July Fourth Holiday images

As I said before in my previous post, the weather is really warming now.  We have visited the local parks and as far as birding, the results are almost nil.  For example, Ann and I decided to check out the local parks around Lake Nasworthy this morning.  I never had a chance to press the shutter on my camera.  That is not good.  We have been having much better luck, though, at San Angelo State Park.  We have made three trips out there and by taking our time and driving over those approximately 20 miles of roads, I have picked up some very nice photographs.  We are usually home by noon as the temperatures start to reach 100° by then.  Here are some images from the past few days.  Click on any of them to see some nice enlargements.

We had reports of a Swainson’s Hawk nest, just a couple of miles from our home, off the frontage road of Loop 306.  To get a good view we had to park behind the local Steak Express and watch it from across the highway.  Thank goodness for long lenses. We parked there for about an half hour on two previous mornings and could only see a bit of feathers of a young one on the nest, behind some leaves and branches.  This third morning, we were treated with the arrival of the adult.

Swainsons’s Hawk

We headed out to San Angelo State Park after that.  As we started driving around, we heard first the call of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a few minutes later we spotted him in the branches.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Another view of another Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

All over the park we could hear the call of the Bobwhites.  It wasn’t difficult to see some in the low tree branches.

Northern Bobwhite

There is an abundance of Ash-throated Flycatchers in the park.  I was able to get really close to this one, for a formal head-and-shoulders portrait.

Ash-throated Flycatcher portrait

We spotted this Blue Grosbeak from a distance.  Too far for a decent photograph.  So we decided to wait.  We sat in the car with the engine turned off and eventually it, or one just like it, finally alit about 100 feet away.  He seemed to be happy.

Blue Grosbeak

Another bird that is hard to get close to is the Painted Bunting.  We would spot several high in the tops of trees, but, again,  too far for a photo.  But as with the Blue Grosbeak, we eventually got lucky again and I was able the capture this one.  One just need patience.

Painted Bunting

The Common Night Hawk is just the opposite.  Pretty easy to photograph, but very difficult to find.  This one was in a tree in the Isabelle Harte Multi-use area of the park.  It was only about seven feet off of the ground, but because of their coloring we nearly missed it.  I was only about 20 feet away, in my car, AKA my mobile blind, when I made the photograph.

Common Nighthawk

We decided to move away as I don’t like to stay too close, even though I was well hidden.  But it did eventually fly from the perch and landed across the road in another tree.  I took this next photo from farther away, and as you can see, if I didn’t already know the bird was there, it would have been hard to spot.

Common Nighthawk

Birding at the Mud Hole

Near the Twin Buttes Reservoir, there is a low depression where water stands after we have had some rains.  Mudders, defined as immature adults that love to play in the mud with their pickup trucks, are always driving their vehicles through it and keeping it pretty well churned up.  The water will usually take three or four days to either soak in or evaporate.  The area is surrounded by five large mesquite trees.  The combination of the trees and convenient water makes it a very nice little birding oasis.   All one has to do is to park close by and watch.  That is, providing you do it on a week day, when the mudders are absent.

So, that is what Ann and I did the past two days.  First we stopped by early in the morning at a local Jack and Jill’s for take-out coffee, a roll and a burrito.  We took them with us to this mud hole, parked and set in for a few hours of birding and photography.  We spent two to three hours each morning.  We saw a total of 28 individual species for the two outings.  I will give you that list at the bottom of this post.  Here is a sampling of the birds that we saw.  Click on any image to see enlargements.

The Yellow Warbler is one of favorite of the warbler species.  It is always a joy to see this one in the trees.

Yellow Warbler

I missed a shot of a beautiful mature male Blue Grosbeak.  But this young one perched on a branch nearby.  Just as I got him in the view-finder and focused he decided to fly.  I punched the shutter just in time to catch him as he took off.

Blue Grosbeak – first year

Another favorite summer bird is the Painted Bunting.  This is the first one that we saw this year as they are just starting to arrive.  Thae harsh early morning sunlight did me know favors but I got this acceptable image.

