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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Birding and Good Photos

It was a good weekend.  Well, the times I got out into nature were good.  Not that the rest of the weekend wasn't good, but it wasn't good for photographing birds.  So, this morning, I was able to make it out to Spring Valley Nature Preserve after an aborted attempt at Ceasar Creek, which was crawling with 200-400 bicyclists and no shore birds.  I decided to try the boardwalk, first, but didn't make it all the way out to it before meeting a couple of folks who reported it was slow, with very little bird activity at all.  Ah, well, so we all headed out in our separate cars to the same place -- the main preserve, which proved to be MUCH more fruitful, photographically speaking.

Our first stop was the Pileated Woodpecker nest which, as of now, is empty -- all the young have fledged.  Nif-T.  In the area of the nest were several calling Warbling Vireos, Eastern Wood PeWees and a bunch of Yellow Warblers.  We, the other fella and I, walked out to the boardwalk, where we headed towards the stand of craggy trees that attracts much bird life.  On the way, we were treated to Baltimore Orioles and Cedar Waxwings hanging about the treetops.  As we came upon the stand, there were two other birders, cameras aimed towards a specific point that we would see, shortly.  I'm not  sure what they were looking for over there, but they soon turned their attention to the Red-headed Woodpecker and, almost as soon as we arrived, one of the newly fledged Pileated Woodpecker young.  He was quite the clumsy bird, falling off the tree a couple of times, landing awkwardly others and looking generally perplexed as to how to go about foraging in logs for food.  Watching the birds learn is amazing.  You could almost see the wheels grinding and starting to fetch loose.  Really neat.

An Eastern Wood PeWee was very cooperative for me and I got a couple of good shots.  They're really quite neat little birds and able  to give the stink-eye with the best of them! 

On the way out, we got some good looks at a Yellow-throated Vireo.   He was very cooperative and came close enough for a good couple of photographs.  They are also nifty birds.

Speaking of the stink-eye -- I got the most amazing glare from an Osprey on a previous trip to SVNP, late the previous week.  It was pretty slick; you could almost read his mind...it is no repeatable in polite company.  I think I was  interrupting a fishing expedition by my mere presence.  That's OK.  They're magnificent birds.

Back to the present.  I also got a chance to go to Seibenthaler Fen, which is one of my favorite close locations as it has a wonderful diversity for such a "small" little place: the loop is only about 1.2 miles.  At any rate, and the info "kiosk," I was able to get some really nice shots of a pair of House Wrens hanging around their nest.  How that much noise comes from that small a body is just amazing, is it not?

Well, that's enough out of me.  Peace, love and fantastic birding.

Then All the Links Went Poof.

So, I decided I needed to be more organized on a couple of web-fronts.  First, my personal/professional website was becoming quite full...mainly with bird photographs.  That was fine, until I wanted to do more with it, professionally.  SO, I thought, "Hey, I've got a good thing going on Photobucket; I'll put the bird photos THERE."  That's fine an dandy until you have 300+ photographs all in one directory called "North American Birds."  It was  getting to be painful to try and find specific birds.  So, I did the unthinkable.  I started creating directories for every species I've photographed.  Yeah, we're talking, in just the ones I've completed and not the ones that were up'd to PhotoBucket without putting it on my website, first, around 87 main folders, and a LOT of subdirectories.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, because a lot of the linked photographs on my blogs have probably just gone "BLAM!"  I apologize for this.  I doubt that I will have the time, patience or inclination to go back and FIX that, right now, as I'm still in the process of moving everything over.  That said, I hope that if you're interested in the birds that I have listed in the past (and even those I haven't), you'll check out the site, here.