Completion of a Recent Project
/Yesterday I picked up 6 prints from the shop where I had them framed. The frame size for 4 prints was 16” x 21”. The frames of the other 2 were 14” x 19”. The images on five of the six prints had been featured in previous blog entries. Because using segments of the text from the earlier entries simplified putting together a blog about the group, this blog post materialized.
Red-breasted Merganser
Nikon D300, 300mm f/4 lens + 1.7x tc
1/1250 sec at f/6.7, ISO 560
The image of the Red-breasted Merganser surfacing near the shrimp boats docked at Joe Patti's Seafood in Pensacola Florida was acquired in January 2009, before the BP oil spill while the boats were still actively working. The "spill" from unloading and cleaning the vessels generated a lot of bird activity. The mergansers were very cautious. They came into the docking area, fed for a short time, swam out into deeper water for a variable time, and then made another excursion into the docking area. As they swam out into deeper water the birds would "submarine", swimming for a long distance with the head and most of the body underwater but with part of the back still visible, and only periodically raise the head out of the water before submerging it again. I could not get the picture I wanted standing on the dock opposite the shrimp boats. I wanted a lower perspective. At low tide I was able to hide in reeds near the entrance to the docking area and photograph the birds as they entered and exited. The conjunction of low tide, sunrise, and cooperative birds occurred on the third morning I was trying to capture this shot. Reflections of the shrimp boats bottom paint produced the blue in the waves.
Elegant Trogon
Nikon D300, 500mm f/4 lens with 1.7x tc
1/1250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 400
In 2010 I received an email message from a friend who works at Stanford University asking if I would be interested in joining him and his son in an outing photographing California wildflowers. A banner year for wildflowers was predicted because of higher than usual rainfall levels. I accepted the invitation and decided to drive to California making stops along the way to explore birding hotspots that I had not yet visited.
When I arrived at the head of the Sonoita Creek Trail in Patagonia Lake State Park south of Tucson on April 6, one of the hotspots I had never visited, birders were talking about the Elegant Trogon they had seen. I asked for directions, but since this was my first visit, the cognitive map that emerged was, at best, very crude. Two other birders about to enter the trail were also listening to the directions and, since they had visited the park previously, I joined them in the search for the bird. We took a right turn, presumably as directed, but walked a long distance without seeing the small group of birders we were told would still be viewing the bird. The two other birders thought we had made a wrong turn and were about to turn back when I asked them to wait until I went over a small rise to make sure the group of birders we were expecting to see was not just ahead. As I reached the top of the rise in the trail, I flushed the Trogon. It flew back toward the other two birders and landed in a thicket. I found a small opening in the branches that allowed a partial photo of the bird. The bird caught and consumed a larva and then flew further back toward the main path. At the new location, I set up my tripod at ground level and, lying flat on the ground, had a full view of the Elegant Trogon on its perch through a small opening. What great luck – to see this rare and beautiful bird on my first birding trip to Arizona. The Elegant Trogon is a native of Mexico and Central America, but in the United States it breeds only in a few of Arizona’s southern canyons. In 2010, Audubon estimated that 50 pairs nested in Arizona.
Sandhill Cranes
Nikon D4 + 500mm f/4 lens +1.4x tc
1/1600 sec at f/10, ISO 1800
In March 2015 I spent a few days photographing birds at the Green Cay Nature Center & Wetlands, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, and Loxahatchee NWR in south Florida. While there, a local birder posted a note on eBird about an adult and chick Sandhill Crane feeding in a nearby residential area. I found the area and captured the image shown above.
Bald Eagle
Nikon D500 + 500mm f/4
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400
Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines Alaska
A visit to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines Alaska had been on my bucket list for several years when I signed up for Andy Long's photography WORKSHOP and spent 6 days there. I wish I had not waited so long to visit this spectacular place. We met in Juneau on Nov. 10 2017, took a short flight to Haines on the 11th (the scheduled ferry trip was cancelled), and the ferry back to Juneau in the late afternoon on the 17th. I arrived a day early to spend time exploring Juneau.
Bald Eagle
Nikon D500 + 500mm f/4
1/1250 sec at f/4, ISO 1600
Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines Alaska
The Chilkat Preserve is the site of largest concentration of Bald Eagles in the world. Thousands of Bald Eagles gather there to feed during the late run of chum salmon from November through January. The Takhinsha Mountains provide a stunning backdrop for photographing the eagles and other wildlife. The rivers that converge in the preserve have deposited gravel and sediment into the floor of the valley for thousands of years and gravel beds reach depths of 200-800 feet below the surface of the river. A huge reservoir of water is contained in the gravel. The water stored here stays above freezing, seeps into the Chilkat River throughout the winter, and keeps parts of the river ice-free. Salmon runs in these ice-free areas attract the eagles, bears when active, and other birds and wildlife.
Wood Duck
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera,
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2000 sec at f/4, ISO 1000
This photo was taken in October 2018 at Sterne Park in Littleton CO. The resident Wood Ducks were back in beautiful plumage. Usually, the birds are scattered in pairs or small groups in various parts of the small lake. On this visit they were congregated out of the water around the crabapple trees adjacent to the walkway from the parking lot. The ducks were eating the fruit that had fallen from the trees. When walkers or bikers appeared, the birds would fly back into the water but they returned to the trees to continue feeding after a brief delay.