Day 347 - Osprey

I was supposed to have made a trip to a friend's farm along with some other friends, but didn't end up going because of my poor health.  I'm feeling far from okay, but I just couldn't bring myself to be stuck within the four walls on such a gorgeous day as today, considering we're getting a lot of rain this Spring.

I spent a little while in the forest at the back and tracked down an Osprey couple on lunch patrol.  I also got a few shots of a Tree Swallow and a Myrtle Warbler, but the Ospreys were the stars of the day!

I got a few really clean shots as they came up right overhead, but the ones that would have been the best ones, I didn't have much luck with as they were too far even for my long lens.

If you'd like to see more of these Ospreys, do check out my Flickr photos.

Day 127 - New seagulls sighted

I identified two new seagulls I'd never noticed before - the Great Black-Backed Gull and a juvenile Herring Gull.  The black-backed gull was far, far away on this little outcropping and I got the best shot I could get with 250 mm.  I'm not sure if there's any other way I could have improved it, except maybe to have stopped down a little bit to get that nice reflective sheen on the water.

This juvenile was flying around with quite a bit of speed and I realized that my focus wasn't spot on.  I will have to practise my panning a little bit more.  This shot was more to ID the bird than for use as a keeper.

Day 103 - Forster's Tern

This was the first time I saw one of these.  The tern was fishing and flying around for a bit before I realized it wasn't another seagull.  When I finally prepared to take some shots, it decided to take itself elsewhere.

These cute little ducklings are most probably Gadwalls.  It's difficult to tell by the females if they are Gadwalls or Mallards.  The mother was a few feet away from these duckies, but I wasn't able to figure out the id.