birds – Page 2 – ToadMama.com

March 23, 2010March 23, 2010

What Might Have Been

While driving home from Pennsylvania on Sunday, I stopped at the Conowingo Dam near Port Deposit, Maryland to check out the Eagle action.

I didn’t know I was going to stop there.

Why does that matter? Because had I known I was going to visit the dam, I would have been prepared. I would have had my tripod with me.

A tripod is important. A tripod is what supports your camera to minimize movement. Minimizing movement matters most when using a zoom lens, when even the slightest movement blurs your image.

Even though I was bracing my camera against a fence, it still moved ever so slightly. And that, unfortunately, was enough movement to blur my shots.

Now, had I used a tripod, I could have had some cool, clear photographs. Instead, I ended up with a lot of grainy/noisy snapshots. Yes, you can see what is in the pictures, but the pictures are blurry. And they’ve all been edited to get them to this poor level of quality.

Normally, I wouldn’t even post images that are this bad. For someone like me, capturing a barely recognizable image isn’t good enough. I want focus. Clarity.

When I do finally get to Conowingo with a tripod, I’ll show you the difference. For now, you just have to settle for what might have been some great shots if only I’d been prepared.

This image was captured with my standard lens. It is close to what the average person sees with the naked eye. The two arrows show the areas of focus for most of the following shots. They are pretty far away.

Had I used a tripod, you would have seen a cool picture of seven, yes SEVEN, Great Blue Herons and one Cormorant (on the right in the vertical middle) fishing. You would have been able to tell, without squinting really hard and using a bit of imagination that the bird in the center of the shot has a fish in its mouth. (NOTE: If you click on any of these images, you’ll get a bigger view.)

If I’d had my tripod, this might have been a great shot of a Bald Eagle joining the fishing party.

If I’d been prepared, you would’ve seen a clear shot of a second Eagle taking off from this big rock to score himself a fish.

unprepared_6 — Immature Eagle Chasing Adult Eagle

Having a tripod wouldn’t have helped this shot much. I tried my best to get a shot of this immature Eagle (brown head) chasing the adult Eagle (white head).

This might have been a clear image of the two Eagles landing. Perhaps you would have noticed the Great Blue Heron in the middle of the frame without me having to tell you it is there. Notice all the pigeons sitting still on the rock that Eagle is about to occupy? You know the fishing is good when pigeons are of no interest to an Eagle. In any other setting, one or more of those pigeons probably would have been lunch.

unprepared_8 — Great Blue Heron In Flight

The tripod wouldn’t have helped this one either. I had to track the bird with my lens while focusing manually hoping for at least one clear image.

This might have been a nice shot of that same Great Blue Heron landing in the foreground while the two Eagles look on.

Perhaps this would have been a nicely focused image showing the adult Eagle (left) with seven Great Blue Herons in the foreground, an immature Eagle (center) and nine or ten Cormorants in the background with water cascading over the spillways as a backdrop.

One day, when I have my tripod and actually get some good bird pictures, you’ll be able to see the difference. You’ll know why I find these shots disappointing. I’ll even refer back to this post for reference.

For now, I hope you enjoyed those snapshots of what might have been.

February 17, 2010February 16, 2010

Speechless

Does “speechless” really apply when you are typing?

I hope so, because that’s what I am. I just have nothing worthwhile to talk about. So I decided to share pics instead. Some are mine, some were taken by other people.

Those who know Hubby and I well may be surprised to know I did NOT take the toast picture (it is from Adam UXB Smith). Why surprised? Because that is so like something Hubby would do. And it’s a picture I would love to share. If you can’t see the toast picture, let me know.

I did take this picture. Photographically speaking, it isn’t a great image, but I like the way it looks. I was out in our backyard late this afternoon when I looked up and saw what you see above. I just happened to have my point-and-shoot camera in my pocket. Hubby looked at me sort of weird when I said, “Look at this cool picture I got while on poo patrol.” (It was not Photoshopped at all.)

Know what this is?

It’s our biggest birdfeeder. All throughout Blizzards #2 and #3 we were feeding the birds. A lot. I think our feeder was one of the only ones around being filled.

This female cardinal is sitting on one of the other feeders. I love the way she’s got her head cocked looking at me.

