Monthly Archives: May 2011

Help! I need your votes………..

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I am appealing to all my faithful, loyal readers wordwide.  I have entered several photos in the 2011 National Wildlife Federation photo contest.  An additional event this year is a People’s Choice Award.  That means my friends like you, can post your votes for what you think is the best photographs.

I have conveniently made it easy for you to check out my entries and see if they are worthy of such a supreme award.  Just click on this link:  

 http://www.nwf.org/PhotoContest/PhotoContestHome.aspx?perma=bobzeller1@aol.com

I thank you in advance for all of your help.

Memorial Day Weekend Odds and Ends

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I haven’t shot a photo in a couple of days.  Catching  up on other “stuff”, so I can get out in the field soon.  Ann and I both had doctor appointments to take care of, plus looking into getting some fence replaced.  But most important, we also purchased a new car.  The Mercury minivan was about six years old, so we decided it was time.  We traded for a 2011 Ford Edge.  A great vehicle.  I think they call it a crossover, whatever that is. 🙂

Got a new sign designed, too.  I did it with my Printshop software.  Looks pretty neat, if I do say so myself.  Here are some pics.

On Monday I think we are going to head for Eldorado again.  The Johnsons saw the Crested Caracaras again on their nest.  Maybe I can get a shot this time. 

Oh, I almost forgot.  My computer crashed Saturday afternoon for a bit.  I don’t know what exactly happened, but I lost ALL of my photographs.  Fortunately, I had backed them up last on May 24, so I only lost the images that I shot since then.  I got the others restored and backed up again a little while ago.  It is now 5:30 AM CST.

One thing, I hope these new car images are okay after I publish this post, as the originals were some of the ones I lost.  Not being a computer nerd, I don’t know how that works.

So everybody have a safe Memorial Day, and honor those who fought and died so we can keep this freedom.  I am just going to sluff off and maybe watch the Indy500.  That has been a tradition with me ever since I was a kid and listened to it on the radio with my dad.

Happy birding!!!

Raptors of Bosque Del Apache NWR

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As you may remember, Ann, Jodie Wolslager, and I made a trip to New Mexico to visit the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  As I usually do on a trip like that, I shot around 500 images.  Yesterday morning, I was browsing through them and tossing some of the bad ones.  (And you thought that I didn’t take any bad pictures.  Boy, would you be surprised.) 🙂

Anyway, I needed to thin them out, and I came across several pretty good ones that I had forgotten about.  I love to photograph raptors and these are three of my best shots.  I saw several more while we were there, but either the birds were hidden or the light was bad.  In any case, there were many hawks that were “un-photographed”.  I hope to return there again later this year, to remedy that situation.  It is such an amazing place.  In the meantime, enjoy these photos, and of course, click on any of them to see an enlargement.

Red-tailed Hawk

  • Canon 7D
  • Canon100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/250 sec. @ f5.6 – minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 100
  • Lens focal distance – 400
  • Shutter priority
  • Partial metering

Bald Eagle

  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm IS lens w/1.4 tele-converter
  • Bogen-Manfrotto tripod w/Wimberley II gimbal head
  • 1/1000 sec. @ f5.6 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 100
  • Lens focal distance – 700mm
  • Shutter priority
  • Partial metering

Sharp-shinned Hawk

  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400 zoom lens – hand-held
  • 1/1600 sec. @ f5.6 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 2500
  • Lens focal distance – 400mm
  • Shutter priority
  • Partial metering

The beautiful Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

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One of my favorite birds of this area is the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  They be seen frequently in great numbers now that warm weather is here.  This is one that I photographed yesterday afternoon.

They are a hybridized kingbird.  National Wildlife Federation‘s field guide to Birds of North America describes it as “the very signature of the southern Great Plains.  It is a breathtaking bird: a soft pearl gray above, a pink wash on the belly, and often brilliantly rose-pink underwing coverts”.

