Birds – Page 15 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

March 23, 2016

2016-03-23: Wordless Wednesday

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March 21, 2016October 4, 2020

2016-03-21: Monochrome Monday

I decided to go for a yin and yang Monochrome Monday post; some high key and low key photos.

I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful week.

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20160321_Monochrome Monday-2

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March 20, 2016

2016-03-20: What I’ve seen this week

Happy first day of spring! 🙂

It’s a very bird centred post this week – I had some infrequent visitors to the yard that I managed to capture, and I took a trip out to Vanderhoof on Saturday to visit the Nechako Migratory Bird Sanctuary, where there a currently a fairly large population of swans. The light wasn’t in my favour, but I made the best of it (and be sure to check out tomorrow’s Monochrome Monday post, where my favourites from Saturday will be featured). The lacklustre light has let me play around with editing a little more than I would otherwise, which has actually been a lot of fun.

And with that, I’ll leave it to the photos.

Have a wonderful week!

20160320_What I've seen this week-13 — Not a phenomenal photo by any stretch; I just think it’s so cool that I can capture Jupiter and 4 moons with my set-up. From top right: Io, Ganymede, Jupiter, Europa, Callisto. Being out looking at the stars makes me want to go rematch the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. 1/8sec, f6.3, ISO 1000

20160320_What I've seen this week-14 — Since I was already outside taking a picture of Jupiter, ignoring the moon just didn’t seem right. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 1000

20160320_What I've seen this week — I frequently see magpies around the neighbourhood, but it’s rare to see them hanging around the yard. This one stuck around just long enough to grab a photo through my office window. By the time I got outside, it was long gone. 1/1250sec, f6.0, ISO 1000

20160320_What I've seen this week-15 — Another bird I often see in the neighbourhood, but rarely in the yard. I’m pretty sure this is a raven, not a crow, but I’ll be totally honest, from photos I have a hard time distinguishing them, especially when perched. 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 1000

20160320_What I've seen this week-2 — A couple of swans having a morning gossip session. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 800

20160320_What I've seen this week-4 — I was told the number of swans that were there Saturday was really low (only maybe a hundred or so), but for me, I’ve never seen more than a couple at one time, so Iw as still impressed. The chattering was non-stop.

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20160320_What I've seen this week-3 — For me, this one is all about the wing shape.

20160320_What I've seen this week-12 — Going for a little pre-flight jog across the water 🙂 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 1600

20160320_What I've seen this week-5 — As soon as one group set off (apparently for foraging at a nearby farmer’s field) the rest soon followed. I was happy to capture a group of them in various stagesof taking off.

20160320_What I've seen this week-7

20160320_What I've seen this week-11 — So low to the water, the wingtips are nearly touching.

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20160320_What I've seen this week-9 — Off they go. 1/2500sec, f6.0, ISO 1250

March 14, 2016

2016-03-14: Monochrome Monday

I came across a few shots over the weekend that I thought deserved a re-edit. Just please don’t ask me what type of birds these are, as I believe the majority are one of the many sparrows that are common around the lower mainland, but I really don’t have a clue!

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Happy Monday!

These, and others are available over at my Smugmug site

March 13, 2016

2016-03-13: What I’ve seen this week

Last Sunday brought clear skies and a showing of the aurora; unfortunately I knew I would be really busy Monday morning, and decided to just hang around the yard and snap a few photos. I did see a few glimpses, but I’m sure if I would have headed for an area with fewer tall trees, the view would have been outstanding.

I spent a bit of time outside today watching, and photographing, the redpolls. I don’t think they will be here for much longer, but I know their absence will be filled with other birds heading back after wintering further south.

Signs of spring are all over the place; tree branches in bud, and more visible ground than snow, though yesterday we had quite the afternoon storm with driving wind, hail and a bit of snow. My attempts to photograph the near sideways hail left me flat.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week; here are the photos.

20160313_What I've seen this week-3 — Aurora glow and a satellite passing by.

20160313_What I've seen this week-2 — The house, garage and forest getting in the way of a clear shot!

20160313_What I've seen this week-5 — The hairy woodpecker stopped by one morning for some suet and to browse the trees in the back yard.

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20160313_What I've seen this week-7 — The lovely redpolls. I will be sad to see them leave, they are very spirited and chirpy in the yard.

