Photographing the Vermilion Flycatcher

The cute and feisty, little Vermilion Flycatcher is probably my favorite of all of the flyctchers.  They are tiny little guys that dart here and there, flitting around to catch elusive little gnats, insects, and  mosquitos.  They are also adept at avoiding getting photographed.  To get the job done takes a bit of patience.

It is my experience that they generally hang around in the vicinity of the same tree.  So I usually park my vehicle several yards away, giving myself a large shooting field.  Having a long lens is a definite help and I use my Tamron 150-600mm zoom on my Canon EOS 70D.  I rest this setup on my driver’s side window, using a cushion fashioned from a Noodle that I purchased at Walmart.

Using this described recipe I was able to get the two images below, one each of the male and female of the species.  I used Photoshop to crop them tight for composition, and made the necessary lighting and color adjustments.

Vermilion Flycatcher – male

Vermilion Flycatcher – female

To get the full enjoyment of viewing the photos PLEASE click on either one.  You will be pleasantly surprised.

Update:  While birding this morning I was able to add two more species to my Texas Big Year list.

138.  Bullock’s Oriole

139.  Black-necked Stilt

 

Photographing Birds in Flight

As most of you photographers know, one of the most challenging projects to tackle, is to photograph birds in flight.  A few of my other blogging photographer friends have touched on the subject recently.  I thought I would put my proverbial two cents worth in about this challenge.

Of course what is needed is a fast shutter speed along with a long lens.  Most of the time I am shooting with my Canon 7D or my 70D.  My preferred lens is my Canon 100-400mm zoom.  Sometimes I use the same camera with my Canon 500mm lens attached, using my tripod with a gimbal head for fast maneuverablity.

For the larger birds, I can use the widest angle of the lens to acquire the bird, then zoom in to pan the camera after locking in my auto-focus.  The fact that the large birds, hawks, vultures, pelicans, etc, appear to be flying slower helps quite a bit.  As for the tiny birds, well, I practice a lot and therefore get lucky alot.

House Finch in flight. Canon EOS 7D, 500mm lens /1.4 teleconverter. 1/2500 sec, f5.6, ISo 1000

One of those lucky shots was the one above of the House Finch in flight.  I was on a porch, with the described setup mounted on my tripod with a gimbal head.  The finches were flying back and forth between some shrubs below me.  I kept trying to swing the camera as the birds flew, and fortuntely the odds were with me, and I got lucky and captured it with it’s wings spread.

Red-tailed Hawk . Canon EOS 7D, 100-400mm lens. 1/3200 sec. @f6.3, ISO 400.  Hand-held.

This Red-tailed Hawk pictured above was somewhat easier.  I was driving towards Ballinger when I spotted the bird in the grass off of the left shoulder.  I moved quickly to the right hand side of the road, grabbed my camera off of my lap, where I always have it at the ready.  By then he had started to take flight.  My lens and camera easily acquired him, locked onto the auto-focus.  In burst mode I was able to fire off several exposures.

Red-tailed Hawk.  Canon 40D with 100-400mm lens. 1/800 @ f6.3, ISO 400.  Hand-held.

This photo is an example of being able to pan and therefore not having to use a super fast shutter speed.  The hawk and been perched atop a sotol int the desert of west Texas.  I had stopped to observe it from about 150 yards.  When it decided to take flight, I was ready.  I locked in on him and panned the camera.  Notice the 1/800 second shutter speed versus the 1/3200 speed in the previous photo.

Red-tailed Hawk – Canon EOS 40D, 1/1000 sec. @ f8, ISO 400. Hand-held.

The shot above was quite easy.  He was soaring overhead.  I exited the car and just panned as he flew around.  Again with burst mode, I got several nice exposures.  I liked this pose even though, I clipped a wing a bit.

Great Egret. Canon EOS 7D, 100-400mm lens. 1/500 sec. @ f9, ISO 1600.  Hand-held.

The Great Egret was flying slowly down the Concho River in San Angelo.  I was able to pan with the slower shutter speed again.  The under-exposed dark background is the shadows of a building in the background.

Great Blue Heron. Canon EOS 40D, 100-400mm lens. 1/1000 @ f11, ISO 400.  Hand-held.

Of course, what would my post be without a photo of one of my favorite subjects, the Great Blue Heron.  This photo was made near Lake Nasworthy here in San Angelo, Texas.

