birding – Page 14 – Circadianreflections Blog

A day in the Wild

November 10, 2014Posted in birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Coyote, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, Nature, Photography, San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, WildlifeTagged Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Coyote, Greater Yellowlegs, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, White-crowned Sparrow, White-faced Ibis, Wildlife10 Comments

I spent Saturday at two Wildlife Refuges: Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.

It’s takes just about 2 hours to get there from my house even with a stop for coffee along the way. It’s a fairly easy drive, and the only worrisome part of the drive is crossing Pacheco Pass, and only in the two lane windy section. Fortunately traffic was light going, and not much worse on the way home.

I was hoping to see Sandhill Cranes which my friend Judi shared were starting to return for the Winter.

With the drought being pretty severe here the Refuges have had their water allotments cut way back so, there’s not much water there. I suspect that will influence the number of birds that winter there, and the numbers will be a lot fewer than in past years.

At Merced National Wildlife Refuge there are a couple of observation decks, and a large auto-route with quite a few pull-outs. I arrived not long after the gate opened, and only saw one other car ahead of me. For two hours we were the only people in the refuge. It was really nice not having cars pass me and frighten the birds.

Here are the only Sandhill Cranes I saw. They were in the last field, and as always very skittish. They started moving deeper into the field when I stopped. While I was imaging the group I had the good luck to see two more fly in.

There was a flock of White-faced Ibis here, and they were so hungry they didn’t worry about me at all. There were a few quite close to the road. This one just yawned when I crept up. I love the colors in their feathers.

The White Crowned Sparrows are returning everywhere, even here.

It was foggy when I left home, and there was haze around the countryside, and Refuge. I had hoped to meet my friend Judi here, but the air quality was really bad. There had been a report the night before that the air quality would be bad and people should not go out. I got Judi’s message about that too late; after I arrived at the Refuge. She’s on bottled air and didn’t dare leave the house. You can see the haze in several of the images, but especially in this image of a Great Egret I saw. He didn’t bat an eyelash at my presence! Their stillness and concentration are amazing. I liked the back lighting, and the haze gave the image a soft, dreamy look.

The Coots are back, as are the Shovelers, Mallards, and some Greater Yellowlegs. While photographing the Greater Yellowlegs I put down my camera to take in the pond. You can see how much the water has already receded/evaporated.

…a Greater Yellowlegs

I have a lot of images to go through and can’t share them all in this post. I haven’t even got to the second refuge images yet.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| AF-S Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter| braced with this beanbag.

More to come…

Snowy Plover

October 28, 2014Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Coastal Birds, Nature Photography, ShorebirdsTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Brids in the Wild, Sanderlings, Shorebirds, Snowy Plover7 Comments

This image I took a month ago while birding in Carmel, CA. They’re so little and cute!

Here’s one more. A Snowy Plover watching two Sanderlings foraging in the sand, and I’m sure it has an eye on me too.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/ AF-S Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter= 420mm

More to come…

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”~ Henry David Thoreau

October 5, 2014October 5, 2014Posted in birding, Birds in the Wild, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Golden Gate Park, LensBaby Composer Pro II, San Francisco, WarblersTagged Birding, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Cactus, Flowers, LensBaby Composer Pro II, San Francisco Golden Gate Park10 Comments

I thought of this quote of Thoreau’s while out birding yesterday. “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

A friend and I had gone up to San Francisco Golden Gate Park hoping to see a Porthonotary Warbler. We knew it was being seen in the mornings, and late afternoons, but we both had obligations in the morning and couldn’t get up there, so we left late hoping for an afternoon sighting.

While we were in the area where the Porthonotary Warbler was sighted I spied some movement in the foliage of a huge Cypress tree. I thought it might be a Nuthatch, but it turned out to be a Black-throated Gray Warbler! A first sighting for me!

It was in the foliage so I kicked up the ISO. I used my Nik Plug-in Dfine to help some with the noise. I wish there was a highlight in its eye. This is the best of the images I took of it. It’s such a busy, flittly little bird that most of my images were soft or blurry. One day I hope I get another crack at one.