There has been quite a variety of birds stopping in to feed, but the large flocks of grackles are what really empty the hoppers quickly.

flying_pigs_3 — Just a small portion of the flock is shown here.

I know the grackles need to eat, too. But they’re sort of ugly. Their numbers are overwhelming. They scare all the cute little birdies away. I do like the next shot, though.

flying_pigs — You have just entered the twilight zone...

One of these days I’ll go outside with my tripod to get some good bird pics. Shooting through the sliding glass door just doesn’t work very well.

October 31, 2009

A Glorious October Friday

Today was a glorious day. The weather wasn’t picture-perfect, but I wasn’t working, I finally got to visit Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware, where I saw lots of cool critters, and I ended the day in Ocean City, Maryland with two former colleagues and a friend of theirs. We got to do some catching up over an Italian dinner that was way better than I’d ever expect for Ocean City. And tomorrow I’m going to do a 5k.

The weather not being perfect was actually a good thing. If it was a bright, sunny day, I wouldn’t have gotten as many cool pictures as I did. Too much bright light is bad. Especially in Fall, when leaves are past peak and the colors are all so darn warm. If the light were too harsh, the images would not have looked nearly as dramatic.

It’s late and I have a 5k to do tomorrow morning, so I am just posting a few of my favorite images without commentary.

Remember, if you want a better look, click on each image for a larger view.

October 26, 2009

Better Bird Pictures

Can you believe it? I had nothing better to do yesterday, so I went back to Conowingo and captured this picture.

Don’t believe it? Good. ‘Cause I am pulling your leg. This is a Bald Eagle in captivity, taken when Hubby and I visited the Alaska Raptor Center during our visit to Sitka, Alaska in 2008. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, unless you have a big, expensive camera lens or are very close to a bird, it’s hard to get good bird pictures. Here are a couple of their other captive birds.

This is a Peregrine Falcon.

And this is a Golden Eagle.

Don’t be sad that these birds are captive. They are only being held here because they couldn’t survive in the wild. The Alaska Raptor Center rehabilitates birds.

I didn’t explain in yesterday’s post why I went to Conowingo. I mean, I’ve lived in this area for 42 1/2 years and never knew eagles congregate at the dam during the winter. It just so happens that I read about it on a Flickr “friend’s” blog. I don’t know the guy really. I just like looking at his pictures, because he takes really good ones. His name is Jon, aka Nikographer, and I was introduced to his work by another Flickr “friend” — Alaska Dave — in Soldotna, Alaska. I met AKDave when researching our Alaska trip. Dave introduced me to Jon, which is sort of funny since Jon lives in Northern VA. Small world…

So, back to the why. It was through Nikographer Jon that I learned about the eagles at Conowingo. I also learned about a cool place called the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (BHNWR), in Smyrna, Delaware, through Jon. If you didn’t click on the BHNWR link, you missed some amazing Red Fox pictures. He is also the reason I went to Wheaton Regional Park where I captured a nice great blue heron photo.

I’ve mentioned all of this before, but in case you don’t remember, I had to explain again. If you missed my last discussion about these guys, you also missed a very cool Snow Geese video.

If all goes as planned, I may actually get to visit BHNWR on Friday. I’ll sort of be in the area since I’m doing a 5k on Saturday in Ocean City, MD. The plan is to detour through Smyrna on the way. Maybe I’ll get some good bird pics there. If not, that’s okay. Again, I really just want to see the Snow Geese. There’s just something magical about seeing the skies and fields full of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, not to mention hearing nothing but a cacophony of honking.

It’s a bit early in the year, so I might be disappointed. I’m hoping to get lucky though. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

October 25, 2009

Seeing is Believing

After spending the first part of Saturday morning watching my cute little jock of a grandson play football, I drove to Conowingo Dam to see the eagles.

I went, armed with my camera, knowing I was not going to get any great bird images. It was rainy and overcast, so the light wasn’t great. You need good light to capture great details. I also knew I don’t have the right equipment or skills, and presumed, correctly, that the eagles would be across the river.

I know birds. Not as well as some, but better than most. It’s sort of geeky, but it comes from watching birds (as a backyard birder only) and looking at bird books to identify the birds I see.

