Caesar Creek State Park

What some might start referring to as my home away from home, I spent the last couple of mornings at CCSP taking photographs of birds.  It’s what I do.  It’s what I love.  This past week, I even visited a couple of parts of the park that I hadn’t visited before.  What’s funny is that it provided me with good looks of two birds I didn’t really have good photographs to go with…unfortunately, because of a little experimentation, I still don’t, however…I used the 2x teleconverter.  Oops.  Everything’s a LITTLE soft.  Anyway, here are the fruits of this past week’s labors.

The first really good looks of birds I of which I didn’t have good photographs was the Blue-winged Teal.  These reclusive, squeaky little duck-like birds tend to swim away as fast as they can when anyone approaches, if not fly away altogether.  In this case, I was able to get pretty close and the 500mm telephoto didn’t disappoint, along with the morning’s gorgeous almost-golden light, in providing a couple of very solid photographs of this group of 5 males and 2 females.  While I wasn’t able to catch any of the action of the males chasing each other (they did this twice when I was on the other end of the pond), I still got solid looks.  I don’t think I had every gotten that close during breeding season – their heads are so amazing.  Gorgeous iridescence and that shade of slate blue – they really came out in the morning sun and I was glad to have seen it!

Looking out across the lake from here, I got a decent enough view to be able to ID a juvenile Common Loon swimming roughly 200  yards out.  Basically, it was a head bobbing above the chop every so often.  The photos I got were barely passable for ID purposes let alone for this blog…  <foreshadowing>Thankfully, fate would smile upon me, in a Loony way.</foreshadowing>

I then moved around to the little boat launch area just past the Youth Pond because I had seen something black and duck-like swimming near the “peninsula” – which used to be an island… When I got there, I spooked a Great Blue Heron – who was close to 50 yards away…sissy! – but didn’t manage to scare away the actual quarry: a lone, female Greater Scaup.  She was pretty and she was swimming very slowly away.  Unlike the Blue-winged Teal, it took her more then 10 minutes to get out of good photographic range.  That said, the wind coming off the lake directly into my face made it hard to either focus or hold the camera completely still – even on the tripod.  Still, I got some very good looks and a couple very good photos.  I don’t think I had realized how reddish brown the feathers were on a bird that looks deceptively black-brown from a distance.  Still, she hung around for a while, and I was grateful.

The beach was the next destination, as there had been mention of a Lesser Black-backed Gull hanging out amongst the Ring-billeds.  This would be a life bird for me, so I thought I would check it out.  When I got there, I saw only 4 gulls – all Ring-billed.  Ah, well.  I was a little disappointed, but as I was getting closer to the beach, Spring was confirmed for me, photographically.  You see, I have this thing… maybe it stems from a form of insanity, maybe not – you’ll have to decide.  However, since about 1992 or so, I have maintained that it  is not truly Spring until I see, and hear, an Eastern Meadowlark.  They used to greet me on my trek back from Spring Break to Wabash, right around the Indiana border, and that would seal it for me.  Recently, they’ve been eluding me until much later into Spring.  This, year, however, I saw one on the 5th of April, so, it became Spring. However, I haven’t gotten good photographs of them, EVER, and that was the biggest change, this time around.  This happy fella provided some excellent looks – even moving his head around quite a bit to allow for all you field-mark junkies out there to make all the requisite diagnoses.  Once I got close enough for REALLY good shots, however, he flew to the other side of the lake – something that is impossible to track (even with the monster lens…) with a large bird, let alone one the size of the Eastern Meadowlark.  So, I turned my attention back to the beach – fearing there would not be anything worthwhile since about 5 minutes prior, two motorboats went whizzing through the area where the Loon was and creating a bunch of wake.  That’s when I saw it…

