31 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
A Nuthatch and Cardinal were perched on our bird feeder.
Cardinal and Nuthatch
The Nuthatch made many trips, each time flying away with a sunflower seed.
Cardinal watching Nuthatch flying away with sunflower seed
Next a Downy Woodpecker did the same thing, under the benign eyes of His Eminence.
Male Downy Woodpecker ferrying sunflower seed to be hidden on some tree trunk
A Red-Bellied Woodpecker displaced the Cardinal, but that did not seem to bother the Air Woodpecker pilot.
Air Woodpecker
30 Friday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
BIF, chickadee, house finch, junco, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse
For a photographer, taking pictures of birds in flight (BIF) is probably the ultimate challenge. Birds fly very fast, they won’t wait for you, and you have little control on such matters as lighting and angles. You must shoot at very high speed, bump up the ISO, and just hope that your camera can meet those critical demands.
I have started to do BIF with the small birds around our bird feeder, as you can see in the following photos.
House Finch flying away as a Cardinal looks on
Tufted Titmouse arriving as a Chickadee is leaving
Two Juncos, one landing, the other taking off
29 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
I never thought a sparrow would bully a woodpecker and get away with it. But the following photos taken today show that did in fact happen.
Sparrow yelling at Downy Woodpecker
Sparrow chasing Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker in tatters
28 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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The American Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey. It is famous for its bright yellow and black colors.
Goldfinch in the spring of last year
However, that vibrant yellow belongs only to the male finches, and only in the spring and summer. At the end of the summer, these birds molt, after which males and females look alike, in more subdued and earthly tones. Today I was able to photograph the winter Goldfinch.
Goldfinch in winter plumage
Goldfinch telling a Junco to keep its distance
27 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
That monster snow storm that everyone was talking about over the past few days shifted east and spared our area. There were only a few inches of snow when I woke up this morning and by noon it was over. Using a snowthrower, I cleared our driveway in less than an hour.
I had refilled the bird feeder and many birds came and feasted, even while it was still snowing. The hawk was nowhere in sight, so the little birds ate their fill. A very cute one is the House Finch which stood out with its red, almost scarlet colors.
House Finch
House Finch
Here it is perched on the feeder.
House Finch
Another cute one is the Downy Woodpecker that I have been photographing since he was a baby.
Downy Woodpecker
26 Monday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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A major storm is beginning to fall in our area. It’s expected to become a blizzard with whiteout conditions. From inside the house, I took the following photos of the beautiful birds descending on our bird feeder to stock up for the next day or two, just like people going in and emptying store shelves.
Here are two cardinals looking and waiting for the right moment to fly to the bird feeder, only about 10 ft away from them.
Female Cardinal
Male cardinal
A typical scene at the bird feeder.
Juncos and Cardinal
25 Sunday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Two days ago, I again hung out our squirrel-proof feeder after I had rebuilt its inside. For two days no bird showed up! It could have been the result of the storm which dumped 5 inches of snow on us. Or did the birds give up on us and moved away?
Today, at about lunch time, I looked out and all the birds were back, from cardinals to woodpeckers. A squirrel also investigated, but gave up in less than a minute.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker at rebuilt bird feeder
I know the bird feeder looks “war-ravaged”, but its innards are brand new and work perfectly. After the woodpecker got her seed, she flew to a nearby oak branch to work on it.
Woodpecker on oak branch
Meanwhile, from our yellow magnolia tree, a nuthatch eyed the feeder before flying there for a quick snatch.
Nuthatch aiming for bird feeder
24 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
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Last week, I used a Canon 400 mm lens with a 2X extender to shoot photos of a snowy owl displayed here. Using the extender gave me an effective 800 mm lens at a much cheaper cost than that of a large zoom lens, but it has serious drawbacks. Aperture was decreased by two stops and I could not go any wider than f/11. Autofocus was lost, forcing me to manually focus every single shot. Worst of all, image quality decreased significantly and visibly, even with the Canon 6D I was using.
Yesterday, I left the extender at home and went with my first camera, the Canon 7D, which has a 1.6 cropped sensor, meaning that the 400 mm lens has effectively a 640 mm reach. On the other hand, the 7D has lower image quality than the 6D with a larger full-frame sensor.
The snowy owl was there at Holgate, at almost the same location at the end of the island. There was only one other photographer around, and he left soon after I arrived. Thus I had the owl to myself and for almost two hours I took many shots of it. The sun was high, so lighting was not at its best, and the owl kept his eyes semi closed most of the time. The following photos show him with eyes open. Please comment and let me know if they are any better than those taken last week.