While hanging around the area where the Porthonotary Warbler was most likely to show up I was noticing the flowers,

and plants around me so I switched my 300mm f4 Nikkor lens for the LensBaby Composer Pro II with the Soft Focus Optic and made quite a few images. Most of which I don’t have names for. Here are several images,

We didn’t see the Porthonotary Warbler, but it was a good day out filled with a lot of beautiful flowers, plants,

nice weather, and good company.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/ AF-S Nikkor 14eII, and LensBaby Composer Pro II w/soft focus optic

More to come…

Life in the Garden-Chestnut-backed Chickadee

September 21, 2014Posted in Backyard Birding, birding, Birds, Life in the GardenTagged Backyard Birding, Birding, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Life in the Garden, Nature Photography2 Comments

Shortly after the mornings began getting chillier here in No. California a pair of Chestnut-backed Chickadees showed up at my feeder. They make sorties for about 30 minutes or so in the mornings then I don’t see them again until the following morning. Since their arrival I’ve been trying to get a good image of them from my window, but I’ve not liked anything I’ve taken as they were too soft, or blurry, too noisey, or something so, I ended up deleting them all. I was quite frustrated I can tell you!

Thursday afternoon I was in the backyard with #1 Grandson who was busy getting into everything he shouldn’t…not being content with his climbing fort, toys, or sandbox as some toddlers are wont to be when a Chestnut-backed Chickadee perched itself on a tippy top branch of my Camellia bush!
Fortunately, I took my camera out with me just in case the Hummingbirds were brave enough to continue feeding with us in the yard. This is the best image of the Chestnut-backed Chickadee I’ve been able to make to date! I hope I’m ready the next time it makes an appearance.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter| Lexar Professional Digital Film

UPDATE on the RUFF- A post by a birder on the birding forum reported seeing the Ruff in its favorite corner of the salt pond today. It had been flushed by the Harrier a couple of times. The Ruff is wounded on the wing, but it can fly without any apparent problems, and is eating. Happy news indeed!

More to come…

P52 38/52 Ruff Winter Plumage

September 18, 2014September 19, 2014Posted in birding, Birds, Birds of Northern America, Rare Birds in North America, ShorebirdsTagged Birds of North America, Briding, Ruff, San Jose California Nature Photography, Shorebirds1 Comment

This was a very exciting sighting for me, and most other birders in the area. This bird is a rare visitor to North America according to my Sibley’s Birds of North America book! It’s been hanging around a local salt pond for over a week now. I had a bit of time yesterday so went over in hopes of seeing and photographing it even though I was going over rather late in the morning. I got lucky! It was there in its favorite corner of the pond, but only for about 5 minutes before it flew off. Thankfully it was enough time for me to capture this image. I haven’t seen any reports of it today, but hope it’s still here.

Now, I want to travel north in the Spring to see the Male in Breeding Plumage. It’s an awesome looking bird. Reminds me of an English Judge and the fashion trend during Renaissance Times.

If you’ve never seen an image of a Male Ruff take a look at Nat Geo’s photo here

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 w/Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…

Sanderlings

September 17, 2014Posted in birding, Birds of Northern America, Carmel CA, Nature Photography, ShorebirdsTagged Birding, Carmel by the Sea, Nature, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Sanderlings, Shorebirds, Wildlife2 Comments

Taken last Saturday morning in Carmel by the Sea, CA. It was still overcast, and a bit cloudy which provided a lovely soft light on these two Sanderlings that were foraging up a little higher on the beach.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter

More to come…

Black Turnstone

September 14, 2014September 14, 2014Posted in birding, Birds of Northern America, Carmel CA, Nature Photography, ShorebirdsTagged Birding, Black Turnstone, Carmel CA, Oyster Catchers, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Shorebirds6 Comments

This little bird is a first sighting for me. I think it’s a Black Turnstone which is in the Sandpiper family.
This one and several others were feeding on the rocks near the shore while some Oyster Catchers were preening or trying to nap.

I always try to focus in on a small detail here and there while out shooting and yesterday the fallen feathers laying on the sand caught my eye~

It was a great morning to be on the coast birding.

More to come…

Taken September 13, 2014 in Carmel, CA- Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 + Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter

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