A few summer time birds

I didn't get many bird shots this summer, but here are a few.  This first one is more of a documentry shot than a good bird photo.  As much as I hate to admit it, this guy had me stumped.  Here is an immature Orchard Oriole!  I never saw the parents as that would have clued me in pretty fast.  I saw these guys every week when I went out the wetland area at Highbanks to check bluebird boxes.

While photographing the Oriole, I found this Willow Flycatcher hanging out in the same thicket.

The wetland pond at Highbanks always has families of Wood Ducks on it.  They are pretty skitish, but I snuck up on this guy.

Heading out to Glacier Ridge Metro Park a few day later, I was hoping for some grassland birds.  It was not to be that day.  A little late in the year, but I did manage this photo of a Killdeer!

Dragonflies and Butterflies!

Wow, looking back at my blog, I see I have not updated it since the end of June.  Probably because I just haven’t done much birding or bird photography this summer.  It has however been a wonderful summer with a completely new avenue of photography.  One of my summer hobbies is to be a Bluebird box monitor at Highbanks Metro Parks in Columbus, Ohio.  Usually once June hits the photography subsides, but this year I discovered dragonflies and butterflies.  What a treat.  I took many pictures.  I tried this before, but one thing that really made a difference was adding a 20mm extension tube to the setup.  This allowed me to get much close and really had some success.  I may need to change my blog title one more time! 

This is the photo that really started me off this year.  I got this shot at Highbanks Metro Park and was amazed at how sharp it came out.  The extension tube was a key factor in it. 

For butterflies, this was one of my first.  I saw this Little Wood Satyr Butterfly when I approached box 12 at Highbanks.  I love the heart shaped leaf that it is sitting on.  I was not super close so I was happy to see it come out with nice detail.



For the next few weeks I even tried my hand at getting these little tiny guys in focus.  This was not easy!  They are so small.  Half the time I’d walk right past them without even noticing they are there.  When the focus locks, I’m a happy camper, or should I say a happy photographer!