I have never been closer than a couple hundred yards to a Common Loon.  This is evidenced by my displeasingly rough photographs that are barely useful for IDing the birds.  This changed dramatically, as I watched a full-breeding plumage Common Loon swimming *towards* the beach.  At its closest, it was within, I would say, 35-40 yards.  I got some amazing looks.  It was at this point that I noticed  it was going to be very silhouetted and I would have to be careful because it was swimming right to that patch of the water that served as the brilliant sun-reflector and photographer-blinder.  Thankfully, I got some excellent shots of this beautiful bird before it got to a point where it was physically painful to try to focus on any portion of the water where it was swimming.  That said, I still managed close to 10 minutes of quality time with this swimming duck and apparently didn’t spook it, as it didn’t dive once.  It just swam closer and closer, until I think it figured out I was watching, and then just swam further out, slowly, allowing some great looks at the wonderful almost-houndstooth pattern of feathers on its back.  I love Loons – and not just my family.  This was VERY cool for me.

Photo Cataloging and Blindness

Syntactically, "I play by myself," and "I play with myself" aren't too dissimilar.  Their meanings, however, are, at least colloquially, quite different.  Likewise, the phrases "I manage my photographs on my computer," and "My computer manages my photographs," are similar, but can mean two different things.  Either way, with the ill-phrased sayings, the end result is that you might just go blind. 

I have set ACDSee Photo Manager 2009 loose on my system to catalog my photographs.  I wish it luck, as I've gone nearly blind organizing tiny thumbnails of photographs from folder to folder to make sure that the 8.5x11" photographs do not intermingle with the 8x10" ones or that the black and white photographs still have the same heirarchy as do the color photos.  The bottom line is that it's tedious and going through using Windows' meagre image viewer to discern whether a photograph is "good enough" can not only cause your vision to suffer, but your sanity, as well.

So, with that in mind -- do I recommend cataloging your photographs?  Duh.  Do I recommend ACDSee to assist you in cataloging your photographs on your computer?  I do, for the most part.  I've used ACDSee since it's initial release (how scary is THAT?!) and this version, thus far, is much easier to use to keep tabs on photos, as well as filter, arrange and label them.  This isn't a review of the product, though, but it is the software I have tried to use for my photo management, so it's what I'll be talking about.  As to why you would want to use this product or any other, think of it this way -- if you're like me, you take a lot of photos.  The most time-consuming part of the entire process is figuring out which shots to keep and which to throw into the shredder.  Also, if you're like me, you have a LOT of "incoming photos" which need to be further sorted, edited in PhotoShop or what-have-you, and then placed in its proper folder.  With photo management software this is a boatload easier and if you're using one of the Adobe Products (Album, Lightroom), it will do this just as well as ACDSee and it's also intertwined with PhotoShop, so that connection will seem much more seamless.

Since I began writing this entry, two things have become painfully  clear: Vista’s file management code was ripped straight from a Commodore 64’s kernel and ACDSee HATES cataloging more than 5,000 photographs at a time using Vista’s file management code.  It consistently explodes when dealing with the photos and usually dies around the number 5,651.  Sad.  Since this has come about, I sought out Extensis’ Portfolio 8.51.  It’s a solid program as well.  It’s not perfect, either, and can get very frustrating with the amount of room it will take up on your drive should you neglect to turn off the “create thumbnails” feature when generating your catalog.  When cataloging 10.5GB of bird photographs, I really don’t need 1.3GB in thumbnails…really.

So, the bottom line is that cataloging is a very good thing when it works and that it’s very difficult to get a good piece of software to do everything you want it to.  If you have one, great – stick with it.  If you don’t – get one.  It’s not quite as important as a backup program, especially if you already have a fairly organized directory hierarchy, as do I, but still, it DOES make it easier to have a piece of software whereby you can assign keywords and search on photo requirements.  I’ve rambled on long enough, and I hope a point has been made.  Until next time….

Cowan Lake and Spring Valley Wildlife Area – 3/22/2009

When I arrived at 7:45, it was chilly, but not in a bad way, and the birds were out in full force.  It was going to be a good day.  I could tell by looking at the lake that there were plenty of waterfowl, which was nice, and by the trees – a lot, and I do mean a LOT, of Vultures.