Snowy Owl: There he is again with his camera.
Snowy Owl: Why are you following me? Enough already!
Another problem: after a few shots, the camera indicated that its memory card was full and would not allow any more shot. Without a spare, I had to spend precious minutes deleting a couple of hundred older images, one by one… Fortunately, the owl did not mind and remained at his station, patiently waiting. Don’t leave home without a spare memory card!
24 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday I again went to the Holgate section of the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Temperatures started below freezing but by noon they had reached 38 F (3 C), there was no wind, so it was a relatively pleasant stroll for me.
Along the beach there were literally tens of thousands of dunlins, many asleep. Dunlins, a kind of sandpiper, breed in the tundra near the Artic, and in the winter migrate to the East Coast as far down as Florida.
Dunlins
Once in a while, they would all fly up in unison.
Dunlins flying up
Dunlins flying up
Then they would land ahead of me.
Dunlins landing
This is how they looked after landing. This taking off and landing took place several times, matching my progress as I neared the southern tip of Long Beach Island.
Dunlins
After a while I realized that there were no ducks of any kind in the surf. Last week there were Northern Pintails, Long-Tailed Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, and possibly other kinds as well. The explanation came by the time I reached the end of the island. There was a camouflaged duck-hunting boat bobbing on the water, with several duck decoys floating around it. By the time I took the following picture, the hunters had gathered their fake ducks and were getting ready to move to another spot.
Duck-hunting boat
23 Friday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
A little more than a year ago, I acquired a squirrel-proof bird feeder from a company called Brome. It worked by shutting down the feed holes every time a squirrel climbs on the cardinal ring surrounding the bottom of the feeder. The squirrels launched many attacks against it from every possible direction, in more ways than one can possibly imagine.
Here’s how the bird feeder looked at the beginning of last week. Note that shiny, silvery metal was showing in several places. That’s where the squirrels were trying to bite through metal to get at the seeds, without success.
Red-bellied Woodpecker at feeder
Last Friday, I came home to find the bird feeder lying on the ground in several pieces. Somehow the squirrels had managed to bring it down, or it could even have been the strong wind we had last week. Anyhow, they promptly ate all the seeds!
I called Brome and they immediately shipped me the internal parts needed to rebuild the feeder. It is now almost rebuilt. The cardinal ring was broken in half and had to be glued back together. I am just waiting for the glue to dry overnight before hanging the feeder outside again.
22 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Ponds and lakes in our area are frozen and mostly covered with ice. I went and walked around some of them and saw a few hardy birds. Flocks of dunlins were flying around, landing and taking off near any open water spot.
Dunlins
This herring gull was or had just finished eating a mussel, I believe.
Herring Gull
Other gulls were half asleep in broad daylight, maybe trying to conserve their body heat.
Ring-Billed Gulls
Only one juvenile Herring Gull was doing aerial acrobatics for my camera.
Juvenile Herring Gull
Herring Gull
21 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
After surfers and snorkelers, I would like to show you the Northern Pintails in synchronized swimming. These ducks are known as dabbling ducks which feed on the surface of the ponds where they land. They first look for things to eat by submerging their heads, then they tip their rear end to look even deeper and catch their food.
Northern Pintails looking for food
Tipping
The following photos, taken 10 days before the above, show groups of them similarly practicing the art of synchronized swimming. It looks like they got better at it in the final photo!
Northern Pintails
Northern Pintails
Northern Pintails
20 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Beside the surfers that I saw last Friday at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, there were quite a few snorkelers. The majority of them were Northern Pintail ducks very much focused on finding a tasty lunch.
Northern Pintail ducks, two males and one female, snorkeling.
One of them found something, or maybe he was lonely, and called on the others to come.
Male Northern Pintail: You guys, come here!
In no time at all, he was surrounded by both male and female ducks who happily resumed snorkeling.
Northern Pintail ducks
Northern Pintail ducks
19 Monday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Last Friday, while walking back from the tip of the island at Holgate, I saw that the ocean waves were fairly high, and once in a while I heard the sound of clapping thunder as they crashed violently against the shore. However, one surfer braved it all and seemed to enjoy herself.
Long-tailed Duck surfing at Holgate.
She was engulfed by the waves several times, but persisted and rode the waves fearlessly. She was definitely the bravest among other surfing ducks that day. In the following photo, a wave was about to crash and I clicked the shutter just after several ducks dove in. Long-tailed ducks are known for their diving prowess, able to go as deep as 200 ft (60 m) to look for food.