You may click on any of the images to see enlargements.

To update my west Texas “Big Year”, I added one more.

#85  Greater Yellowlegs.

Note:  My book, “Birds, Beasts and Buttes” is still going strong.  You can obtain one at this link, here.  Over 100 of my best photographs.

Some recent random photos.

I’ve been getting out more, since the weather has been so nice lately.  Wow, is spring around the corner?  I think for this post I will just keep my mouth shut and let my photos do the talking.  These are just a few from the past week.  Enjoy and click on any of them to see an enlargement.

Anna’s Hummingbird photographed at Lajitas, Texas.

Loggerhead Shrike photographed near Eldorado, Texas

Osprey, San Angelo, Texas

Great Egret, San Angelo, Texas

Great Blue Heron, San Angelo, Texas

Update on my quest for a west Texas ‘Big Year” quota of 210:

#64  Common Merganser

#65  Green-winged Teal

#66  Northern Harrier

#67  Spotted Sandpiper

#68  Wilson’s Snipe

#69  Belted Kingfisher

#70  Rufous-crowned Sparrow

#71  Red-winged Blackbird

#72  American Goldfinch

#73  Chipping Sparrow

#74  Bewick’s Wren

#75  Rock Pigeon

#76  Ruddy Duck

#77  Wild Turkey

November First Birding

Since Ann and I hadn’t been out since we got back from our wonderful Houston trip, we finally got time to get out a bit Friday afternoon.  Still not many birds at the parks around here.  Last year at this time it was pretty common for us to around 30-35 birds within a couple of hours.  This time we saw about 15.  Anyway, what we did see gave us good rewards.  First we (Ann) saw this Great Horned Owl high in a tree in Spring Creek Park.  It was in the shade and it gave me a chance to use my new Rogue Safari Flash Booster.  More about that in a blog this weekend.

Great Horned Owl

Then we proceeded around the horshoe bend of the park.  At one point across the river, about 150 yards away we saw this Osprey high in a tree.  There was no room to maneuver to car for a shot, so I exited the vehicle with my Canon 7D with a 500mm lens and 1.4 tele-converter.  I approached the river bank, and using a small bench to prop my elbow, I hand-held the camera for the shot.  I was quite pleased with the result that you see here.

Osprey

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  Click on either one for some outstanding enlargements.

Patience Pays in Photography

This Friday afternoon it was quite cloudy and cool.  Ann had finished grocery shopping and we wanted to visit San Angelo State Park and see how much water had been caught in our previously dry O. C. Fisher reservoir, after recent rains.  After driving out there, we found the gates were locked.  The park was closed for use of the dove hunters.  So that will wait for another day.

After that I thought we should return to our favorite birding places near Lake Nasworthy.  We stopped at Middle Concho Park for a little drive around.  With the cool wind blowing and cloudy skies, I didn’t hope for much.  But I told Ann, patience is the key.  We may not see many birds, but we may get a surprise or two.  As I predicted we saw nary a bird, until we were about to leave that park and we saw a hawk swoop thru the trees.  We saw the approximate area that it went, so I drove towards that spot, watching the trees.  After some close searching, we spotted a Cooper’s Hawk in a tree.  It was the first Cooper’s that I had seen in several months.  I was able to maneuver my vehicle so I could photograph it from a distance with my Canon EOS 7D and 500mm lens.  Here is the result, a nice image of that beautiful bird.

Cooper’s Hawk

We left that park and ventured over to it’s sister, the Spring Creek Park.  Driving through there we saw this Great Blue Heron, one of my favorite birds to photograph.  It was hunting across the river.  At one moment it decided to show off it’s wings and I took this shot, among others.

Great Blue Heron

We decided to go home, but since it was early and we had extra time, we decided to drive to Twin Buttes reservoir and see if our luck would continue.  In a small tree we spotted this red-shafted Northern Flicker.

Northern Flicker – red-shafted

Then, lo and behold, in the same tree on another branch was this Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

So when you are out in the field, thinking that there is nothing going on, just be patient.  You never know what might suddenly appear.

All of my images are cropped and post-processed in Photoshop CS5.  Click on any image to see an enlargement.

