Birds in the Wild – Page 15 – Circadianreflections Blog

Monochrome Madness 2/12: Clark Grebes Courtship Dance

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015Posted in birding, Birds in the Wild, Black and White Photography, Clark's Grebes, Courtship Dance, Mating Dance, Monochrome Madness2Tagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Black and White Photography, Clark's Grebes, Clear Lake CA, Courtship Dance, Eyes of the Wild Boat Tours, Mating Dance, Monochrome Madness2, Nature1 Comment

Over the week-end several friends and I went up to Lakeport, CA to view Western and Clark’s Grebes doing their annual Mating Rituals. Part of the ritual is the Courtship Dance. It’s absolutely amazing to watch. We went out on the lake with Eyes of the Wild Pontoon Boat Tours at 5:45am. We followed several large groups of Grebes and watched, and photographed their mating behavior.

The males and females come together talking then they get really low in the water face to face, and their voices/tones change then in an instant they’re up; dancing together across the water’s surface!

Sometimes they come together low in the water, talk a bit then change their minds about dancing, other times one will get up to dance and find he or she is all alone in the dance. 🙂

It was a fascinating, and entertaining morning on the lake.

To see all the other entries to Leanne Cole’s week 12 of Monochrome Madness 2 click here.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm + Tamron 1.4x TC| Hand-held| Hoodman STEEL High Speed Digital Film| CS6 & Silver Efex Pro 2

More to come…

Golden Crown Sparrow

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015Posted in birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, SparrowsTagged Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Golden Crown Sparrow, Northern California, Sparrows6 Comments

I made this image last week-end early in the morning. It was quite overcast and gray most the day, and this little Sparrow was inside the canopy making the shot a bit tricky. Since my extender is broken and I still haven’t sent it in I was using my old D300s for the crop factor and I don’t like to take my ISO up any higher than 500 on that camera, so the bird was a bit dark.

I opened up the shadows and exposure a bit on the bird using the adjustment brush in Adobe’s Camera Raw after going through my normal white balance, camera, and lens calibration, and noise reduction settings in ACR. Then I opened the image in CS6 for resizing, added my watermark, and web sharpening.

Using Actions in CS6 to add the final touches this image took me less than 5 minutes to develop.

I like that! 🙂

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 300mm| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| CS6| Tripod

More to come…

On the Fence

February 23, 2015Posted in "Castle Rock Recreation Park", Bird Photography, birding, Birds of North America, Dark-eyed Junco, Goldfinch, Santa Clara County BirdingTagged Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Dark-eyed Junco, Goldfinch, Santa Clara County18 Comments

Two images from Sunday morning. I was hoping to find Varied Thrushes, but didn’t find any this time.

A Goldfinch

A Dark-eyed Junco

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 + AF-S Nikkor 14eII teleconverter| Hand-held| Lexar Professional 600x Speed Digital Film

More to come…

The Surprise Visitors

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015Posted in American Robin, Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Cedar Waxwing, Northern California Birds, Purple Finch, Santa Clara County birdsTagged American Robin, Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Cedar Waxwing, Nature Photography, Northern California Birding, Purple Finch, Santa Clara County Birding11 Comments

This morning when I went out front I noticed a large flock of American Robins in the Ginko trees across the street, and there was a group of another bird I didn’t quite recognize, but knew it was something I’d want to photograph so, ran back in the house and grabbed my camera; hoping I had enough battery charge left to get an image or two!

I got a few shots then looked at them quickly in review mode, and saw that the birds were Cedar Waxwings! I’ve never seen them here before! Can you imagine my excitement? I was standing across the street from the tree which meant the images would need to be cropped in quite a bit so, I slowly advanced closer to the tree firing my shutter the whole time. I got too close, and all the birds scattered like leaves in a gust of wind. My only thought…COME B A C K!!!