Crashing surf: there are some ducks in there.
This is what our female surfer looked like after a wave had gone past her.
Female Long-tailed Duck after wave had gone beyond her
Finally, here’s a shot of the wave crashing against the beach.
Long-tailed Ducks beyond crashing wave.
By the way, before starting my hike, I saw some human surfers at the parking lot, clad in their wetsuits. They had decided not to attempt surfing that day and were getting into their cars to drive out of the area.
17 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday I went to the Holgate section of the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to try and capture images of the snowy owls that are known to stay there this winter. Temperatures hovered around a “balmy” 38 F (3 C), but wind gusts were up to 35 MPH (56 KMH) and at times I had to hold on to my camera even though it was attached firmly to a sturdy tripod. With hand warmers inserted into my gloves, my hands were kept warm, but my face was cold almost all the time. The 5-mile round trip hike took 3.5 hours as it was not easy to walk very fast in the sand, especially with a backpack and a tripod. But the weather kept people home and there was no one around during the whole time I was there!
I went to the very tip of the island without seeing any owl. Finally, I stopped and was almost ready to go back when I heard a screech. I turned and a male snowy owl was sitting in the sand among the grasses.
Snowy Owl: Hey, I am here!
After the above shot, he preened himself for a while. This indicated that he was not disturbed by my presence or picture taking.
Snowy Owl giving me the eye
The sun went behind some clouds making the scene slightly darker, which had the effect of making him open his eyes fully.
Snowy Owl with eyes fully open.
The owl seemed to be hearing something, perhaps a potential prey somewhere in the dunes, and prepared to fly away.
Snowy Owl preparing to fly.
He flew, but landed only a short distance away.
Snowy Owl after he had flown a short distance.
Then he shook himself and fluffed his feathers. Birds do that to trap warm air between their feathers and their bodies. So he too was cold!
Snowy Owl with feathers fluffed up.
Then he flew up and soon was lost in the dunes.
Snowy Owl taking off.
Snowy Owl flying away.
15 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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More odds and ends, photos that did not make it to this blog during the past year. I took all of the following photos at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Juvenile ospreys
Adult osprey
Adult osprey
Adult osprey taking off
Finally, a flower I could not identify. If you know what it is please tell me in a comment.
Wild flower. Updated 06-Jan-2015: It is Queen Anne’s Lace as pointed out in a comment by Bà Tám below.
14 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
The following two photos give a sense of proportion between a Cooper’s Hawk and a small bird, the House Finch, that often comes to our bird feeder.
Cooper’s Hawk. Photo taken four days ago.
Today, a House Finch perched almost at the same place.
House Finch on a cold and cloudy day
A Cooper’s Hawk is more than three times as big as a House Finch. However, the hawk prefers to eat birds that are larger than House Finches, such as Blue Jays or Mourning Doves.
13 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
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Last week I saw a pair of mallards swimming at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. I took the following three images, each about 5 seconds after the other. Was the female mallard, the one in brown, yelling something at her spouse? If you like, feel free to write your own captions to these photos in your comments.
Mallards – Photo 1
Mallard – Photo 2
Mallard – Photo 3
12 Monday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
A friend of mine from France created this beautiful image.
12 Monday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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A few weeks ago, the following pair of swans was swimming up and down Spring Lake, which should be renamed Swan Lake, at the Abbott Marshlands. They did not mind my walking along the shore and taking their pictures as they swam gracefully looking for plants to eat.
Mute Swans
Mute Swans
Mute Swans
Mute Swan to Mallards: Good day to you!
Mute Swan close-up. Both swans had a similar size black knob at base of their bill. During mating season, the male knob swells in size, but this couple had finished breeding for the year, and I could not tell which one was the male.
I was told that this pair are permanent residents of the area. They do not migrate to other places like other swans. They breed, raise their cygnets and those eventually fly away, unless they are killed by predators.
10 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
Another cold day as our bird feeder continues to be the gathering place for our feathered friends: juncos, chicadees, sparrows, tufted titmice, woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays.
Cardinal and Chicadee
Red-bellied Woodpecker and Junco
Cardinal
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Suddenly all the birds flew up and scattered in every direction. A brown shape landed on our yellow magnolia tree. It was a Cooper’s Hawk. This was the first time I have been able to take photos of this bird of prey.
