Thought I would practice some macro work today. This fella was caught in our flyscreen... Unfortunately for him it was a terminal trap... But I managed to get his corpse with some tweezers and got a very, very willing model.
Monday, February 8, 2021
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Gilbert Riparian Preserve Jan 31 2021
I spent the morning at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert this morning. I had heard about a Roseate Spoonbill that seems very comfortable there. As always the Riparian Preserve did not dissapoint, even though it was jam-packed full of people. I had been told that there were a ton of photographers with the Spoonbill, so I headed to the pond with the most people around it - not a Spoonbill in sight. So. I wandered. Just as I thought the Spoonbill had left, I heard from an older lady that "there is a bird with a funny looking beak asleep in the reeds in Pond 2"... of course, I was at Pond 3. The Spoonbill was fast asleep for a good 40 minutes... woke once, yawned, pooped and went back to sleep again! He was awake long enough for me to get a couple of images.
Roseate Spoonbill
Aperture Priority f5.6, 420mm, 1/500 sec, ISO 320, +1 EV
Black Phoebe
Aperture Priority f7.1, 420mm, 1/500 sec, ISO 320
Black-crowned Night Heron
Aperture Priority f7.1, 420mm, 1/2500 sec, ISO 320
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Manual Mode, f6.3, 500mm, 1/640 sec, ISO 320
Coopers Hawk
Manual Mode, f7.1, 420mm, 1/2000 sec, ISO 320
Starling
Manual Mode, f7.1, 420mm, 1/250 sec, ISO 320
Least Sandpiper
Aperture Priority f7.1, 420mm, 1/1600 sec, ISO 320
Northern Mockingbird
Manual Mode, f7.1, 420mm, 1/2000 sec, ISO 320
Pied-billed Grebe
Aperture Priority f5.6, 420mm, 1/1600 sec, ISO 320
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Aperture Priority f7.1, 420mm, 1/250 sec, ISO 320
Snowy Egret
Manual Mode, f7.1, 420mm, 1/3200 sec, ISO 320
Verdin
Aperture Priority f7.1, 420mm, 1/2000 sec, ISO 320
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Costa's Hummingbird
I spent the morning repairing the irrigation in our back yard and was very aware that this little guy was very interested anytime I got near the feeder. He buzzed me a couple of times, always returning to this orange tree to keep an eye on me.
Eventually I decided to take a coffee break from the digging and grabbed my camera!
Manual Mode, 300mm, f4, 1/250, ISO 320
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Backyard Feeder November 28th
I purchased a new feeder for the backyard - one that allows for multiple feeds and a water bath.
After 24 hours, I saw 3 species - Curve-billed Thrasher, Anna's Hummingbird, and Costa's Hummingbird. This is the first time I have seen Costa's in the backyard, so decided to get some images, even though I usually hate the sight of feeders in my pictures.
The feeder has Nyger seed, Black Sunflower seed, a suet brick and sugar water. It may take some weeks before I get regular activity - until then I will be happy to watch with a cup of coffee in the mornings!
Anna's Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Finally, this image was from a studio set-up that I was experimenting with. I don't think it worked entirely - the texture of the fabric flowers can be seen, and the green background is far too vibrant.
Verdin
Monday, November 9, 2020
November 9th 2020
I spent the morning at Reach 11 this morning. I have a new blind that I am trying out and a day off from work!
The tripod/feeder set up had limited success. Some birds, like this Thrasher, did not know the right place to perch, and the tripod handle can been seen.
Otherwise, it was a fairly slow morning, with the exception of a brave Red-tailed Hawk who posed for me about 20 feet from my camera. I managed to take close to 100 shots, moving, reframing etc. before he took off across the scrubland.
Black-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Flicker (Yellow Shafted)
Monday, November 2, 2020
Reach 11 Recreational Area - Nov 1st
I decided to use a blind and a temporary setup this weekend. I arrived at Reach 11 about an hour and a half before sunrise and established the shooting area. I was tucked up in my blind with a cup of coffee long before the birds woke.
My shooting area took into account several components that I had been considering for about a week:
- Location of the sun as it rose.
- The background needed to provide a good bokeh for the images.
- Position of feeders and a constructed perch.
- An area that my blind could be as hidden as possible (from other people)
Ultimately, there is some fine-tuning to be made - I expected there to be some issues setting up a position in the dark, but I have some possible solutions for next time (mostly the issue was the proximity of the setup to one of the footpaths).
Here is my 'studio':
A really simple setup - using a small hummingbird feeder, plastic plate, 2 cheap tripods and a branch I found on the ground.
The theory is that birds will be attracted by the seeds, but will take advantage of the branch as a final stop as they descend to the feed, or use it if the feed station is already occupied. Meanwhile, I added a hummingbird feeder that does not interfere with the seed station, but is close enough that I do not have to move my lens significantly to capture any visitors. Again, the intention is to get images of the hummingbirds on natural perches, rather than on the plastic feeder.
From the hummingbird feeder.
Anna's Hummingbird.
From the seed station.
Gray flycatcher (confirmation of ID pending)
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Horse Lover's Park, North Scottsdale. Oct 24th
This area is almost on my doorstep, but I really had not explored much of it - it is part of Reach 11 Recreational Area, an area that boasts 1500 acres; 7 miles long and half mile wide, it runs east-west along the north side of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal. There are 18 miles of multi-use trails available in this area.
I initially came to see if I could find the Great-horned Owl which is resident in the area, which I did, but not close enough to photograph.
I was lucky enough to get these images though:
Anna's Hummingbird
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