Please remember that the BIRDS AS ART blog is designed to be interactive. The more answers and comments that a post garners, the more you and I will learn. When there are few or no responses, I often ask myself, Why am I doing this?<\/em><\/p>\n Which two of today’s eight featured images are your favorites? Why? <\/p>\n Which is the weakest image? Why?<\/p>\n Which two otherwise fabulous images feature less than ideal head angles? <\/p>\n I will share my thoughts on the above here soon. <\/p>\n Unless it is sunny and cold with a northwest wind, I drive to the lake most mornings when I am home. Then I head back to Granada Drive for brunch at about 9:00am. Sometime near mid-morning, I get back to the lakeshore for my Vitamin D (no shirt) 1 1\/2 mile walk. I get in a half-mile swim pretty much every day that I am home (15 days in a row, right now), and do my bursts most days as well. I have dinner no later than 4pm and then head down to the lake if the wind is right and there looks to be some chance of sunset color in the western sky. Understanding the wind and the sky conditions not only allows me to determine in advance the likelihood of success, but influences my choice of gear. <\/p>\n Today’s eight featured images were created at Indian Lake Estates during the last two weeks. As you view the images, consider the variety of subjects, the various lighting conditions, and the gear that I used to create the images. Thanks to Sony’s Zebra technology, all of the raw file exposures were either perfect or dead solid perfect. Ho hum. <\/p>\n Of course, if you are lucky enough to live in (or close to) a spot where the bird photography is pretty good, the following is always true:<\/p>\n 1- The more time you spend in the field (even when conditions are poor or worse), the more you will learn.<\/p>\n 2- The more time you spend in the field (even when conditions are poor or worse), the more great chances you will have. <\/p>\n 3- When working with basically the same subjects most days, you will, by necessity, look for ways to create new and different images, to become more creative. A good part of that comes from exploring different perspectives. <\/p>\n 4- When working with basically the same subjects most days, you will learn to use all of the lenses and teleconverters at your disposal. <\/p>\n At ILE, I know that Sandhill Crane, two species of vulture, and Cattle Egret can be easily photographed during most sessions. Boat-tailed Grackle, Savannah Sparrow, Killdeer, Double-crested Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Osprey, Great Egret, Anhinga, Limpkin, and right now, Crested Caracara, are present most days. The challenge is to create something different; capturing images that show birds in flight or in action, or bird behavior (including and especially courtship, other breeding behaviors, nesting, and raising young), always get me excited. And even at 30 fps, pretty much every frame is different. (In that vein, I can’t wait to get my hands on a Sony a-9 III (with the option to shoot at 120 fps!) <\/p>\n There are many species that I see occasionally but have never photographed or had a good chance on. Those include Palm Warbler, American Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Common Moorhen, and Purple Gallinule. At my feeders, there are White-winged Dove, Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Bobwhite, and rarely Yellow-throated Warbler and Painted Bunting. <\/p>\n When a new species shows up to have its photo taken, I get really excited. Can you say Sharp-shinned Hawk<\/em>? Over the years, I have tried and failed more than a few times to make a decent image of Northern Harrier. Also in that category is breeding plumage Glossy Ibis. I had one superb chance on that species several years ago in May. I had the shot in focus in the viewfinder. But I waited for something more perfect and wound up with nothing. <\/p>\n The highlights have been many — a Whooping Crane when I first moved to ILE, strutting tom Wild Turkeys, the banner Osprey spring of 2021 with two or three chicks fledging in each of eight nests, the Bald Eagle nest two seasons running, the low-water-level spring Black-necked Stilt nests, and the 2020 Mother’s Day crane nest with chicks! <\/p>\n So yes, I am extremely blessed to be able to get out most days with a reasonable chance of creating a Family Jewel or two. <\/p>\n Today is Tuesday 12 December 2023. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. <\/p>\n Well, with a sunny morning with a NW wind predicted, my plan was to finish this blog post, have my brunch, and answer lots of e-mails. But when I walked out onto the pool deck to check the weather, there was a large cloud in the eastern sky so I drove down to the lake. Here is what I saw: more than 100 Turkey Vultures, 30 cormorants, more than 20 Killdeer, two small shorebirds, most likely Least Sandpipers, three Forster’s Terns, a Ring-billed Gull, at least two dozen Black Vultures, many dozens of Boat-tailed Grackles, six Cattle Egret, three White Ibis, several Mourning and Common Ground Doves, 100 Tree Swallows, three Osprey, one Pied-billed Grebe, about a dozen American Kestrel, and the caracara pair foraging in someone’s front yard. <\/p>\n I am pretty sure that I did not create anything really special but I learned a lot and brain-catalogued some info that might pay off in the future. <\/p>\n This image was created on 29 November 2023 down by the lake near my home. I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f\/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens<\/a> (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. <\/a>) The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Dial. Multi-metering +2 stops in Shutter Priority mode. AUTO ISO set ISO 2000: 1\/2500 sec. at f\/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 5:24:24pm minutes before sunset. <\/p>\n Tracking: Zone\/AF-C with Bird Face\/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. <\/p>\nYour Calls?<\/h3>\n
Blessed at Indian Lake Estates<\/h3>\n
What’s Up?<\/h3>\n
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\n \n \n \n Image #1: Turkey Vulture in flight\/sunset silhouette<\/strong><\/h2>\n