Wildlife – Page 92 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

April 23, 2014

Great Blue Herons

Here are a few more heron photos from Saturday’s fabulous walk on the dike.

This female was following the male, and as soon as she got too close, he flew off. I don't know if that type of behaviour is part of their mating ritual, or he just wasn't interested in being near her. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1000 — This female was following the male, and as soon as she got too close, he flew off. I don’t know if that type of behaviour is part of their mating ritual, or he just wasn’t interested in being near her.
1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1000

Tired of being pursued, he's up and away. 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO1000 — Tired of being pursued, he’s up and away.
1/320sec, f5.6, ISO1000

My camera doesn't handle high ISO all that well, and the noise reduction option in Lightroom leaves the photo a bit soft. But, it was an interesting sighting and the first time I was able to see a male and female together, so I'm posting them anyways :) 1/320 sec, f5.6, ISO1000 — My camera doesn’t handle high ISO all that well, and the noise reduction option in Lightroom leaves the photo a bit soft. But, it was an interesting sighting and the first time I was able to see a male and female together, so I’m posting them anyways 🙂
1/320 sec, f5.6, ISO1000

April 21, 2014

Saturday was quite the day for bird sightings while out on my morning walk with the dog. I haven’t had a chance to do much editing, but since I also haven’t been terribly consistent with posting, I thought I should do a quick post showing a sample of the birds I saw on the weekend, and hopefully I will have a chance to highlight each sighting later in the week.

I'm having some real difficulty with my bird identification, but I think this is a juvenile bald eagle, based on the beak and the size. — I’m having some real difficulty with my bird identification, but I think this is a juvenile bald eagle, based on the beak and the size.

I'm not sure what type of sandpiper these are. They were in a small pond next to the dike - these were a first for me :) Not a stunning photo, but just great to see something new. — I’m not sure what type of sandpiper these are. They were in a small pond next to the dike – these were a first for me 🙂 Not a stunning photo, but just great to see something new.

The female was in hot pursuit of the male, and as soon as she got too close, he would fly a little way further down the shore. — The female heron was in hot pursuit of the male, and as soon as she got too close, he would fly a little way further down the shore.

I have been hoping that one day I would be able to get a decent photo of a flicker, and Saturday was my day. More to follow!

So, I had a post called Slow; where I called myself out for not taking my camera with me. This time, I put it away moments too soon. After the juvenile eagle, an osprey that I didn't manage to photograph, the flickers and the sandpipers, I thought my photographing was done for the day, and put my camera away, as I was only a couple minutes from the parking lot. And of course, a pair of adult bald eagles took off from the trees and headed straight towards me. :( This is the best I could capture... note to self, don't put away the camera until you're in the car! — So, I had a post called Slow; where I called myself out for not taking my camera with me. This time, I put it away moments too soon. After the juvenile eagle, an osprey that I didn’t manage to photograph, the flickers and the sandpipers, I thought my photographing was done for the day, and put my camera away, as I was only a couple minutes from the parking lot. And of course, a pair of adult bald eagles took off from the trees and headed straight towards me. 🙁 This is the best I could capture… note to self, don’t put away the camera until you’re in the car!

April 6, 2014

Hawk / Northern Harrier? Neither, it's an Osprey

With the wings spread open, it is easy to see the beautiful stripes in the feathers. 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO800 — With the wings spread open, it is easy to see the beautiful stripes in the feathers.
1/640sec, f5.6, ISO800

The lines of the wings and the neck are just beautiful. 1/800sec, f5.6, ISO800 — The lines of the wings and the neck are just beautiful.
1/800sec, f5.6, ISO800

I had some lovely photo opportunities yesterday while out walking with the dog, both of the heron that I posted earlier, and of this beautiful bird. I have tried to determine what type it is, and think that it could be one of several different types of hawks. But while looking through birding websites and photos, I realized that photos I posted earlier, of what I thought to be a cooper’s hawk, may in fact have been a juvenile northern harrier. Regardless of what we call them, they are wonderful to watch. Maybe one of these days, I will see them under blue skies rather than the stark grey we had yesterday. At least it waited to rain until after I got in the car!