As I was heading over to the far end of the lake, I noticed a head bobbing.  It looked like a loon, posture-wise, but it was about 100 yards out, or so.  So, the photo I got was good enough for diagnostics, but that’s about it.  That said, it was still my first Common Loon of the year.  That made me happy – especially since I had heard one a couple of days prior.  I felt less crazy, in a way.

My first real photographic stop was in the back path along the far end of the lake where the Vultures were roosting.  I don’t think I  realized exactly how much they scat upon each other.  It’s really rather foul.  Anyway, when I arrived in the marsh, there were about 5 Black Vultures foraging in the mud.  Several more came to visit, then left back up to the trees, and it was a revolving door of mud- dabbling Vultures.  I’d never seen anything like it, but it was definitely interesting to watch!  Occasionally, one would pull a fish carcass out from under several inches of much, while others were just pecking off the surface.  I’m not sure what all they were finding, but it kept them busy for quite a while.  I also noticed things about feather patterns in the neck area that I had never been close enough t o see, before.  It was kind of surreal, in a way.  I was able to get, I would say, 30 feet away to observe.  I also observed that the last actual kill in that marsh area was a skunk, in which I was standing, I noted.  I couldn’t decide who smelled worse, at that point, them or me.

As I headed back towards the shore of the lake, I noticed some birds that always help me welcome spring, Eastern Bluebirds.  They were cavorting around a tree trying to avoid being photographed at all costs.  The male was better at this, as is evidenced by only photographs I have being of the female.  Still, she was a cutie and held still as long as she could before the pressure of potentially being eaten by a photographer 20 feet away was too much to bear.

I was also graced by several Great Blue Heron flyovers, which leads me to believe that the rookery is in full operations mode, now.  This  particular group headed due east – straight into the sun – so I didn’t get as many good shots as I wanted, but still came away with some pretty solid shots.

Snipes appear to use some mystical tow-cable technology.  There were four, foraging in the mud and then something spooked them (probably me).  Did they all take off at once?  No.  Did the bird in the front take off to be followed by the others?  No.  The bird in back takes off, and once about 5 feet above and past the next one, that one took off.  This happened the next time, too, as the third bird didn’t take off until the second bird was 5 feet above and out from it.  It was very odd.  Of course, I was grateful for this behavior, since it gave bird #4 enough time to think and figure that they were just all … loony … and didn’t take off, at all, allowing me to get very close and get some very nice photographs.  I had never seen  them “tall,” before, either, which was one of my parting shots I got as it trotted out to the ends of the mudflat, blending in ever so well…

Also on the mudflats were some Yellowlegs, both Lesser and Greater.  They were having fun dunking their heads into the mud up to their eyeballs and then doing the same in the water.  It was amusing to watch and really made me think how different our lives would be if we only had wings for our upper appendages.  At any rate, they gave me some decent looks, though it was over a couple little mini-sessions, as they felt the need to flush every so often and regroup.  They’re cute, though.  They stuck around quite a bit and were closer than the  other waders that flushed.  The Snipes (not technically waders…) flushed to the far end of the lake, as did the Kildeer and the Pectoral Sandpiper, who managed to stay as far away from me as possible, but when the next fellow showed up with binocs and a camera, he was  very 
accommodating.   I’ll remember  this…and I carry grudges. Seriously, though, this was on my way out of Cowan Lake as I headed back to Spring Valley Nature Preserve/Wildlife Area (depending to whom you speak…).

So, I made it over to Spring Valley WA just in time to see a whole lot of fisher-folk.  Usually, I don’t like a lot of people, but with the number of birds that were still around, it felt good – it’s the most alive this place has felt in several years.  I hope that it’s a sign of how things are going to be, there, because it’s felt so dead around there for a while, it would be nice to reclaim some of what I remember from about 5 years ago when I routinely saw 5+ life birds a visit.  With that in mind, what did I see?

