Friday the 13th fell on a Friday this month. Does this scare me. Of course not. I am not suspicious of stuff like that. I ain’t afraid of the dark, either, nor am I afraid of the creatures that lurk under my bed. However, I keep my feet under the covers just in case. I also don’t walk under ladders since I once fell off of one once. Luckily, I was standing on the bottom rung at the time.
So with that in mind, Ann and I decided to throw caution to the wind and go birding. We thought we would get lucky. Well it depends on what you could call lucky. On the unlucky side, there weren’t many birds. It was a beautiful day and I can’t understand that. We did see 32 species, but most were flyovers, or on the move in the trees, or too far to consider even trying to photograph. Most of what I did try to shoot were, save for a few exceptions, very far away, up to 250 yards, and that doesn’t make for good closeups.
On the lucky side, I was able to make lemonade out of the lemons. Thanks to my 150-600mm Tamron zoom lens, I was able to get some cropable (is that at word?) images. Here is an example. This Red-tailed Hawk was of those distant ones. Here is the original image, and keep in mind, this is through my long lens. Imagine what it looked like at with the naked eye.
Cropped imge:
We continued driving and saw these at Spring Creek Park. This female Northern Cardinal gave me problems with the lighting in the shadows. It was mid-morning and the sun was bright. I was able to correct it in my post processing.
A few minutes later we spotted this Great Horned Owl. Same shadow problems. But heck, I was happy to get the photos any way I can.
Below the trees a male Northern Cardinal was scratching in the grass and leaves.
Then cruising along the water, looking across about 200 yards away again this Great Blue Heron was standing and just gazing. Heavily cropped like the hawk photo above.
High above, about another 250 yards away, a Black Vulture was enjoying the light, warm breeze. Again heavily cropped.
On the way home we stopped again at the beach at Mary Lee Park to check on the Ring-billed Gulls.
Well that’s it for tonight. Going to bed, with my feet under the covers, because you never know………. (cue Friday the 13th music.)
Haha, you certainly made lemonade, Bob! 🙂 Love the Horned Owl.
Glad you like my little humor. And the Owl. 🙂
Love the GHO. Great photo with the shadows and showing how well he blends in. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa. It worked out very well. 🙂
beautiful shots..love the background and contrasts especially the Cardinal..kudos…
Thanks so much, Syl. I love Cardinals. 🙂
Thank goodness for zoom lens and photoshop (or whichever post-processing software you use) !! 🙂 Love the owl photo, btw!
I agree, Judy, having the right tools definitely makes for good creativity. Glad you like the owl. The shadows were pretty contrasty, but Photoshop has my favorite tool, “Shadows/Highlights” It can lighten the shadows, without brighten up the highlights too much. You probably know about it.
You always manage to make me smile, even on the gloomiest days, Bob! 🙂
It shows the high quality of your equipment that you can crop and still retain the beautiful integrity of the images. I must learn the trick to finding owls in the daytime. Loved the great horned owl, even with the bit of shadow. I’ve had lots of cardinals today but none of them have been cooperative photographic subjects!
Thanks, Amy. I am glad you find my posts entertaining. I have a sense of humor as you have discovered. I think that is what keeps me in good health most of the time. Home you are staying warm. Drink lots of Margaritas. 🙂
Cheers! 😀 We are trying to stay warm – the furnace shuts off for maybe 5 minutes at a time and then starts up again. Glad we paid big bucks for the new, more fuel-efficient model!
Beautiful. As always great shots
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thank you very much, Nettie.
Clever fellow!! Enjoyed the photos and the fun. Happy Valentines Day! hugs
Thanks, Beth. I know that you enjoy my sense of humor. 🙂
Gorgeous photos, as always! No trace of any bad luck 🙂
Thanks, Tiny. Yes, I survived another 13th. 🙂
As always, a beautiful set of pictures and a great story, thank you!
Thanks, Troy. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Not a bad day, considering it was “Friday the 13th”….. Enjoyed your photos as always. Look forward to your next post 🙂
Thanks, Christie. Glad you enjoyed it. It was fun writing it. 🙂
Had to check out the map to see exactly where you’re living. You have the same birds as my area of south Florida. We’ve never been to San Angelo, will have to check it out when we next travel to Texas Your Photography is muey Bueno!
Thanks, Gypsy, both for visiting my blog and for the compliments of my photography. You would enjoy San Angelo. 🙂
Looks like that lemonade wasn’t all that sour. LOL
No, it wasn’t really bad at all. I had fun writing this one. The birds were there but not in great numbers. We just really had to search for them. But, really, the fun is in the chase. LOL