Painted Bunting

The Orchard Orioles are also new arrivals. The adult male stayed deep in the trees and I didn’t get an acceptable shot of him, but this first year male gave me an opportunity.

Orchard Oriole – first year male

I always admire the Canyon Towhees.  They are rather quiet and somewhat bland in color, but I still think they have a cerain beauty about them.

Canyon Towhee

There were plenty of Lark Buntings around.  This is a female.  I had posted a photo of a beautiful male in my previous post.

Lark Bunting – female

I believe this one was named by a Mr. Richard Cissell.  Kidding!!  This weirdly named Dickcissell is another difficult bird to find.  I love the coloring.

Dickcissell

Ann spotted this flash of yellow in the trees.  I was trying to spot it, too, and it finally lit on this branch only about ten feet away.  Only then, did I realize what it was.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  A Yellow-breasted Chat, although not rare, is usually pretty shy and most of the time, very difficult to find.  This is only the second time I have ever seen one and had the opportunity to photograph it.

Yellow-breasted Chat

This Cactus Wren was still around, working on it’s nest.

Cactus Wren

Here is the complete list of the birds we observed during those two days:

1. White-winged Dove
2. Great-tailed Grackle
3. Northern Mockingbird
4. Killdeer
5. Lark Sparrow
6. Cactus Wren
7. Blue Grosbeak
8. White-crowned Sparrow
9. Vesper Sparrow
10. Barn Swallow
11. Brown-headed Cowbird
12. Lark Bunting
13. Ash-throated Flycatcher
14. Pyrrhuloxia
15. Painted Bunting
16. Bullock’s Oriole
17. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
18. Northern Bobwhite
19. Bronzed Cowbird
20. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
21. Yellow Warbler
22. Western Kingbird
23. Yellow-breasted Chat
24. Dickcissell
25. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
26. Canyon Towhee
27. Curve-billed Thrasher
28. Orchard Oriole

The Dog Days of Summer

The temperatures around here in San Angelo have been hovering around the 100 degree mark or a little higher.  That means that it is best to stay in out of the heat.  That is what the birds and wildlife seem to be doing.  Ann and I have not been getting out too much, either.  But a couple of days ago we decided to stop binge-watching the seven seasons of “The Andy Griffith Show” and get out, if only to get some fresh air and stretch our legs.

At San Angelo State Park, this Northern Bobwhite presented a problem when trying to photograph it.  It’s was partially hidden, except when he was calling.  When he called he stretched his head up, and I could focus on his entire head.  So I patiently waited for the right moment, as the head was up for only a few seconds each time.

Northern Bobwhite

Greater Roadrunner

Ash-throated Flycatcher

At the ‘mudhole’ near Twin Buttes Reservoir there was a little more activity.

Northern Mockingbird

Killdeer

Blue Grosbeak – female

That’s it for now, until we decide to get out again.  By the way, another reason for not getting out is that I am in the act of getting a DVD produced.  It contains 100 of my best photographs, not only birds, but landscapes, flowers, etc.  The images are selected from the past few years, plus a great music tract.  It will be available in about two weeks.  I must say, I have seen the preview, and it is awesome.  I am very proud of it.

Well, time to see what that rascal kid, Opie, is up to now.  Season 2, episode 14. 🙂

Blue Grosbeak and more…….

Last week was a little slow for me.  I didn’t get out to do much shooting as I usually do.  But when I did get out I managed to get a few keepers.  Here area few from a trip to the water treatment ponds at Eldorado, Texas.

Female Blue Grosbeak in yucca plant.

Female Blue Grosbeak., (Passerina caerulea).  Exposure was 1/2000 sec. @ f5.6, ISO 640.  Canon 500mm f4 lens with 1.4 tele-converter.

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret, (Bubulcus ibis).  Exposure 1/2000 sec. @ f6.3, ISO 400.  Canon 500mm lens with 1.4 tele-converter.

Great-tailed Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle, (Quiscalus mexicanus).  Exposure 1/2000 sec. @ f6.3 -1.3EV, ISO 100.  Canon 500mm lens with 1/4 tele-converter.