Well, my I headed up the bike path, first, as it tends to have some fun things in the periphe ry, and this time was no different…  Right off the bat, I got a fabulous look at a White-throated Sparrow.  He sat very still in very good light.  That was much appreciated, and I thanked him for his time.  This was in start contrast to the White-throated Sparrow from the day before, who played a really fun game of “Peek-a-boo,” allowing some cute shots, but nothing earth-shattering.  For the most part, though, I didn’t get a lot of good shots on this trip, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t see good birds.  I saw a Swainson’s Thrush, who was delightfully coy and camera-shy, along with my first Eastern Phoebe of the year, too.  I got a few good looks at the Phoebe, but it was close to 50 yards away, and they’re not large birds.  Finally, along the back path coming towards the path the goes along the back of the lake, I saw my first Warbler of the season.  It was a lone Yellow-rumped Warbler who, like most Warblers, didn’t hold still for any posterity shots, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

It was a good outing and I enjoyed myself.  I’ve not been on a 4.5 mile hike for a long time and it felt really good.  When I pulled into the homestead almost 6 full hours after I left that morning, I felt calm and confident I had some pretty good shots, even though, to me, those shots were secondary to the time I got to clear my mind and enjoy the fantastic weather. 

Long Distance Shooting

I love getting close to the birds.  There are reasons for this, not the least of which is that it’s a heck of a lot easier to get crisp, full-crop photographs of said birds.  Another reason is that I just love birds and their little neuroses, idiosyncrasies and behaviors.  Mainly, though, I love being able to at least have the opportunity to capture the “money shot” of these birds.  I have a large collection of bird photographs, but I am always trying to get better, sharper, more detailed photos that capture behavior and let the personality of the subject come through.  Sometimes, however, this isn’t possible.

Last Tuesday, Alex and I were buzzed by a Red-shouldered Hawk.  I wasn’t able to train the lens on it quickly enough (since it took off from about 20 feet in front of us and flew over our heads and out of sight in roughly 2 seconds…), so was a little disappointed.  When we were out on the boardwalk at Spring Valley Wildlife Area heading  back towards the car when out of my third eye, I spy a Red-shouldered Hawk rising from behind the tree line.  It was at this point that I was a little sad that it was, probably, a half mile out.  I was able to fire off a few shots – at 500mm x 2x-tele x 1.5x crop factor (that would be ~1500mm) @ f/6.3 – and a couple of them came out … usably.  I will not be using these as my definitive photographs of the bird, but they were more than adequate for identification.  I was just amazed that I even got those usable shots as I was staring at a silhouette from a LONG way away with a stiff cross breeze making looking through the viewfinder a chore – eyeballs drying out is never a happy feeling.  As a result, most of the shots that I got were “on spec” having simply decided that it looked in-focus-ish enough and hoping that they were, indeed, in focus.  I though to myself, “I really need to get closer to these birds…”  In my defense, I usually do, but not always.

So, it was with chagrin and amusement that the following day’s trip to Eastwood Metropark’s Hydrobowl to see what waterfowl were present featured a slew of Goldeneyes hanging out in the very center of the lake.  Those that were close enough for decent looks would zoom out to the center as soon as I was within, probably, 100 yards.  Ugh.  These photos didn’t come out nearly as well, and I was unhappy about that.  I would post the photos, but they’re a little embarrassing inasmuch as they’re good enough to ID, but little else.

Yesterday, I headed to Buck Creek to see the Glaucous Gulls.  I saw them from a LONG distance away and wasn’t able to get any decent photographs as a result of the “bunching” the gulls were demonstrating.  Despite the Glaucous Gulls being much larger than the Ring-billed Gulls, it doesn’t make any difference if they’re sitting on the ice.  So, I have a couple of photos that are inconclusive (this is why we take the binoculars, kiddies) at best, but the majority of the time I was attempting to photograph other birds at a distance.  The flock of American Wigeons that kept crisscrossing the lake, even though they were close to 300 yards out on the lake, provided some decent looks and I got a decent photograph or two.

This is taking me too long to write, so I will end it here, for now.