Notes from a Saturday morning

I and Ann ate our usual breakfast at McDonald’s and that’s where it all started, I guess.  Some bully stole my toy from my Happy Meal™.  You can’t trust those 6-year olds.  Anyway, I had forgotten that this particular morning was when the Concho Valley Photo Club had their monthly meeting.  I had recently told them that I would join.  So after getting home, I realized that the skies were a bit cloudy, my favorite conditions for photography.  Forgetting about the meeting, I decided to head for my local favorite birding areas.  Ann opted to stay home and work on finishing up some glorious looking afghans she is making for gifts.

As I was driving into Middle Concho Park, I was greeted by five small dogs of a breed that I was not familiar.  At the same time a truck rushed by me, going in the opposite direction.  My first instinct was that somebody had just dumped the dogs on the road to get rid of them.  Thankfully, as I continued on my way, I passed a campsite where a lady said they were hers.  I was tempted to say that she shouldn’t be letting them run loose, for their own safety, but by then the dogs had returned to her.  I am not a trouble maker.

Weekends are usually busy at the parks, with day visitors and weekend campers.  This day was no different.  I was approaching a large area where there were about eight campers and motorhomes parked tightly together.  Obviously, a family reunion or something of that nature.  I was about seventy-five yards away when I spotted an Osprey high atop a dead branch of a tree, overlooking this group.  It was feeding on a fish.  I backed off about twenty-five yards, turned the car so I could shoot from my drivers side window with my Canon 7D and 500mm lens.

Osprey feed on fish.

I took several images from a distance of about 100 yards.  But because of the clamor or the people below, who were completely oblivious of what was going on above them, the bird decided to take his meal elsewhere.  My lens was still focused on him so I held the shutter down.  Unfortunately, with no time to make a great composition, I clipped his wing.  But I feel that the images are still exciting, as you can still appreciate the action.

Osprey taking off.

Osprey in flight.

Notice how the Osprey always positions the fish so the head is always pointing forward.  I guess they feel they are more streamlined that way.

As I continued on my way I saw some beautiful Great Blue Herons on the other side of the river.  They are one of my favorite wading birds.  This one was just enjoying the beautiful weather.

Great Blue Heron

Here is an image of a Belted Kingfisher watching the water from a power line across the river.  These guys are amazing.  When they spot a small fish, they dive at high speed, crashing into the water at seemingly a hundred miles per hour.  It is a wonder that they don’t get a concussion.

Belted Kingfisher

I decided to call it a day, and when leaving the area, what did I see over a wetland area?  Of course, another Osprey sitting in a dead mesquite.  Even though most of our winter birds haven’t arrived yet, it was still a nice way to end an exciting morning.

Osprey in dead mesquite.

My apologies to my fellow members of the Concho Valley Photo Club.  I will try to make it next month, unless……….. 🙂

Click on any image to see enlargements.

Great Horned Owl in camo

When a I spotted that Great Horned Owl that I wrote about in my previoust post, I had taken several images from different positions.  Many of those poses were with tree leaves obscuring the details.  This image that I found is a side view and the leaves are mostly to the side.  However, the owl was blending into the colors and shadows of the tree itself.  Also with the back- light, it presented a post-processing challenge.  Here is the image that I chose for this post.  I didn’t mention it before, but I think that there is damage to the left eye.  I never did see it wide open, but he did seem half asleep part of the time.  Maybe he was just keeping one eye on me. 🙂

Great Horned Owl

Click on the image to see an enlargement.

Osprey and Great Horned Owl

In the past few days I have been making frequent trips to my favorite birding haunts.  The fall migration still is a bit slow here as I have been waiting for the winter birds, i.e. waterbirds, ducks, etc.  But having said that I have spotted at least two Osprey that have been hanging around, and I have been able to get decent photographs of them.  Here is one that I got today.  Ann was with me and we spotted it high atop a tree on a leaf-less stub.  Apparently his appetite had been sated as he was just preening himself.

Osprey

Yesterday my friend, Charles Yuker, had asked to go with me as he had bird photography questions and wanted to pick my brain.  We had crossed the river near Spring Creek Park and were on a little lane when he said, “There’s and owl!”  It was on a mesquite tree branch on his side of the car, out of my sight because of my car’s roofline.  I stopped immediately, and we assessed the situation, not wanting to startle the bird.  Since I could not see it yet, I opted to drive very slowly on for another 50 yards, then stop the car so we could look back.

