May 28, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
The noise was totally foreign to my ears! I bird as much by sound as sight and when you’re sitting in a blind, the sound is everything so this really had me intrigued. It kept coming from behind some bushes, at the base of which were some Bronzed Cowbirds. Not being a cowbird fan, I ignored them as I looked for the source of the noise. Then I saw a cowbird launch in the sky 4-5 feet and do an aerial display that left me totally dumbfounded. Critters, they are simply bloody amazing and teach me something new all the time. And like usual, brought on a new challenge in visual storytelling!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
The actual aerial display lasts perhaps 10 seconds and it seemed, always a bit secluded. I saw it happen a few more times before I started to figure out the pattern. It was only then once I figured that out did I have a prayer of capturing it because it was so brief and hidden. It’s that old, combining biology with technology equation. What you see above is the indication the male is about to launch. He has an unattentive female he wants to impress. He starts by “puffing” up and strutting a tad. Then he launches straight up, flapping his wings as fast as he can. The was the source of the mysterious sound!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
He hovers in the same spot, not really turning, for a brief time watching the female below him the whole “flight”. He makes no calls, just has the sound of his wings to grab her attention. I was able to photograph the flight numerous times (The D5 / 800mm shutter slamming on CH!). One time the male was sideways to me and you can see the incredibly iridescence in their wing when they do that. And it was not until that night when I looked at my photos did I notice just how alien they looked doing the display! With their head down, their bill looks foreign and those red eyes! Oh my, darn spooky and also so cool. I was hooked and for the rest of the week, constantly looking for the behavior thinking the entire time, it was from horror or sci-fi movie!
Bronzed Cowbird
captured by D5 / 800mm
And once he lands, did it make an impression? You tell me.
You can see and photograph this and a whole lot more on our Texas Bird Extravaganza Workshop in 2020. Come and join us!
May 17, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Yellow Warbler
captured by D5 / 800mm
When you have nothing but green in the viewfinder, anything, no matter how big or small that’s a different color, can’t help but be incredibly visible and smack the viewer. This male Yellow Warbler this morning had to catch its breath which is why I was able to make the shot. Its nest had just been attacked by Blackbirds trying to rob it of its nesting material. It and its mate drove off the intruder successfully but it took quite some effort. It just happened to take rest in the perfect alleyway of leaves that provided the out of focus shapes and color so it’s bright yellow just sings. The saturated light from the overcast skies was perfect last element to finish it all off. Standing on a platform so shooting through the canopy with the D5 / 800mm and putting in the time was all that was required to capture small, with a dash of color.
May 15, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Red-eyed Vireo
captured by D5 / 800mm
My style in wildlife photography is no doubt, “different” in that I love small! Critters are small and take up a small space and I like to talk about both as small as special. I rely on light in my formula to move the eye around the frame to find that critter then gets attached to it. I’m at the marvelous Magee Marsh looking for those two things, small critters and light and found a bunch. When this Red-eyed Vireo started to squirt towards the end of the branch through the D5 / 800mm, I knew I’d found my shot. As long as I got it sharp, I knew I’d love it. That’s cause, I love small!
May 9, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Painted Bunting
captured by D5 / 800mm
Oh, I’ve seen them many, many times. I’ve even photographed the Painted Buntin on many occasions. But those photos were all, “I saw this” when the photo needs to say “You need to see this!” so I have kept the pursuit going. A bird not much bigger than your thumb is on the secretive side of life so you often see them coming into a seed feeder or bird bath. This time of year, you look for the female because typically there is a male close behind. That was the case this week in Texas. We had seen and photographed lots of females. When I saw this male in the viewfinder of the D5 / 800mm, I hit the back button focus and shutter release and finally got the photo I desired. Now, it’s on to improve on this one!
Apr 24, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Western Brown Pelican
captured by Z6 / 500PF
There are lots of rules in life, photography, and following them is totally up to you! I had the opportunity to shoot with the 500PF for our 1st afternoon at La Jolla Cove. Since I’ve not used the 500PF in this kind of opportunity, I went for it. I was sucked into that “shooting with a cool new lens” rather than thinking through what lens I should have shot with. As such, while the Z6 / 500PF is a killer combo, it was way too much lens (all you need is 200mm). That brings up this post’s topic. The photo of the gorgeous male Brown Pelican is really tight, so tight I cut off the wing tips. Most of the time, that’s a bad thing. In this case, you gotta ask, do you have light, color, gesture and if you do, are the wing tips needed? It’s really your call!
Apr 11, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
There are lots of shots I would love, love to add to my files. The only reason, they are ones that have eluded me forever. They are ones I have hints of from other photos. Those hints led my imagination to wonder what would the real, final photo be like? Would the reality be as good as I imagine? This is just one example.
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
Here you have your average male, Sharp-tailed Grouse on the lek displaying. I’m watching him through the D5 / 800mm using back-button focus to lock on and then not hitting it when I take the photo. I do this because I know that when he jumps up, the plane of focus for the eye almost never changes when he jumps. What I don’t know is just how high he will jump. It changes every time. I have him at the very bottom of the frame, sometimes cutting his feet off so when he jumps, he’s all in the frame. What you see is the closest I’ve come to that shot taken yesterday morning. Been trying for years for that shot, looks like I’m still trying!