Did I tell you that He-Man ruptured his Patella Tendon Nov. 10th? Ruptured…the whole quadricep muscle came off his knee cap! He had surgery on Nov. 12th and has been healing and in rehab since. His Surgeon told him he’d be “out” for the whole season and then some. He’s a cyclist, and a very active guy. This was the worst possible diagnosis. Yesterday he got the “okay” to start driving again. So, this afternoon he drove me in Pearl ( the Subaru Forester) to the post office which is 2 miles from our house.
It was like riding a bike. He was fabulous…moving from the brake to the gas pedal was no problem at all. When we got home he immediately got in Va-Va my 5 Speed Toyota Corolla Sport to take her for a spin, but I had spotted the Waxwings in the trees across the street again, and the light was nice. I begged for 5 minutes! As I was shooting he backed out, rolled down the window and said, “I’ll be fine. I’m just going around the block a few times.” I said, ” WAIT I’ll come with!” He said, ” No need. I’ll be fine. Get the shots.” He was back before I finished shooting. 🙂

5 Cedar Waxwings…

Mrs. American Robin with Mr. American Robin close by,

Cedar Waxwings

Purple Finch

Cedar Waxwing

Fabulous birds in front of my house, and the only thing He-Man needs me to do now that he can’t do for himself is put on his socks, and tie his shoes. Life is good!

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w?AF-S Nikkor 14eII TC| Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film| Developed in CS6

More to come…

The Stare Down

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015Posted in Bald Eagles, Bird Photography, birding, Birds of Northern America, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, Snow Geese, WarblersTagged Bald Eagles, Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Eagles, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, Shorebirds, Snow Geese, Warblers, waterbirds11 Comments

A group of photographers got together last week for our annual trek to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. It was dreary day with fog, and clouds all day. The light was flat, flat, flat. Thankfully there was a nice variety of birds on the ponds.

The first time around the auto-route there was Bald Eagle high up in it’s favorite tree. I call this tree the “Eagle Tree” because there’s been an Eagle perched in it the last 3 years I’ve been there. I wonder if this is the Juvenile Bald Eagle I’ve seen in years past grown up with an all white head now? Aren’t they majestic!

Later in the day high in the Eucalyptus trees there was a juvenile Bald Eagle surveying the land and ponds,

There was a spot of color on this dreary day…

…The Trio

These Snow Geese were the only ones we saw up on the bank. I think one had an injured wing and the other two were keeping it company.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/AF-S 14eII TC| Hand-held| Lexar Professional High Speed Film| CS6

More to come…

A Good Day Birding

January 8, 2015Posted in Bird Photogaphy, Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Pacific Flyway, ShorebirdsTagged American Robin, Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Black-necked Stilt, Eared Grebe, Greater Scaup, Horned Grebe, North America Shorebirds, Pacific-Flyway, Pied-billed Grebe, Winter Migration8 Comments

I was able to get out to do a little birding this week, and it started out on a great note. When I stepped out my front door

this American Robin was in the uppermost branches of the Ginko Tree in my front yard. I took that as a good omen!

Once at the pond I had a good walk-about, and found a couple types of Grebes, and many other wintering birds along with the regulars. Here are several I observed. I have many more I’ll be sharing in the coming days.

Pied-billed Grebe Adult Winter

Eared Grebe Winter

Hooded Grebe Adult Winter? I’m not positive what type of Grebe this is. Can anyone ID it for me?

Black-necked Stilt

Greater Scaup

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| Tripod & Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…

The Poser

January 4, 2015Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Goldfinch Male, Santa Clara CountyTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Goldfinch, Santa Clara County5 Comments

Last Friday, while sweeping the patio, and doing some general tidying up in the backyard I switched the seeds in the bird feeder because the mix I had in it wasn’t attracting any birds. I refilled the feeder with black sunflower seeds, and yesterday quite a few House Finches returned, and there was one Goldfinch Male that landed on the perch, but was quickly chased away by the male House Finches. I grabbed my camera hoping he’d make another appearance, but sadly he did not. That visit prompted me to revisit some images I took in early May 2014 of several Goldfinches.

This one pictured above looked at me then puffed himself all up, and gave me the best pose of the morning. I think he’s as handsome as he does. 🙂

I sure hope that Goldfinch comes back and brings some friends with him.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| AF-S Nikkor 14eII TC| Tripod

More to come…

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