Backyard Birdies

This weekend while waiting for friends to arrive, I decided it was time to practice using the better beamer with the flash unit to control shadows in harsh lighting.  The morning started off foggy and then the sun poked through strong and contrasty-perfect conditions for practice. It took about 50 shots to get the hang of adjusting the flash exposure compensation, but the practice yielded good results.  I am going to take the unit along this week  and see how it works for filling shadows moose in the woods .

This may be the last posting for our blog.  I am not sure how much the blog is getting viewed or how worthwhile it is.  If you are looking and you like or do not like it, please leave a comment so I can determine if it is worth the time to do these.

Jim

Pine Creek Valley

The Pine Creek Valley in North Central Pennsylvania holds many special memories for me.  It was my backyard when I was growing up and the memories of picnics, fishing and hunting are near and dear to my heart.  Joan and I spend quite a bit of our leisure time in the valley relaxing and enjoying the wildlife.  I am truly thankful for the foresight of my grandfather and his friends that worked so hard to have the Pine Creek Gorge made into a "wild area" protecting it from urban development.

The Bald Eagle has made a significant comeback in that area.  Starting at Ansonia and traveling south there are eagle nests about every 5 miles. The Pa Game Commission likes to take full credit for the recovery.  However, spending time observing and photographing the adult eagles and the nests has shown that it was the Pennsylvania program combined with the New York State programs that made the success. Just about every nesting pair along Pine Creek has one of the adults originating from the Mohawk River in Upper New York State.   The majestic birds are smart--they mate with others outside their own gene pool to help prevent the adverse effects of breeding within the same gene pool.  Over the past month we have spent a considerable amount of time relaxing, biking, hiking and photographing in the Pine Creek Valley and the area known as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.

The Eagle photographs above were taken of an Adult Eagle (that was born along the Mohawk River in upper New York State) that was guarding one of the nests along Pine Creek.  It was one of the best opportunities I have had for "perfect" lighting to photograph eagles.  We had almost 100% cloud cover, but they were white clouds that allowed lots of light to still be present to keep shutter speeds up while at the same time eliminating shadows and the ever present problem with Bald Eagles of reflective light off the head that creates a halo effect.


After bike riding through the canyon last Saturday afternoon, we took a ride to the barrens area above Cedar Run to look for deer, bear and other wildlife.  We found a very large black bear and I followed him carefully through the woods to get an opportunity to photograph him.  I got a number of pictures of his behind, but then as he came to an opening to cross a portion of a Game Commission field, he stopped and looked at me. He was rather close, but did not seem to mind I was there.  It was an exhilarating moment, but a tough one from a photographic viewpoint.  I opened the aperture almost wide open and took the ISO to 2000.  I was amazed and pleased with the results that I got.  keep in mind that this is an un-cropped photograph!

The backlighting made his nose and fur glow, but the nostrils, eye and hair are still crisp even at high ISO.

Eagles and Songbirds

Spring and fall are my favorite seasons.  IN the spring we get to see the gradual transformation of bleak looking woodlands to light green foliage.  The songbirds and game birds are in full mating colors and bird activity is at a peak.  Joan and I spend a considerable amount of time observing a few eagle nests to see which ones are going to be successful in raising at least one chick for the season.   The early warm weather this year has made the observation process more comfortable than normal.  here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Darling Run Eagle--I still have not gotten his leg band number. It is New York State and has a 4 in it. Maybe next week.

N79 from Little Pine-Male born on Mohawk River in New York State.

Technically not a good picture-but interesting capture.  There are two eagle chicks in the nest (Darling Run)

Little Pine proud parents taking a rest in between fishing trips to feed junior.

Backyard Friend.

Towhee in full mating Plumage.

Bird In Flight Practice

The weekend was dreary and cold on Saturday and I was able to practice on eagles at long distance and some eagles flying.  The pictures were sharp, but due to the ISO I tried using (3200 to 4000) the pictures were not usable.  Today provided a better opportunity to test in flight focus tracking.  Four osprey provided the opportunity to take multiple shots at various ISO and shutter speeds.  

ISO 1000, f7.1 1/3200, +1 EC

ISO 1000, f 7.1, 1/2000, +1 EC

ISO 1000, f7.1, 1/1250 +1 EC

Mallards and Backyard Birds

Went out this evening in search of eagles and wood ducks.  Found neither, but enjoyed the antics a few mallards at local lake.  Good chance to try out a different camera and lens (Mk IV and 600 f4)

Pheasant and Owl

Went to check on eagle nests on Friday and found two of the nests we observe have hatched chicks.  The photography opportunities were not there for the eagles so a side trip in the woods was taken.  The pheasant was looking for a mate and he caught me by surprise so I took his photos hand held.

Had a great time listening to the owls hooting again.

This is our backyard friend from this morning

Liberty Marsh

I had to travel to northwestern New Nersey to give a presentation on rifle tuning on Saturday and the trip took us through Liberty Marsh.  So, on the way home we stopped to see what we could see.  It was a cool, clear day with harsh light.  We saw swans, a female northern harrier, a female sharp shinned hawk, ring neck ducks, red head ducks, mallards, ring billed gulls, and five red tail hawks,  three of the hawks buzzed close over our heads and one landed on the power line close to us.  He studied a photographer friend very closely and suddenly launched from the wire and flew directly at him and almost planted his talons his skull.  Some of the pictures turned out well.