There and Back Again: NOT a Hobbit's Tale (Part II: Serendipity)

The one thing that you can't forget when you go to the Southwest, be it Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or the lower section of California, is your camera.  It's just a very bad idea and you'll find yourself swearing, profusely, at every sunset, every gorgeous mountainside, and every amazing cloud formation.  Being a photographer, you would think that I would no better than to break that rule.  You'd be wrong.  Rather than fight with a second ($50) checked bag and deal with the idiocy of the current airline debacle trying to get everything into one good sized carry on or "personal bag," I opted to leave my gear at home and hope that Connor's camera had a memory card in El Paso.  Once again, wrong.

So, after four days of gnashing teeth, I spent $24 on an 8GB HDSD card.  The price is only relevant inasmuch as the 4GB card I got him for Christmas the previous year was $80...  Once the card was in place, there was only one thing to do.  I pointed the car due west and headed straight to Franklin Mountains State Park.

In looking at the clock, I did allow myself to swear.  It was 11:15am, which meant by the time I arrived at the mountains, it would be very close to high noon -- the worst time imaginable to photograph topography.  The light will cast harsh shadows that tend to remove contrast rather than enhance it and just about all photographs you take will end up looking flat, even if you're looking out over a very dynamic landscape.  You can imagine, however, my elation when clouds started forming over the mountains and the plateau.  It was divine intervention, without question. 

The upshot of this serendipity was finishing my Photo III final's shooting phase.  I didn't know this, at the time, but when I showed Prof Jurus, he seemed well pleased.  That took a lot of pressure off the coming quarter and put me in a good position to get things the  way I want them to be rather than "how they end up," for printing the final.  None of this would have been possible if I hadn't decided to splurge on the memory card and it wouldn't have been an issue if I had simply packed a camera body.

Spring Valley - 7.17.2008

I've missed Spring Valley Nature Preserve.  Having been in Baltimore for the past month, I've really missed having close, free wildlife preserves or state park in which to traipse.  Now, granted, come July, there are nowhere near the attractions in these places as there are during the Warbler migrations or when the Pileateds are fledging.  That said, I hadn't seen this place in a month and, frankly, I didn't care one iota that the bird count would be low and it would be hot, sticky and, most likely, seriously buggy.

When I arrived at 9:30, I saw a lone fisherman and nothing else.  I could hear the Song Sparrow, the Great-crested Flycatcher and the Northern Cardinals singing, but I couldn't see any signs of life.  Well, that changed about 5 minutes into my stay.  Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a large bird catching a rising thermal.  This isn't out of the ordinary and, in fact, I had already expressed surprise that I hadn't seen any Turkey Vultures out.  Well, when I looked up to see what was what, that was when I saw the distinctive low wing beats and the frock -- is that the right word to use, here? -- of white on the wings.  This wasn't a T.V...this was a Black Vulture.  Now, it's not like when we saw the Glossy Ibis, here, inasmuch as the Black Vulture is becoming alarmingly more frequent a visitor to these parts.  It is, however, noteworthy, because as I watched his soar, he came in for a landing and perched.  The same tree that provided the wonderful looks and photographic opportunities of the Osprey now held the same promise with a bird that I've never really gotten that close to, for numerous reasons.

So, I hiked at a discernibly quickened pace -- yet steady, as not to spook any birds, especially our quarry! --  to get to the best locations for the photographs.  What's kind of funny is that the second place I hiked after spending close to 15 minutes with the Vulture, already, provided much better detailing since the sun was coming to a better angle in the sky.  Funny how that all works out.  I also figured out that trying to enhance detail on a predominantly black bird from 45' with the flash extender is tricky.  I managed a catch light or 2, but the overall effect was negligible.  That's OK -- the sunny-side photographs turned out stellarly, if I may, and gave me the best looks at this mysterious and, honestly, creepy bird I have ever had.  I was impressed.  After a total of 40 minutes of perch time, the Black Vulture took to the air again.  I was amused that for about the last 10 minutes prior to taking off, again, the bird lifted the right leg, then lowered it, then the left, and so on, alternating, repeatedly, about every 40 to 60 seconds.  Quite fascinating behavior, really, but it allowed for some splendid looks at those talons.  Wow!  We now understand why small, still-living, mammals tend to flee when this fella is soaring above. 