Snowy Egret

This Snowy Egret, (Egretta thula), appears to be staring at the insect in front of his face.  Exposure 1/1600 sec. @ f5.6, -0,7EV, ISO 100.  Canon 100-400mm lens.

Blue Jay on fence

This Blue Jay, (Cyanocitta cristata), was photographed after we got back into town.  He was sitting on a fence in residential area.  I grabbed a quick shot from the car with my Canon 7D and 100-400mm lens.  Exposure 1/320 sec. @ f5.6, +0.7EV, ISO 3200.

Click on any image to see enlargements.

Blue Grosbeak Editing

Yesterday I posted some Blue Grosbeak pictures that I had went back and edited.  Today I will show you one of my old ones, that at the time when I took the photo, it didn’t exactly knock my socks off.  It, like the others just didn’t seem to have that “pop”.  Here is the original “before” image.

Before editing

Now here is the “after” editing image.  First I removed a tiny bit of noise that existed, using my DeNoise software.  Then I used ” shadows/highlights” tool in Photoshop Elements, to lighten the shadows and darken the highlights.  That in itself helps the image to pop.  I then saturated the image at about +6.  I then finished it off by using my Focus Magic plug-in for some sharpening.   Oh, I almost forgot.  Using my “healing” tool, I removed that little stem from the left-bottom of the photo.   Here is the finished result.  Notice it has more “pop”.  When you click on each image, you can see the difference.  The difference between really a good photo, to a much even better great photo.

After editing

Blue, Blue Grosbeaks

Blue Grosbeak  (Passerina caerulea).  One of my favorite blue birds that is not a bluebird.  It is of course, one of the grosbeaks.  The grosbeaks are in the bunting family, and the Blue Grosbeak is a  close relative of the Indigo Bunting.  I have several images in my files, but I don’t think I had ever posted any of them, so I will show you these three.  These birds are plentiful around San Angelo, however, these particular images were captured at the bird viewing area at the Davis Mountains State Park, near Fort Davis, Texas.

I love shooting with my long 500mm lens at large apertures.  I then get that nice blurred bokeh in the background.  I hope you enjoy.  Click an any image to see an enlargement.

Blue Grosbeak 1

• Canon EOS 40D
• Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
• 1/250 sec. @ f6.3
• ISO 800
• Lens focal distance  370mm
• Metering – center weighted
• Aperture priority

Blue Grosbeak 2

• Canon EOS 40D
• Canon EOS 500mm IS lens with 1.4 tele-converter
• 1/160 sec. @ f6.3
• ISO 800
• Lens focal distance 700mm
• Metering – spot
• Aperture priorty

Blue Grosbeak 3

• Canon EOS 40D
• Canon 500mm IS lens with 1.4 tele-converter
• 1/125 sec. @ f6,3
• ISO 800
• Lens focal distance  700mm
• Metering – spot
• Aperture priority

Today’s new birding news.

Heck, I sure am running behind.  I just realized that it has been several days since my last post.  Still doing the same old fun stuff.  Birding, taking photographs, watching the Texas Rangers baseball games.  Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Ann, Jodie, and I went birding for the whole day on Monday.  I can’t believe we spent so much time at the park.  We really explored the whole place.  We went to the North Shore and saw some birds that we hadn’t seen at the South Shore.  Eastern Phoebes for one.  We also checked out the Isabel Harte park area and the equestrian area.

Bronzed Cowbird

A week or so ago we saw a Zone-tailed Hawk, a lifer for me.  Those birds act like a Turkey Vulture, and nearly look like one, as least the way the sit on a tree branch.  Yesterday, we saw our first Bronzed Cowbird of the year.  We also saw three Painted Buntings, singing at the tops of some trees.  Caught a great photo of a Blue Grosbeak.

Blue Grosbeak

In other news, I had mentioned before that I have a compression fracture on my spine.  I think, and hope, that it may be healing.  This morning I had an injection of Re-clast to strengthen my bones.  It is an annual injection so I am good to go for a while.

Enjoy the photos and click on either one to see an enlargement.  Happy Birding!!