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March 6, 2016

2016-03-06: Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Pairs

20160306_CB&W Penguins.jpg — A pair of chicks and a pair of parents on Cape Town’s Boulders Beach.

CB&W

February 28, 2016

2016-02-28: What I’ve seen this week

This week has flown by, as most of them seem to do lately. Rather than ramble on and on, I’ll get straight to the pictures.

I hope you enjoy, and wishing everyone a wonderful week 🙂

20160228_What I've seen this week — A pileated woodpecker that I spotted at the top of my road Tuesday morning. 1/640sec, f4.0, ISO125
(Taken with my new Panasonic camera. I’m pretty impressed with it, and it certainly is nice and light to take on walks)

20160228_What I've seen this week-2 — I glanced out the window while in my office, and noticed the pileated woodpecker in the forest behind my house. This one was shot through the window with my Nikon / Tamron combo.
1/500sec, f6.3, ISO640 @ 600mm

20160228_What I've seen this week-3 — I ventured outside to get a few shots, keeping a safe distance so I wouldn’t startle the woodpecker.
1/640sec, f6.3, ISO 2200

20160228_What I've seen this week-4 — Not a classic bird photo, but I love the contrast of the blurry branches and the nicely lit eye.
1/640sec, f6.3, ISO 2500 @600mm

20160228_What I've seen this week-9 — I ventured out to West Lake yesterday, because as you can see, it was just too nice to be indoors. There was quite a brisk breeze, and the place was deserted save for one other car. Spencer had a great time sniffing along the edge of the frozen lake.
1/640sec, f8, ISO 125

20160228_What I've seen this week-10 — An eagle’s nest high in the treetops. I imagine once the tree is in full leaf, many people sitting at the benches below wouldn’t even realize that it is there.

20160228_What I've seen this week-5 — I noticed movement in the nest, but was having a hard time seeing what it was. On full zoom, I finally caught sight of an eagle 🙂 1/640sec, f4.0, ISO 160

20160228_What I've seen this week-6 — An explosion of movement that I wasn’t prepared for at all. I had no idea there were two eagles in the nest until they decided quite suddenly to vacate it and head for another nearby tree. Given the proximity to my house, I wonder if this is the pair I saw a few weeks ago at the deer kill site?

20160228_What I've seen this week-8 — Eagles always look quite fierce to me, so it’s hard to tell if this is a dirty look, or just a normal one.
1/1250sec, f4.0, ISO200

20160228_What I've seen this week-7 — A bit of preening in the sun.
1/1250sec, f4.0, ISO 160

20160228_What I've seen this week-11 — One final shot before it was time to head home.
1/1250sec, f3.8, ISO 125

February 23, 2016

2016-02-23_Owl

I forgot to post one of the owl photos I liked from Saturday, so here it is.

February 21, 2016

2016-02-21: What I’ve seen this week

The week ended on a very interesting note, and has left me with a fair number of photos to go through. On the advice of one of the members of the photo group, I went east of town yesterday hoping to see the northern hawk owls that had been spotted earlier in the day; I managed to see one, perched so high up in a tree, the first time I drove straight past it.

Today, I decided to take a drive about an hour out of town to a park, to scope out potential photography areas for the spring. It was just too lovely a day to be indoors. I had Spencer with me and we had a nice walk along the frozen marsh, but on the way out, I started to pull over closer to the side of the road to let a truck past, and the combination of ice covered road and extremely soft snow on the side, I ended up with the passenger side wheels stuck. A lady tried to give me a tow (who it turns out is also part of my photo group, but we hadn’t met yet), but that didn’t work so we set off to get into cell range so I could call for a tow truck. While I waited for the tow, it gave me a bit of time to catch up on some podcasts I’d been wanting to listen to, and honestly, the people around here are lovely. Every single person heading in or out of the park stopped to see if they could help in any way. I’m very grateful to the kindness of strangers.

And if I hadn’t been delayed an hour, I likely wouldn’t have seen a bald eagle perched high in a tree on the side of the highway (thoughtfully, right near a truck pull out so I could safely pull over). And since many wise photographers have always said “look behind you”, I turned to scan the opposite side of the highway, and saw two more perched in a tree and one soaring above, calling repeatedly. So an owl Saturday, and four bald eagles (plus a slightly lighter wallet) on Sunday. All in all, an excellent weekend.

And with that long and rambling weekend description behind us, on to the photos.

Enjoy, and have a lovely week.