Once the Black Vulture had flown, I was graced with another extended photo session with a particularly amenable Green Heron.   Normally, for me, these birds flush when I have a passing thought about taking their photo, but -- this time -- the bird held still for almost 5 minutes.  When this particular bird flushed, a second Greeny landed in the tree in front of me, not 20 feet away!  This one, however, only held still for about 2 minutes -- still 2 minutes longer than most of the other Green Herons I've photographed in the past.

It was at this point, however, that most of the birds had become reclusive and demonstrated the irritating behavior of "heat avoidance" whereby they all stay out of the not-quite-but-almost blistering heat.  Truthfully, it was only about 91 with about 90% humidity, so, it wasn't really blistering, but it was still a little taxing, to say the least.  So, I went home and didn't process the photographs until I was in class.  I then used one of the photographs  of the Black Vulture for a project photograph in this selfsame class. 

Well, that's enough out of me.  It's good to be back in Dayton, if only for the birds.  I've missed my old haunts and will take great pleasure in visiting them, soon, as time and gas permits.  Hopefully, I will get more photographs posted, soon.  Until then, good birding!

Birdland Mecca

We moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 1981.  Previously, we lived in Terre Haute, Indiana where baseball took a definite backseat to basketball (Larry Bird was attending ISU at the time my father taught there), and football was still higher on the totem pole (ironically, Steeler country, despite being 3 or so hours from Cincinnati).  So, baseball was a novelty to me when we arrived in Norfolk.  I had to have a "team," thus spake my third-grade classmates.  There were a lot of choices -- the Baltimore Orioles were the closest, but there were also fans of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and, intriguingly enough, the Montreal Expos.  I think I started with the Dodgers -- who couldn't love Tommy Lasorda?!  That didn't last long...I loved the Expos logo.  It was just fluid oddity, embodied.  So, that lasted about a month or two.  I finally settled on The Birds.  The Orioles.  I happened onto the team the year prior to the arrival of a very special shortstop.  So, I found "my team" and watched them as often as I could on the television and collected as many stickers -- remember the Topps sticker albums?? -- and cards as I could.  Tirelessly, I followed Dwyer, Dauer, Murray, Lowenstein, Palmer, Martinez, Martinez (Tippy and Denny), Sakata, Roenike, Bumbry, Ford, Singleton and, the following season, Ripken, Jr. 

We're going to have to fast forward, now, to 2008.  I've been living in Dayton, Ohio since 1995 and have become almost a de facto Reds fan, having lived in and been immersed in the local sports talk radio for the last 13 years.  I know more about the Reds than I do about any other team in the country, save the Bengals, and almost find myself rooting for them, despite my continued -- albeit fairly closeted -- loyalty to the Baltimore Orioles.  While the last few years have been filled with Danny Graves flameouts and Adam Dunn trade rumors, they have also been filled with  moments like the retirement of Cal Ripken, Jr. and a brief, terrible season with Sammy Sosa.  Not that the Reds and Orioles haven't shared a distressing lack of winning over the last 13 years...so, there's a segue, here, and not a two-wheeled geekmobile...  We're spending the summer -- well, OK, my wife is working, we're taking up space -- in Baltimore. 

So, it was discount night -- $8/ticket -- at Camden Yards, and we decided we should have a guys night.  So, we went to see the epic battle, or would that be "titanic struggle?" between the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals.  Unfortunately, even after three days of watching chunks of games on MASN, I still don't know many players.  I know some of the "old guard" -- Mora, Millar and Cormier.  Who these new guys are...no idea, really.  That's OK -- that's what a $5 program is for. 

Well, it was a really neat experience.  The boys really enjoyed it and, as a bonus, it was a good game.  George Sherrill came in and gave everyone heart failure with 2 runs in the 9th, bringing the score to 7-5 Os, but he struck the next two batters out and everyone left happy.  That was cool. 

On to the pictures: