Category: Birds

Birds @ Village Creek Drying Beds

by Michael

After beginning the day studying for a biology test (yech) and then taking the test and getting an A, I decided it was time for Karen and I to spend a little “us” time out and about with our cameras.

We headed south to Arlington to a place called the “Village Creek Drying Beds”.  Yes, it is a water treatment facility, but there are usually all kinds of birds there.  I’m told that it is a migratory stop so almost every time you go you may see different birds.

We were there last weekend, but shooting from the car with the big lens didn’t work out so well, so I got an Apex Low Profile™ bean bag to mount my camera on while driving through the beds.  The difference was huge!  Instead of just a few keepers from the week before by just balancing the camera on the window, I ended up with more like 80% keepers!

Since I spent the morning on school work, we didn’t get there until mid-afternoon.  Not sure what it was like earlier in the day, but it was not as happening a place as I had hoped today.  But I was able to capture one of my favorite birds, the Red-tailed Hawk.  I saw it sitting on a tree stump, and while watching it, I began to get the feeling it was about to take off, and sure enough it did.  I thought this was a great shot, but it would have been an even greater shot had I not clipped the end of its wing.  I really wasn’t expecting it to reach that far up!

After it took off I was able to capture a few BIF (bird in flight) shots that turned out pretty decent.  Having the ability to mount my Wimberely gimbal head to the beanbag is a real plus!

I did see one kestrel but before I could get aimed and focused, it flew off.  I’m still waiting to get a really good shot of that one.

After driving around the beds for a while, I promised Karen that we would get out and walk some (she’s always trying to get me to exercise), so we parked and walked down one of the berms at the south side of the beds.  To the south, there are several heron nests up in the trees.  It is an amazing sight to see all of those really big birds up in the tops of the trees.  Because of the branches in between us, I couldn’t get a clear shot, but I did catch this one Great-blue Heron wading in the murky water in the shade of all the trees.  It was really amazing that as I was preparing to take the shot, it moved into a place where a beam of light illuminated its face.  I found this shot very striking!

It was shortly after this that one of the “officials” came and started running everyone out so they could lock the gates for the night.  I had hoped to see the bobcat that has been spotted around here around dusk, but I guess today wasn’t the day.

If you are interested in checking out the drying beds, here is a link to google maps.

Maybe I’ll see you out there some time!

All photographs made with the Canon 7D and Canon 600/F4 IS lens

 

Brown-headed Cowbird

by Michael

Well, here’s another first for me.  While watching my back yard get taken over by black-birds this past weekend, I spotted this one off in the corner with a green looking sheen to him.  My first thought was that it was a very strange looking blackbird so I pulled out my handy field guide and learned that it is a brown-headed cowbird.

While having a somewhat unflattering name, I found the colors that were reflecting from its feathers very interesting.  After watching it a while, it flew down and landed on one of my feeders along with some house finches, and they seemed to get along without any problem.

So, if it can get along with the other birds, it is welcome in my yard. I look forward to seeing it more often.

Cedar Waxwing

by Michael

This weekend I was treated to a beautiful bird, the Cedar Waxwing.  This is the first time I have photographed these birds in my local area, but certainly not the first time they have been here.  The truth is that until I became more interested in wildlife photography, there were a lot of critters in my area which I just never noticed.

Saturday, Karen and I returned to LLELA once again for some hiking and photo practice.  I can’t allow myself to get out of the habit of lugging that 600 around or when the time comes, I could end up face-down in the mud on a paid vacation (ouch).  Instead, I’ll take every opportunity to go out and hike and practice.

On this day, the wildlife (birds) were pretty scarce.  We saw a few robins and cardinals that were simply too quick, and I saw some form of a woodpecker, but it was too far away for me to capture adequately so I’ll save it for another day.  But after finishing one trail and about to begin a second, I noticed a bunch of “flitty” birds doing what they do, flitting, around a couple of trees near the pavilion.  As I focused my lens on them, I realized they were cedar waxwings!  As they flitted around  here, I managed to capture a few decent frames of them.  They were really going after those berries on the trees.

Not bad, but photographically, very cluttered, and a bit too far away from the subject.  All those twiggy branches distract from the beauty that is the cedar waxwing.

After spending some time there clicking away, trying to get a better shot, we headed down the next trail.  This trail was shaded and therefore has a little less harsh light, and we were greeted with more waxwings.  What luck.  A second chance with better light.  After chasing a couple of them around the branches for a while, I finally got some shots that I was happy with.  This shot was my favorite of the day.

The darker background, along with some fill flash, helps bring out the bird more clearly in this photo.  And while I liked how it is looking at me over its shoulder, I really wanted a more front-facing shot.  That however, was not to be.  They kept their back to me, no matter which direction I came at them from.

Could this shot have been better?  Sure.  I could have done without the twigs coming out of the bird’s head and the berries could have been more in focus, but the beauty of the bird makes up for some of that.  Some days, you take what you can get.  For all the faults of this shot, it is still one of my favorites.