Posted on July 27, 2014Northern rough-winged swallow A northern rough-winged swallow comes into land on a power line, under the watchful gaze of a friend.1/250 sec, f6.3, ISO100
Posted on July 26, 2014Hooded Vulture A hooded vulture getting ready to lift off.1/800sec, f5.6, ISO200
Posted on July 23, 2014Great Blue Heron One of many herons I spotted on my walk last Sunday morning.1/1250 sec, f5.6, ISO 400
Posted on July 22, 2014Group of herons I’ve only seen a group of herons together one other time, and that was when they were perched in trees (I wish I would have been able to get decent photos of that event, but it was in thick fog). I was surprised to see this group together, and unfortunately it was right at the end of the dike, so I didn’t have an opportunity to try the shot from a better angle.1/1600 sec, f6.3, ISO400
Posted on July 21, 2014Great Blue Heron Last Sunday morning started on a sad note. While driving to the dikes, I slowed when I saw something laying in the middle of the road, and unfortunately it was one of these beautiful herons that had been struck by a car. I was planning on removing it from the road after our walk, but thankfully someone else had done so by the time we returned…unless a coyote got to it first.After the sad start, I had some of the best heron sightings I’ve had in a while; so many individuals were out that morning. It was quite hazy with the heat, but thankfully I came away after a lovely walk with a few good photos 🙂1/1250 sec, f6.3, ISO 400
Posted on July 20, 2014House Sparrow A house sparrow full of song on a beautiful sunny morning.1/400sec, f5.6, ISO 400
Posted on July 14, 2014Osprey returning to her nest Even with my 300mm lens, I had to crop out an awful lot of the photo to get in this tight, as the pillars where the osprey nest are quite a distance out from the dikes. Even though it isn’t as crisp as I would like; I am getting used to a new camera with a different focus system, and the morning haze makes the photo look a bit noisy – I don’t care. I am grateful to have captured this moment of the mama osprey returning to her nest with building materials while her little one looks on. Plus, there are three starlings hanging out at the base of the nest, probably looking to sneak off with any leftover tidbits!
Posted on July 5, 2014Osprey I was spoiled for choice with all the birds to photograph in one day: yellowthroats, robins, heron, ducks, and these beautiful osprey. I don’t have quite a long enough lens for a good shot of a nesting osprey, but I’ve posted this as reference to show how huge they build their nests. Early in the spring, I captured some shots of an osprey carrying huge branches – this is why!1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 100 1/4000 sec, f5.6, ISO 400
Posted on July 4, 2014Starling in Silhouette A starling singing in the early morning. I was shooting into the sun and the sky was very clear and bright with lots of glare on the leaves; a bit of tinting to the black and white conversion completely changes feel of the photo.1/4000 sec, f 5.6, ISO 400