A new season begins

Well It's April and time to start checking Buebird boxes!  I love this time of year.  Gearing up for the birds to come back.  A beginning to new season as a Bluebird box monitor at a local Metro Park.  Bluebird Box monitoring is a fun and rewarding hobby that gets me out in the field early and keeps me out into the first week of August!  In April it's that anticipation of seeing the first eggs.  I went out to check my appointed boxes on Friday evening as I knew the weather was going to turn bad over the weekend.  I was rewarded with eggs in my first box!

As it turned out this was the only box with eggs, but there is hope as another box has a full nest in it.  Maybe an egg will be laid in it this next week. 

I was also rewarded with my first of the season Hermit Thrush.   A happy greeter, early in the spring.  They usually arrive a little before the other thrushes do, and this guy was a welcoming site.   As I was taking his picture I could hear another early bird, an Eastern Phoebe, but I never saw him. 

As usually in April, one of my favorite rituals is to look for the newly fledged Great Horned Owlets.  I have found them in 2005, 2006, 2008 and now in 2012!  Yes, I found a baby Owlet!  I didn't realize until I just looked it up, that it had been 3 years without finding the babies.  There was only one there, which was disappointing.  I have seen 3 before, but usually there are 2. 

  

Normally as I search the woods for the baby owls, I spy one or even both of the adult Great Horned Owls.  They don't usually let you get very close.  Most the time, my first glimpse of them is as they take flight.  This time started out the same.  My first view was of her flying away, but she didn't fly far, and ended up perching in a fairly open area.  I snuck through the woods and I saw her again from a pretty good ways off.  She was watching me too. This might have been to my advantage, because I was able to sneak up, in plain sight, to within about 60 yards. I snapped off a few clear photos before she took off again.

What I nice night at the park.  It ended with getting to hear and eventually seeing an American  Woodcock.  Well, I saw a brief view of him as he whirled by on his way back down. I do enjoy staying until I hear them sing, and if I'm lucky, to see a little of their evening flight.

Pretty Lady – Yellow Warbler.

So often we consider the male to be the prettier bird, but this young lady holds her own when it comes to good looks. She has a soft delicateness to her. Normally Yellow warblers like to feed around 15-20 feet up in the trees and that makes them very difficult to get good photos of. They seem to hang out there just out of reach. Not this beauty. She was working the low lying shrubbery. In typical Warbler style, she paid no attention to me or the sound of the shutter going off. This outing was a unique encounter with which I will remember for quite some time, and I have pictures to help relive the moments!


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GB,

Bruce



Turkeys

I got a new lens and wanted to try it out, so the first stop was to Blendon Woods MP.  Here I found  a very cooperative pair of Turkeys!  I have wanted to get a photo of a Turkey displaying for several years and here was my chance! 

Nice Beard too!

I'm seeing Gold

All winter I watch and wait.  While I think their winter plumage is pretty, the summer coat is specatcular.  I'm talking about Goldfinches.  To watch them change over the last month has been exciting.  Each day I look out in wonder, are they there yet.  I must admit, I have jumped the gun just a little as they are not quite 100% yet, but they are so close I could not wait any more.  These will have to do for today! 

And not to be left out is this beautiful female.

Thanks for looking!

Bruce



The American Robin!

The American Robin! What a pretty bird. The American Robin is probably Ohio’s most well know bird. They are big and are highly visible as they search our lawns for worms. I got to believe that the one who coined the saying “the early bird gets the worm” was talking about a Robin. Despite their abundance, I don’t have many quality photos of these guys.


I was sitting over my feeders practicing for spring migration, when this guy made a brief appearance on the perch. Somewhat of a rare pose for a Robin, I am excited about this picture despite it not quite measuring up technically.

Another weekend in the backyard

If you read my last post, you will know how excited I am about the direction my photos are going. Equipment and technique are coming together. I have been slowing down the shutter and letting the flash keep up. I think this is also helping. My keeper rate has seen a big jump! Big jump. I went out for very short sessions over the weekend. Here are some of the shots I got. I’m still looking for that special Chickadee shot. I was also hoping for a great Junco photo before they leave town. Well I didn’t get it yet, but I did get more House Finches, Goldfinches, a Downy and a Squirrel!


As before, these were all shot with a canon 40D, 100-400LIS, 580 flash on a Gitzo series 2 tripod, Jobu Design Gimbal head.

As always, Thanks for looking!
GB,
Bruce

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Downy

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House Finch

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House Finch (such a poser)

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Squirrel (Does this photo work? Is it too soft?)

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Gold Finch

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Carolina Chickadee (not so great shot, but these guys are so small and fast.)

What a difference an Arm makes

What a difference an Arm makes. I have been greatly desiring more feather detail in my bird photos. I have/had mixed emotions about the sharpness of the photos I’ve gotten from the setup. So, last year I bought a Gitzo tripod and a Jobu Design Gimbal head. I saw huge improvements over shooting handheld or even shooting off a bogan 2031+ ballhead. However, a few weeks ago I ordered the “upgrade” arm for the Gimbal Head. This moved the mount from the side to underneath. It also allowed me to place the support on the right side of the camera instead of the left. This allowed me to place my left hand on top the lens instead of under.


I am amazed (so far) at how much better things look. Maybe I don’t need a new Camera or lens!? Nothing super spectacular except that! These are very common feeder birds, but the warblers are coming, and I’m getting ready. Of course, any suggestions to improve are not only welcomed, but encouraged!

These were all shot with a Canon 40D+100-400LIS on Gitzo tripod, Jobu Design black widow2 head using flash and sitting in a blind with a feeder setup. Post processed in PS Element.

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Northern Cardinal

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American Robin

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Carolina Chickadee

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Dark-eyed Junco

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American Goldfinch

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Seed Pod