Click on the image to see an enlargement.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

  •  Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm IS lens w/1.4 tele-converter – hand-held
  • 1/1250 sec. @ f13 – minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 640
  • Lens focal length – 700mm
  • Aperture Priority
  • Partial metering

San Angelo State Park images

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Ann and I went to the park Friday morning  just to spend a few quiet hours.  I especially wanted to try out a new toy.  I purchased a “Puffin’ Pad”.  It is a unique foam cushioned pad that fits over the glass when you roll your driver’s side (or passenger) window down.  Great for resting a long lens or a spotting scope when shooting from your vehicle.  I bought it from http://www.adorama.com.

Besides from getting these snapshots, we saw another Porcupine up in a tree.  This time I couldn’t get close for a shot because of a fence.  I walked up and down the fence-line but couldn’t find a vantage point where I could get a bead on it.  The Bullock’s Oriole was on a feeder at near one of the park hosts’ motor home.  All photos were captured with my Canon 7D

  • Common Nighthawk
  • Canon 500mm IS lens with 1.4 tele-converter – hand-held
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 1250
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Bullock’s Oriole
  • Canon 500mm IS lens with 1.4 tele-converter – hand-held
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6
  • ISO 800
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Brown-crested Flycatcher
  • Canon 100-400mm IS zoom lens
  • 1/2000 sec. @ f6.3  plus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 1250
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

We also saw several Mississippi Kites flying and diving for insects.  They were the first that we have seen this year.  I tried to get some photos of them in flight, but with their erratic maneuvers I wasn’t up to it….. this time.  But, I’ll be back. 🙂

More Images from Eldorado, Texas

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I am still editing images from our Tuesday trip to the water treatment ponds near Eldorado, Texas.  Here are a few more for your enjoyment.  All were photographed with my Canon 7D SLR camera and Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens.

  • Black-necked Stilt
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 250
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • 1/500 sec. @ f13 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 400
  • Aperture Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Cattle Egret making graceful landing
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 minus 2/3 EV
  • ISO 125
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Hooded Skunk interrupting our birding
  • 1/640 @ f13
  • ISO 400
  • Aperture Priority
  • Partial metering

  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • 1/2500 @f6.3 minus 1/3 EV
  • ISO 250
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

I hope you enjoyed looking at these images.  Click on any of them to see enlargements.

Tale of the Take – Hawk Hatchlings

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A friend of mine, Ken Coley, told me of a Red-tailed Hawk‘s nest that was on private property out near Dove Creek.  Fortunately, he knew the owners  of the property and he arranged to take me out there to check it out.

We arrived late in the afternoon and the temperature was about 95 degrees.  We drove in and parked near the peoples’ house.  Ken says that we can walk to the tree, and we’ll be able to see the nest.  I decided to just carry my 100-400mm lens setup.  It was about a 500 yard walk, but when we got there, I discovered the nest was about 70 feet high up in a pecan tree.  To get the shot, I needed to get about 100 feet away in another direction to get in the proper light.  The 100-400mm wasn’t going to do the job.

I hiked back to the van and this time I decided to drive in a little closer.  I was able to get within about 50 feet of the tree and park near other trees so it wouldn’t be a distraction.  I then was able to set up my tripod to enable me to mount my 500mm lens on my Canon 7D.  This particular shot that I have posted here was taken with my 1.4X teleconverter attached.  I also took a few exposures with the 2X teleconverter.  I must use manual focus with the 2X because of aperture restrictions with that setup.  Also, because of the shade over the nest I had to adjust the EV to +2/3.

But I must say, that 2X done an amazing job.  After printing two 8x10s, I could not tell the difference between the photo taken with the 2X and the cropped version with the 1.4.  These Canon L series lenses continue to amaze me.

Anyway, as you can see, those little hatchlings are real cuties.  I intend to go back in week or two and see if they are large enough to be standing on the edge of the nest.  You can click on the photo to see an enlargement.