We got out of the car, and crept along the treeline by the river, keeping in the dark shade.  Fortunately, initially it had been facing away from the car, so it had not seen us up until this time.  We started shooting, and it kept watching us for any agressive moves.  We took several images and I have posted one below for you.  As we decided to return to the car, the owl then decided he had enough and it headed elsewhere as well.  It took to another tree about two hundred yards away, but not in a good position for satisfactory photos.

Great Horned Owl

But seeing these birds and a few other regulars, are keeping my enthusiasm alive in anticipation for things to come.   They definitely made our day.  Click on any image to see nice enlargements.

Big Bend Rafting and other stuff…..

As you all know, the Big Bend area of Texas is far and away one of Ann’s and my favorite places to spend time.  Last week we spent four days there again.  We again stayed at the Casitas at Far Flung Outdoor Center, in Study Butte.  They are the best outfitters for the rafting, jeep tours, and other activities in the Big Bend.  Before I get into trouble, I want to emphasize that is just my own opinion.

View from porch of our cabin at Far Flung Outdoor Center.  Long lens used.

You already saw some of my images of some birds from the trip, but I also was able to get a few more landscape photos as well.  The area was as greenest as I have ever seen in the many years that we have visited.  The above photo was taken in the evening as the sun was setting from my far right.  It is a view from the porch of our Casita, albeit with a very long lens.

One photo that I left out yesterday I would like to insert here.  This man, Joseph, a park service employee, has the job of traveling around the Basin in the Chisos Mountains cleaning out the composting toilets.  The boxes on his pack horses have HUMANURE  painted on them.  A thankless but necessary job, I am sure.  I spotted him while I was scoping out some birds with my 500mm lens.  He was riding towards me about 200 yards away.

Joseph, collecting from the trail toilets.

Here are a couple more of my favorite landscapes from our trip.

Sotol and Santiago Peak – Big Bend National Park

“Dawn Sun on Distant Mountain” – Big Bend National Park

On Thursday morning, we decided to take a half-day rafting trip that Far Flung has as one of their scheduled activities.  We load up and head up-stream to a river put-in area called Grassy Banks.  It is about 10 miles west of Lajitas.  We launch there, then float back to Lajitas, where we are met by the Far Flung crew to load up for the trip back to Study Butte.

Tim, our guide getting the raft ready to launch. Notice fast moving water of the Rio Grande.

Ann getting into her life jacket.

Away we go!

The ride wasn’t as dangerous as some of the trips that go through the canyons, but nevertheless I had to hang on to my cameras, grab the side of the raft, and try to keep my balance.  I managed to get a few shots from the raft, though.  Even with the Image Stabilization feature of my Canon lenses, it still was difficult to keep some images in focus.

One view from the raft.

Goats high on a bluff on Mexican side of the river.

Turkey Vulture warming wings for morning flight.

After the float trip, we were happy to spend the rest of the day on the porch of our canyon sipping refreshments and watching the surrounding scenery and seeing the quail, rabbits, birds that play around the cabins.  What a great time we had.  Be sure and click on the images to see some nice enlargements.

New photos of the Big Bend

Ann and I arrived home Friday afternoon after a very enjoyable to our favorite area, the Big Bend country of Texas.  We saw 55 species of birds, including a new lifer, the Crissal Thrasher.  We also took a break from birding, and took a raft trip on the Rio Grande which I will talk about in a future post.  Here are some of the bird images I manage to get.

Peregrine Falcon – enjoying an early morning sunrise, Big Bend National Park.

Wilson’s Warbler
Trying to hide in the brush at Cottonwood Campground, Big Bend National Park.

Vermilion Flycatcher – at Cottonwood Campground in Big Bend National Park.

Greater Roadrunner – on fence post near Marathon, Texas.

Loggerhead Shrike – on ocotillo plant, Big Bend National Park.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird – female- at Far Flung Outdoor Center, Study Butte, Texas.

Cactus Wren – at Far Flung Outdoor Center, Study Butte, Texas.

Cactus Wren on Prickly Pear cactus, Far Flung Outdoor Center, Study Butte, Texas.

I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed obtainng them.  Click on any image to see an enlargement.  More photos coming in future posts.