Update: I ran into a lovely couple from the Alouette Field Naturalists group, and they took a look at these photos and told me this is an Osprey. They had been watching an Osprey rebuilding a nest that had been taken over by a Canada goose.

Things happened quite quickly, and I am not sure if the hawk went towards the tree to tae a branch, or mistimed a landing and ending up breaking the branch off. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1100 — Things happened quite quickly, and I am not sure if the hawk went towards the tree to tae a branch, or mistimed a landing and ending up breaking the branch off.
1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1100

After gathering up a smaller clump of branches, the hawk landed on the top of a power pole. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1100 — After gathering up a smaller clump of branches, the hawk landed on the top of a power pole.
1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1100

As we got closer, the hawk got ready to take off again. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO800 — As we got closer, the hawk got ready to take off again.
1/500sec, f5.6, ISO800

The angle of the light was just right for a silhouette photo. Right after this, the hawk was gone. 1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO450 — The angle of the light was just right for a silhouette photo. Right after this, the hawk was gone.
1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO450

April 5, 2014

Great Blue Heron

On our drive to the dikes this morning, we had a great blue heron take off from the side of the road, and fly straight towards the car. I braked hard (luckily it was early and there was no one else on the road) and the heron decided to change direction at the last possible moment, so thankfully, no casualties today 🙂 It’s amazing to see them up close though, and be able to see how big their wingspan is.

I am glad I grabbed my camera bag on the way out the door, as I had some great bird sightings today. I only managed a few shots of the heron, but I have lots more photos to go through for future posts.

A lovely reflection of the heron in the river. 1/160sec, f5.6, ISO1600 — A lovely reflection of the heron in the river.
1/160sec, f5.6, ISO1600

Relaxed at the water's edge; no doubt keeping an eye out for the next meal. — Relaxed at the water’s edge; no doubt keeping an eye out for the next meal.

March 27, 2014

Propeller Hummingbird

The amazing acrobatic abilities of the hummingbird!

March 26, 2014

Hummingbird with her tongue out

Continuing on with the hummingbirds!

If you look very closely, you can see that this hummingbird is sticking her tongue out (maybe she was tired of the flash). I've posted a second photo where she is not, for comparison purposes. I love the angle of the light, as the beautiful gold green colour of her feathers is very apparent. 1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100 with speed light — If you look very closely, you can see that this hummingbird is sticking her tongue out (maybe she was tired of the flash). I’ve posted a second photo where she is not, for comparison purposes.
I love the angle of the light, as the beautiful gold green colour of her feathers is very apparent.
1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100 with speed light

I've posted this photo to compare to the other photo of the female on the feeder. 1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100, 150mm with speed light — I’ve posted this photo to compare to the other photo of the female on the feeder.
1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100, 150mm with speed light

March 25, 2014

Male Rufous Hummingbird

The photos I have of the male rufous hummingbird in flight (so far!) are not as sharp as I would like, but this one of him paused at the feeder highlights his beautiful colouring.
He didn’t stay long as the female kept coming around and chasing him off!

1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO1250

March 24, 2014

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

I was so happy to see my first hummingbirds of the year this past weekend, and was able to spend some time relaxing on my parent’s porch, camera at the ready to capture a few shots. I’m quite pleased with the results, so there just might be a hummingbird of the day around here for the next little while 🙂

1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO 100 with speed light

1/200 left significant motion blur of the wings, and with the light, the fastest I tried was 1/640, and that didn’t even come close to freezing the wing motion.

March 18, 2014

Penguin

The long grass was doing nothing to enhance the photo, and the Jackass penguin has only a limited amount of pale pink colouring around the eyes, so I decided to do a black and white conversion. After a hectic day, unwinding with some editing seemed like a good choice, and the penguin made me smile. Mission accomplished 🙂

1/320sec, f5.6, ISO200 – conversion in Silver Efex

Penguin at Boulder Beach, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2013.

February 10, 2014

Silhouettes

The clear, cold weather over the weekend brought with it a lot of shivering, but also a lot of great photos opportunities. I had Spencer with me, so I was more concerned with his well-being and enjoyment than getting the perfect shot… but, I still managed to get a few that I really like.

I hadn’t set out with a theme in mind, but the strongest photos of the weekend were all silhouettes (a clear topic for the blog – hurray!)