  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm IS lens w/1.4 teleconverter
  • Aperture Priority
  • 1/1000 sec. @ f10
  • ISO 3200
  • EV +2/3
  • Partial metering

Two New Bird Visitors

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Doing a little photo shooting at San Angelo State Park this morning, I spotted and photographed these two migratory visitors.  One is a Gray Catbird, a lifer for me, and the other is a MacGillivray’s Warbler, which I haven’t seen one for a couple of years.

  • Gray Catbird
  • Canon 7d
  • Canon 100-400 zoom lens
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6  EV -1/3  ISO 2000
  • Shutter Priority
  • Partial metering

  • MacGillivray’s Warbler
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm lens w/1.4 teleconverter
  • 1/1250 sec. @f10 EV +1/3  ISO 2000
  • Aperture Priority
  • Partial metering

Maybe they will stay around long enough for me to get some more photographs.  Click on either image to see an enlargement.

Birding Eldorado Water Treatment Ponds

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It started out to be a day to search for a reported eagle’s nest.  One had been reported on Hwy 67 between Rowena and Miles.  We took off yesterday morning to have a look, but couldn’t locate it.  Perhaps it is at another location, and we will check into it further.

So, we decided to detour to the south and visit the water treatment ponds at Eldorado.  There are usually some surprises to be found there and again, we were not disappointed.  Here are some photos that I managed to capture.  I will put a complete list of our sightings at the end of this post.  Also, you will find my camera data below each image.  Click on any of them to see enlargements.

  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm lens w/1.4 tele-converter – hand-held
  • Shutter priority
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 – EV – 1/3 – ISO 200
  • Partial metering 
  • Bonaparte’s Gull in flight
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • Shutter priority
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 – ISO 160
  • Partial metering
  • White-faced Ibis
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 500mm lens w/1.4 tele-converter – hand-held
  • Shutter priority
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5/6 – EV-1/3 – ISO 640
  • Partial metering
  • White-faced Ibis in flight
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f4.5 – EV-1/3 – SO 250
  • Shutter priority
  • Partial metering
  • Baird’s Sandpiper
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • Shutter priority
  • 1/2500 sec. @ f5.6 – ISO 400
  • Partial metering

I hope you enjoyed the photos and the addition of the camera settings, etc.  Now here is a list of the sightings for the day.  Again, those water ponds produced another fun day of birding.

  1. Red-tailed Hawk
  2. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
  3. Western Kingbird
  4. Brown-headed Cowbird
  5. White-winged Dove
  6. Mockingbird
  7. Field Sparrow
  8. Turkey Vulture
  9. Wild Turkey
  10. Greater Roadrunner
  11. Barn Swallow
  12. Double-crested Cormorant
  13. Egyptian Goose
  14. Wilson’s Phalarope
  15. Bonaparte’s Gull
  16. Savanah Sparrow
  17. White-faced Ibis
  18. Upland Sandpiper
  19. Spotted Sandpiper
  20. Killdeer
  21. Eastern Phoebe
  22. Greater Yellowlegs
  23. Painted Bunting
  24. American Pipit
  25. Least Sandpiper
  26. Common Grackle
  27. Chipping Sparrow
  28. European Starling

Three birds and a rabbit

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As any photographer has a habit of doing, I always shoot many images when I am in the field.  Sometimes it takes me a long time to go back and peruse all of them to see what I have.  Here I have four that I have chosen for this post.  I have included pertinent exposure info under each photograph.

  • Common Nighthawk
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm lens – hand-held
  • Shutter priority
  • 1/2500 @ f6.3
  • ISO 320
  • Partial metering

  • Canyon Towhee
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm lens – hand-held
  • Aperture priority
  • 1/500 @ f13
  • ISO 2000
  • Partial metering

  • Cottontail Rabbit
  • Canon 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm lens – hand-held
  • Program mode
  • 1/320 sec @ f9
  • ISO 250

Click on any image to see an enlargement.  Enjoy.