great shot despite what some photographers think of as bad light.

Mia

More Piping Plover images

*I pre-scheduled this post because I am away, please feel free to share this with your friends & family!

Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 220mm, natural light

On the day I photographed this heron there was a sea fog that burned off very rapidly once the warmth of the sun’s rays touched it. I was in great company, Adrian Burke and I had met at the north beach parking lot and there were birds, birds and more birds that day. Even though I have culled any bad images from the folder for that date it is still brimming with images I haven’t yet processed.

I was sitting in water up to my bum in the middle of a small tidal lagoon when the Tricolored walked by, it was stalking prey on the shoreline and not paying much attention to me at all. I like how it looks like the heron is trying to sneak past me in this frame even though I know it could have cared less about the sopping wet person with one big eye watching it walk by.

This was taken right at the end of the photo session and it was a great feeling to have filled almost all of my memory cards… and the memories in my mind of that morning too.

Good light. Good Birds. Great company, what more could this woman ask for?

Mia

PS: If you look on the right sidebar you can see an image of me photographing this same Tricolored Heron.

More Tricolored Heron images

Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

While out on Antelope Island State Park on Friday I spotted a male Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) on top of a bush, the light was just great for viewing and photographing the iridescent teals, blues, greens and purples that can show up on these “black” birds. I was even more tickled when the blackbird started to display because that really made the iridescence even more delightful. I have a lovely series of photos of this male now.

I can’t say that the call of the male while displaying is enchanting or melodious but I am almost certain the female Brewer’s Blackbirds must think so.

Female Brewer's Blackbird with nesting material - Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

This female Brewer’s Blackbird is the mate of the male above, she flew up from the other side of the road with nesting material in her bill and perched for a few moments before flying into another bush with the twig. When the female left the male followed her across the road, she went down onto the ground and he perched high watching over her and when she flew back to the nest with more nesting material he followed her and stayed close. That behavior happened several times. I wish the female had perched a bit closer with her nesting material than she did. but I am still pleased to get a series of images of her with this twig.

Mia

More Brewer’s Blackbird images

California Gull with nesting material - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

As the gull came closer to me I could see that it was some type of vegetation and I knew then it had a bill full of nesting material. California Gulls nest nearby on Egg Island and that is the direction that the gull was flying towards. It was the first time I have been able to photograph a California Gull with nesting material so I was quite pleased. though I wish I had backed up my zoom all the way, I might have been able to fit the whole bird in the frame.

Perched California Gull - Nikon D200, f8, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

I photographed this California Gull along the causeway to the island last year, it looks like it is in the middle of a molt because some of the feather on the wing are a touch ragged.

Mia

Sand Dune at Fort De Soto in early morning light - Nikon D70, handheld, f6.3, 1/160, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 70mm

I created the image above while walking Fort De Soto’s north beach early in the morning of July 20, 2007, the sun had crested the horizon and had just begun to light up the dunes. Although Fort De Soto has many dunes covered with beautiful Sea Oats, in this image I liked how the Sea Purslane hugged the dune and how the tips of the plants seemed to glow with the early morning light. The sunlight had not yet lit up the surface of the Gulf of Mexico but had started to light up the tops of the storm clouds hanging in a bank off of the coast.

When I look at this image I can smell the salty air, the sand under my feet, the breeze ruffling my hair and the warmth of the sun’s rays warming my back.

Fort De Soto County Park is one of my favorite locations to photograph birds, scenery and clouds. More of my thoughts about Fort De Soto can be read here ”My Love Affair with Fort De Soto“.

Sand Dunes on Antelope Island State Park, Utah - Nikon D200, handheld, f11, 1/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm

I was camping on Antelope Island State Park when I photographed the image above the evening of March 30, 2011. I thought the sky was captivating with the swirly, layered clouds against the warm tones of the sand and the yet to green up Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush that grow on the oolitic sand dunes there. So very different from the dunes at Fort De Soto but they are equally appealing to me.

Antelope Island State Park is another of my favorite locations to go to photograph, it seems I always find something to catch my eye and tug at my heart there. I recently did a three-part series of articles I titled “Wild and Wonderful – Antelope Island State Park” on the scenery, the wildlife and the birds. I could not fit it all into one article.

Just two simple images from two different locations that whisper “home” to me.

Mia

Royal Tern, Florida

Some birds poop in mid-air which it is always wise to have your mouth closed when photographing birds directly over your head. A wide-brimmed hat is kind of handy too. I’m glad this Royal Tern banked when it did or I might have gotten bombed.

Killdeer, Utah

Some shorebirds will leave the water to poop, I’ve noticed that American Avocets always exit the water when they need to pooh. Some shorebirds poop so fast you don’t even notice it. Even with a shutter speed of 1/1600 I could not freeze the motion of this Killdeer’s poop, they must be the “fast as lightning” poopers.

Roseate Spoonbill, Florida

I think that Roseate Spoonbills are Super Dooper Poopers, this bird looks like it grew an extra leg the stream of poop is so long!

Okay, enough talk about poop! (At least until the next Oh… Poop post)

Mia

Eared Grebes on the Great Salt Lake - Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light

The diet of Eared Grebes include brine shrimp and alkali flies that are found in hyper saline environments such as Mono Lake in California and the Great Salt Lake in Utah. For most of the year Eared Grebes and Wilson’s Phalaropes are the two bird species that spend the most time in highly saline environments.

It is amazing to stop on the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and see thousands upon thousands of Eared Grebes. Yesterday day most of the grebes were north of the causeway and even with my high-powered lens I couldn’t see where the birds stopped.

Eared Grebe in breeding plumage - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

I think that Eared Grebes are gorgeous in breeding plumage with their primarily dark body and neck combined with the dark head in contrast to the wispy yellow plumes and cherry red eye. I like that crest too!

My portfolio is seriously lacking in Eared Grebe images, something I should remedy.

Mia