September 29th 2010 - Glendale Recharge Facility and Tres Rios.

I thought I would scope out a new place today and headed to the Glendale Recharge Facility. This is a group of ponds that have a dual purpose - the reclamation of water and the provision of habitat for wildlife. I got there at about 5.30 am but could already see that the ponds were very exposed. With a 300mm lens the birds were well out of range... and at no time were they likely to come closer to this mad Englishman who was trying to swat at the multitude of mosquitos that were exploring me. As a result I decided to look at a photo opportunity where the bird worked to accentuate the image, rather than play the main subject. At first I thought that the distant lights would make for an interesting background, but as the sun came up the red earth that surrounds the ponds came alive and the scene was set.

Western Grebes at Sunrise (Click to enlarge).





















EXIF: Manual mode, 1/250", f5.6, ISO 320, 420mm, Pattern Metered

With this shot safely in the memory card I left the Recharge Ponds to the mosquitos and decided to take a drive past Tres Rios. I was not expecting too much, I usually find the birds here to be a little nervous. As a result I have learned to accept that my visits here are not always fruitful!
As I drove up to the area I spotted a tree full of Turkey Vultures - although I was not able to get too close I did get a couple of shots. Walking past the ponds I was really startled by the sounds of Bullfrogs as I disturbed their siesta and they made their high-pitched croak and leapt into the water - a case of both the frogs and I jumping out of our skin! All except one 'hopped off', but I was pleased as I have always wanted to get a photo of a semi-submerged frog and this was a good first attempt.

Bullfrog (Click to enlarge)




EXIF: Manual Mode, 1/640, f4, ISO 200, 300mm, Pattern metered.

As I turned away from the pond I almost stepped on this little fellow (about 3 feet long). He didn't seem bothered in the slightest and was quite happy to let me circle him until I was in front of him - then I laid on my stomach to get down to his level to get this shot. I wish I had used a slightly deeper depth of field, but c'est la vie!

King Snake (Click to enlarge)





















EXIF: Manual Mode, 1/3200", f4, ISO 200, 300mm, Pattern metered.

It's all gone to the dogs!

This morning I headed out to Tres Rios with the intention of photographing some Turkey vultures. I was armed with some raw meat and liver to bait the vultures to a photographic spot. This is a very controversial aspect of wildlife photography. One argument is that luring birds with food can a) put the birds in danger, b)decrease their ability to find their own food and make them reliant on alternate food sources c) spread disease by encouraging birds to congregate. However, in this situation I established my lure far away from any danger, baited in an area already rich in food sources and baited for birds that already congregate for feeding.

About 30 minutes after I got set up the rain started, so I decided to use my car as a hide ('blind' for my US friends). After another 15 minutes 2 cars from the Phoenix Police Department converged on me after receiving reports of a suspicious car parked in the desert! An hour later I was approached by an officer from the Gila River Indian Reservation Police, Although I was not trespassing, he wanted me to be aware that I was very close to the reservation boundary. All of the officers were very polite, but I think they probably scared all the vultures out of the area by driving out to where I was parked.

The upshot of this is that I saw no vultures until I was driving home! However, there was a surprise event for me when I watched 2 wild dogs leave their pack and trot over to my meat feast! They were very calm and did not seem at all bothered by me.

Wild Dogs (click to enlarge)


Breakfast (click to enlarge)


This one chose the bloodiest piece he could! (click to enlarge)


The only other visitor I had was a lonely Mourning Dove... not quite the carcass eating vulture I was looking for!

Mourning Dove (click to enlarge)


One other shot from today... a couple of Cormorants flying to the south of where I was located I thought it would make a nice landscape shot. When I downloaded it to my computer I practiced a little post-processing - turning a fairly drab, grey landscape into a faux-sunset shot. The process involved changing almost everything in the shot, but I think that the result was successful. Here is the before and after for comparison:

Before (click to enlarge)


After (click to enlarge)


I think that next weeks trip might be to a new place - The Salt River Restoration Project... watch this space for updates.

Riparian Preserve and Tres Rios 7.19.10

I got cancelled from work last night, so I was able to get up nice and early for a drive down to Gilbert. I tried to catch some different subjects so that this blog does not fill up with Egrets and Stilts!

Here are this mornings efforts:

Gila Woodpecker (Click to enlarge)




















Anna's Hummingbird (Click to enlarge)


Afterwards I took a run past Tres Rios on the way home. It looks like the Turkey Vultures are out in force at the moment and the ponds are a danger area as I found out when a Dragonfly squadron started diving at me from the skies!

Turkey Vulture (Click to enlarge)


Dragonfly (Click to enlarge)

Tres Rios 5.25.10

I tried a new place this morning, a place that is a lot closer than the Riparian Preserve. Unfortunately, it is a lot smaller and the photographic opportunities were a lot less. There was plenty of bird life, but the ponds were either overgrown or totally exposed. The other problem was that in order to have the sun behind me for the photography I had to walk past the ponds first - which meant that the more skittish birds were already on the wing when I was positioned properly. I did intend to wait for them to return, but the mosquitos were out in force - and although I was covered in anti-mozzie spray the little blighters do have a tendency to explore my ears and nose, which is very uncomfortable!!
Anyway, these were from today:

Black Crowned Night Heron (click to enlarge).




















Dragonfly (click to enlarge).


Tomorrow, if I wake up early enough, I will head out to the Riparian Reserve again.