As stated in an article in Nature Photographers Online Magazine…

Bird photography is a very challenging endeavor, requiring specialized skills and equipment – one does not simply pick up the camera used for family vacation photos and capture compelling avian images.

My camera is decent enough for a hobby photographer (Canon Rebel XT), but to get really good bird images like this one, and this one, and this one, you either need to be fairly close or have at least a 400mm lens, which lists at $1,799. A 600mm like this one wouldn’t hurt either, but with a suggested retail price of $9,199, that’s not an option for me either. (Check out the image on this page to see what that lens looks like when in use.)

Enough caveats? I just want to make sure my photographer friends don’t think I’m trying to say any of the images I’m sharing below are good bird pics. They are merely snapshots to back-up my claim that there are some eagles to see at Conowingo Dam.

Since I don’t have any great lenses, you will need to click on these images to enlarge them if you want to see the birds.

When I first arrived at the dam, I overshot the turn for Shuresville Road on the Harford County side of the river. The first image in this post (above) was taken from the Cecil County side just to show everyone what a dismal day it was.

Once I managed to get to Fisherman’s Park at the base of the dam, I was happy to see there were actually eagles there. There are at least two in this shot of the rocks right across the river.

I walked downriver a couple hundred yards and looked again. More closely this time.

“Holy cow,” I said aloud. “They’re all over the rocks.”

There are at least 18 mature eagles (with white heads) in the shot directly above. Eighteen is a lot of eagles.

Then I looked slightly further downriver and saw even more of the majestic birds. I honestly thought you could only see this many eagles at one time in Alaska.

Quite intrigued at that point, I kept watching. In this image, you can see one flying while others are still perched on the rocks below.

Even if I couldn’t get any great shots, it was fun just watching. I mean, how often do you get to see multiple bald eagles flying around?

I kept snapping pictures, too. I tried counting the birds while there, but it’s hard on a tiny little image screen. Once I got home, I looked through the MANY pictures I took to see which one had the most birds in it. Now, if you count mature and immature eagles, there are AT LEAST 36 of them in the above image. Maybe a couple more. There are some crows and herons in the shot, too.

Thirty-six eagles captured in one photo. I’m guessing there are at least 100 birds of those majestic birds in the general area. Probably more.

It really was neat to see. And they don’t just hang out on the rocks. They fish and fly around, too. I actually saw two, at different times, flying overhead with fish in their talons.

It’s neat just watching single birds soar. But what’s really cool…

…is when two or more fly around together.

I wish I could have stayed longer.

You know what’s really amazing? Supposedly the highest numbers of eagles are present December through February. You can bet I’ll be back there later this year, with Hubby, to see this again.

May 14, 2009

The Proper Authorities

By now, most of you know I work from my house. The company I work for is based outside of Philadelphia, in a not-so-remote area. Actually, the area is heavily populated, although it is not very far from Valley Forge.

I am often amused by the offbeat, but well-meaning e-mails the company’s facilities folks send to all employees. These typically include reports of found items, lost items, cautionary tales of the icy, grassy hills on the property, etc. I used to wish they’d limit the communiques to employees in that building. Then I realized I would miss the occasional bits of entertainment these e-mails provide.

Today’s communication was particularly amusing…

To All:
 
By now many of you have heard or seen the wild turkey hen that is hanging around the property and is becoming a nuisance. The hen has been seen on cars and it has also been reported that she can get aggressive.
 
I contacted animal control about this bird and the only advice they can offer is to be sure that no one is feeding the bird and to give the bird a little free space.
 
So we are asking you not to feed the bird and give her a little leeway when entering the building. Facilities will do our best to see that she stays away from the cars and hopefully she will get frustrated and leave the property on her own.
 
If there are any further instances of the hen getting aggressive please report them to me so that I can pass the information on to the proper authorities.

I can just picture a group of big, burly facilities guys patrolling the parking lot chasing after the poor turkey hen, doing their best to frustrate her. While fellow employees cower in their cars for fear of being attacked by this crazed bird.

I wonder what authorities they would call?

If only someone at the home office had a camera…

You know I would be doing my best to get some pics of the crazy hen.