Cooper’s Hawk looking at bird feeder
Cooper’s Hawk, very intense
Cooper’s Hawk
The hawk stayed perched on a magnolia branch, gazing intently at the bird feeder, but all the medium and small birds had flown into hiding. After a couple of minutes, it gave up and flew back into the sky. It wasn’t until about half an hour later that our usual contingent of birds returned to our backyard.
09 Friday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
The past few days were the coldest ones of this winter, with temperatures in the twenties or below (around -5 degrees C). The windchill temperatures were worse, forcing many schools to close. I filled up the bird feeder with sunflower seeds and more birds took advantage of it than usual. There must not have been too much for them to eat elsewhere because they emptied half of the large feeder in less than a day.
There was at least one Red-bellied Woodpecker that kept coming to the feeder, and yesterday I was able to finally take some pictures of it. Up until now, it had been a very shy bird and I could never get a good shot of it with my camera.
Red-bellied Woodpecker and Junco
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker with sunflower seed
Every time it snatched a seed, it flew to a nearby tree, inserted the seed in the bark and pecked at it. The following photo shows that behavior, even though I could not get any closer with my lens.
Red-bellied Woodpecker and seed
Meanwhile, the Downy Woodpecker also made its appearance. We usually see more of them than of the Red-Bellied kind.
Downy Woodpecker
07 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
On Monday, as soon as I entered the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I noticed some commotion going on in the reeds. A bald eagle was diving for a fish, there was a splash of water, wings beating furiously. It all happened very fast, and I had only time to take out my camera and take this one shot.
Bald eagle flying low
The eagle did not catch anything!
06 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday, we drove on Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge as the sun was setting. The sunset was not terribly exciting, but as soon as the golden orb dipped below the horizon, the sky lit up in wonderful shades of vermillion, orange, yellow, and purple.
Sunset at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. If you look carefully, you’ll see some ducks still searching for dinner
Today, we woke up to a light snow falling gently over everything, including our deck. This mourning dove sat on a rail covered with snow for a long time, probably asking why I had not yet replenished the bird feeder.
Mourning Dove sitting stoically as snow fell on it
04 Sunday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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This nuthatch came to our feeder in December and took a sunflower seed to take away with him.
Nuthatch
Nuthatches are known to hide seeds in the bark of trees, then use their bills to break them to make the edible part come out, as if it were an insect.
03 Saturday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
03-Jan-2015: The following post has been updated. Northside Jim of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey told me that both of the snowy owls shown below are male. A female would have been larger in size than either of them. Jim’s blogs at: https://exit63.wordpress.com/
The Holgate section of the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge is on an island separate from its Brigantine section, the one I regularly frequent. For the first time today, I went to Holgate and walked along the beach, for a total of 4 miles round trip. It was worth it, as I saw not one but two snowy owls. Less than a mile from the entrance, two birders enthusiastically pointed out a male snowy owl lying on the sand.
Male snowy owl
Another mile from the above male, I saw another beautiful one. Every time my camera beeped, it turned to look at me but otherwise did not seem to mind my shooting
Snowy owl
Snowy owl
Finally it decided that I was close enough, stood up and prepared to fly away.
Snowy owl
Snowy owl saying goodbye
It was truly most majestic in flight, but I could not react fast enough to take any picture. Last year, I did manage to take two shots of a snowy owl, also a female, in flight. Click here to view them.
A fellow photographer told me there was a third one, a juvenile snowy owl, but I did not see it. Juveniles are not as white as adult owls, so they can be well camouflaged amid the dunes and vegetation.
01 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Photography
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This morning, on the first day of 2015, many birds came to our back yard, apparently quite hungry as they emptied more than half of our large feeder in just a few hours. There were chicadees, titmice, blue jays, cardinals, juncos, and maybe others as well.
A pretty female cardinal perched on the yellow magnolia tree and looked at me curiously as I took the following shot.
Female cardinal
Later on, a blue jay landed then took off almost immediately. I barely had time to take this shot.
Blue jay taking off
01 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Village Teacher
Earlier in April 2014, I participated in the A to Z blogging challenge. This challenge involved blogging every day in April (with the exception of Sundays) on themes that started with the alphabets A to Z. One of the recommendations of the challenge was that you also visited blogs of others who were participating in the challenge. This is how I came across a blog describing the book “Village Teacher“. The author Nguyen Hien very graciously offered me a copy of the book to read but circumstances prevented me from reading the book immediately and it was only very recently that I finally managed to read this book.
The Village Teacher
Village Teacher is set in the late 19th century in Vietnam. That alone made the book a great prospect for me to read for I hardly know anything about the country or its history. The events in…
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