Day 362 - Little Darlings

We had a beautiful day with part clouds and part sun.  I seized the opportunity to go check if we have ducklings yet, and sure enough there was a small brood of them scooting around in the water.  They were adorable!  

I took over 500 shots today of flowers, birds and this duck family, but I'm feeling really lazy to process them all.  Therefore, I processed two of my fave shots from the day.

I loved the splash of colours in this, and I got only one chance to photograph these benches - just as I was going to change my position and shoot another one, and elderly couple came over and occupied the benches.  Disappointed! :(

And here are three of the six little fluff-balls!

Day 310 - It's Only Birds ...

... And birds are all I have, to take your heart away

Sorry for the bad pun, but I've had the original song "It's only words.. " going round and round in my head these past couple of days.  I somehow had to get that out of the system.

The first shot is SOOC - this sparrow dropped out of the blue and I was probably more surprised than he was.  Had I been prepared, I wouldn't have cut the tail off the poor soul.  I barely got a shot of him landing on the balcony, which I had to discard as it was totally out of focus, and then I got this one, before he took off. :(

This is a Common Grackle I found perched really high up.   I had to crop quite a bit to be able to get any detail out of this shot.

And the red-winged blackbirds are back too, and what a racket they make!

Day 302 - Sunday Morning Birds

Quick post today, but not without mentioning that the nuthatch images have very minimal post-processing, besides cropping (my 250 mm lens just isn't enough to help me fill my frame with these tiny birds), and a wee bit of sharpening.

However, the Chickadee shot was a different story - I shot the image through a double-glass window, and I had to clean up the image quite a bit in post.

Day 289 - Squirrel in the Tree

One lone squirrel hiding under its tail as the rain poured down!  I have posted something similar last summer, but this sight never fails to amuse.



And this one was from a couple of days ago - this squirrel was running around hoarding food for himself from the pile of loaves someone had thrown out for the birds and these little guys.

Day 246 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "E"

"E" for Egret (catching up from the holidays)

These shots were from my trip.  My friend and I had gone to Lake Elizabeth in Fremont in search of pelicans!  I'd never seen pelicans before, and therefore I had been really excited.  I had also seen fantastic images of egrets that my friend had taken on her walks at the Lake.  When I had almost given up hope of seeing an egret (which I had also never seen in real life), I got to see one!   This is a Snowy Egret, if I'm not mistaken.

Day 236 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "W"

"W" for Warbler (catching up)

A few shots of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler taken in Fremont, California.  I think this is an adult female eastern, but if you think otherwise, please drop me a line.

I have had quite a bit of trouble with my camera and realized that a good camera paired with my 250 mm lens could have gotten me a long way.  However, that wasn't meant to be so I had to crop these photos really tight to see the tiny bird.

Day 182 - Breakfast time!

I spent a good half hour photographing sparrows and pigeons at the bird feeder this morning.  Obviously, at the cost of my breakfast.  But it was fun.  I shot these images through the window, but despite the dirt and spider webs on it, I got pretty clear shots. 

I initially started to shoot from a long distance, not wanting to spook the birds.  My balcony is west facing, and therefore doesn't receive much morning light.  Therefore, I had pretty poor light to work with.  On top of that, the brighter background wasn't helping me at all, despite high ISO and slower shutter speed.  So, although I was worried that the flash might bother the birds, I still went ahead and used it - the birds didn't even move a hair!  That was nice!  

Then I got bolder, and sneaked through the kitchen and planted myself within 2 or 3 feet of the window.  The shots got better.  And the Fall colours in the park in front of my balcony really created a great background for the shots.   

I had a great time doing this.  I will now have to find out what winter birds I might get and prepare to feed them as well.  But I'm worrying about the background when the leaves are gone. :(

Day 96 - By the river

Day 95 - The Baltimore Oriole

Saw this guy foraging for insects just outside my bedroom window.  As I've mentioned in my earlier posts, these little guys are extremely restive and aren't the perching kinds.  They just flit from one branch to the other without slowing down - very tricky to catch without a super telephoto lens either.  This is the best one I got through the glass window.  I blew out a couple others that could have been better handled.

Day 87 - More birds

Two men and their dog gone fishing on the St. Lawrence River.

I spotted two more birds this evening - the common grackle and a couple of cedar waxwings.  I saw a couple of yellow warblers, but it was already too dark and they were too high up for me to snap them.  Oh, well!

This is most likely a lincoln's sparrow, but I'm not completely certain.  

The beautiful colours of the common grackle, captured in the glow of the setting sun.

The cedar waxwing - it very difficult to snap this one as he was hiding behind leaves.  Took a while to get shots clear of branches.  This is the best one I could get.  

Day 83 - Dusk descends by the St. Lawrence River

I finally got to see the Baltimore Oriole that had been eluding me of late.  And not only did I see the male, but the female as well.  I didn't get very good shots since I had to use a very high ISO to get a half-quick shutter speed and also, these birds generally sit high up on trees.  So, a 250 mm lens is definitely inadequate.

The female Baltimore Oriole is more subdued in colour than her male counterpart

The male has much brighter plumage.  I'm just so grateful to him for sitting in one spot long enough for me to adjust, aim and shoot.  These birds are extremely hyperactive and don't stop for more than a couple of seconds on a branch.  I think their level of activity comes down a couple of notches in the evening. 

;-)

I also spent a considerable amount of time near the birdhouse where some Purple Martins and house sparrows are nesting and peacefully coexisting.  Here are a few shots from yesterday and today.

Day 79 - Panning

I have to admit these photos were taken yesterday, but I took so many of them, I figured I could cheat for a day.

Practising this for my flying bird shots - I clearly need to spend a lot more time on this.  Ambient light was very low, since these photos were taken in the lengthening shadows after 7:30 pm in cloudy conditions, so I had to use a very high ISO to be able to crank up the shutter speed.

I hadn't realized then, but now I see the reflections of this group of people standing and watching the birds.  Would have been nicer if my bird had been in sharp focus.

Day 51 - Lots of food, lots of fotos

Had another great class today!  My students for the day were my friendly neighbours.  I'd been apprehensive if at the end of the class I'd be leaving them with a great experience where they'd be happy to bump into me, or just give me a cross look and pass me by.  I kept my friends, fortunately! ;-)

Too much cooking since yesterday, and then cleaning up after - I was exhausted and smelling of curry from head to toe.  So, I just decided to get some fresh air and feed the ducks some breadcrumbs, since I'd disappointed them last time.  I brought a lot with me and threw them around all over the place.   And the birds and the squirrels rewarded me for my generosity (ahem)! 

I also ran into my friends with their newborn daughter and clicked a couple of photos of the baby (not posting them without permission).  So, it was portraits of birds, flowers, animals and babies.  I even did a few quick gerbera shots and reflections before I went for my walk.  

The next one is a shot at high key.  Need to practise this.

I definitely need a macro lens for shots like the one below.  I couldn't get in much closer than about 10 ft to get in close to the ladybug - I was leaning over the railing of a bridge and a little bit more would have seen me land on my face on the hiking trail.