I Love Love Migration!

Boy Oh Boy, do I love this time of the year!  I don’t know why, but there seems to be an abundance of birds around the lakes and parks here in San Angelo.  It could be that all of the violent storms in east Texas could have pushed more migrating birds in this direction; or it could be that Ann and I have, with practice, developed our birding instincts and sharpened our eyes.  Whatever it is, I have been pleased at all of the photographs I have been managing to capture.

So enough talk, and let’s get to them.  Remember to click on any image to see enlargements, especially if you are viewing this on a computer.

I am going to start off with this action photo of a Western Kingbird.  By the way, it was the first of that specie that we have seen this year.  A new arrival, and a beauty.

Western Kingbird

I chose that picture to get you excited and so you would watch with anticipation for the next photos.  The next photo is of the same bird, just relaxing.

Western Kingbird

From Mary Lee Park at Lake Nasworthy, some Willets.

Willets

Willet in flight

From K-Mart Creek.  My name for the water in the bar ditch near the old K-Mart site, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The next few photos are from other local parks and San Angelo State Park.  This is a Canyon Towhee.

Canyon Towhee

This Cotton-tailed Rabbit seems to be thinking, where the heck did all of these birds come from?

Cotton-tailed Rabbit

Great Horned Owl.

Great Horned Owl

Bell’s Vireo sings from a tree branch.

Bell’s Vireo

Yellow-headed Blackbird grazing in the grass.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Black-crowned Night Heron staring at the water, hoping to catch a meal.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Last but certainly not least, this image of a cute Grasshopper Sparrow.

Grasshopper Sparrow

You may remember that Ann and I saw 44 species on a recent outing.  Today, April 21, we surpassed that with a total of 50 for four hours of birding, and that doesn’t count the rabbit. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  A reminder, any and all photos are available for sale.  Just contact me, if you would be proud to have one of my works hanging on your wall.

 

Happy Birding!!

Happy New Year and Flying Turkeys

Well, today we bid goodbye to 2015.  It has been a great year although it didn’t go as well as I had planned it back on January 1st.  But does it ever go like a person wants it to go?  Ha! Dream on…… 🙂  But I am happy that I am still waking up atop the grass.  At my age that is a fine thing.  I spent the year photographing, buying new equipment, and selling old equipment.

The new equipment is paying off.  (You can never have enough cameras) My new camera is a  Canon EOS 7D Mark II, of which I actually bought two, are amazing.  They can take photos, make videos, (still learning that), make time-relapse photos, and make coffee in the morning.  Well, maybe that last part was an exaggeration, but I am still not finished with reading the manual. 🙂

One thing that I can do is to get amazing photos of birds in flight.  That is one thing that I love to do.  This camera has the capabilities to shoot at an amazing 10 frames per second, and that makes the job a bit easier.

Yesterday, December 30, Ann and I were out at Spring Creek Park.  As we drove through slowly we came upon a flock of Wild Turkeys.  As I slowed, they became nervous, and a few seconds later they took flight to fly across the water about 100 yards, to land in another spot.

I had my Tamron 150-600mm super telephoto lens on the camera, as I always do when I am in the birding/photography mode.  I was able to snatch the camera from my lap and aim the camera towards the flying birds.  The spot-auto focus instantly locked on to a few of them as they passed.  The hard part was keeping the birds in the viewfinder.

I think you will be pleased with these two, of several photos that I captured.  The other twelve or so, will never again see the light of a computer monitor. 🙂 The tech data for photographers that are interested is:  Shutter speed 1/8000 sec., Aperture f6.3 with an EV adjustment of -0.3, at an ISO of 1600.  Spot-exposure and spot-focus. Click the photos to see beautiful enlargements.

Wild Turkey in flight

Wild Turkeys in flight

I must say, that I was impressed with the results.  Both images are available as 12×16 prints.  They will look amazing framed.  Of course, I have those prints for sale. (hint, hint).  You can always contact me if you are interested, and that goes for all of the photos that you see on this blog.

So that’s all for this brief post.  Happy New Year to all!

Happy Birding!!  (and photographing!)

Northern Cardinal – the “Redbird”

Northern Cardinal, (Cardinalis cardinalis).  No matter what you call it, nobody can resist liking this flashy, red bird.  It can be found throughout most of the midwest and eastern part of the country.  Ann and I took a short trip to San Angelo State Park on Sunday morning and I took this photo at the bird blind there.

Northern Cardinal

While going through my archives this morning, preparing for this post, I came upon a couple more images that I think you may have never seen.  I think this next one had been splashing in a pond before me getting the photo.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

I hope looking at these photos will help jump-start your week.  There is something about looking at happy birds, that can give a person a feel-good feeling.

The ever-popular Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture.  Cathartes aura.  If they gave it a Latin name, I guess that makes it an official species.  The name conjures up images of vultures soaring above the desert while some poor soul is crawling and looking for water.  (That reminds me of a joke, which I may or may not tell at the end of this post).  Anyway, we must be thankful for these creatures as they do much for us.  For example, they keep the highways clean.  They, the highways, are to the vultures, what fast-food places are to us.  I think they even have their own name, “Carrion Carry-out”.

I took this photo Monday morning, while driving through Spring Creek park.  There wasn’t much other bird activity.  Just several of these vultures, and this one was very cooperative to hang around for the camera.  Click image to see an enlargement.

Turkey Vulture

• Canon EOS 7D
• Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
• 1/1600 sec. @ f6.3
• ISO 1000
• Lens focal distance  310mm
• Metering – partial
• Shutter priority

Okay, here’s the joke:

This guy is crawling across the vast, sandy, and dry desert looking for water to satisfy his thirst.  After several hours under the broiling sun, he comes upon a small tent.  A guy steps out and says, “Ya want to buy a tie?”

The thirsty one replies, “No, but I need a drink of water.  Do you have any?”

The guy in the tent says.  “I sure don’t.  But if you crawl over that big sand dune there, you will see a restaurant on the other side.  I think you can get a drink of water there.”

So off the man crawls, heading over the top of the sand dune.  About three hours he comes back to the guy in the tent.

He says, “That guy must be your brother.  He says I can’t get in without a tie”  🙂