Flu Season and Birds

Tags

carolina chickadee, dark-eyed junco, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

The flu has forced me to stay home these past two weeks and I have not gone out to take any picture, or visited your posts as often as before. The following photos are the results of my editing of recent shots of backyard birds that show some different views of the two most common visitors to our feeder in the winter.

Dark-eyed Junco.

Carolina Chickadee.

About two weeks ago, I also caught a Great Blue Heron jumping around a pond, probably on a fishing expedition.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

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Taking Photos with an Extender

Tags

colonial lake, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, extender, great blue heron, mallard, photography, postaday, snow geese

One of the must-have equipment for wildlife photography in general, and bird photography in particular, is to have a telephoto lens powerful enough to capture subjects with sufficient details and sharpness, without having to come too close to them. Since most of us can’t afford super telephoto lenses, also called second-mortgage lenses, some of us resort to using an extender, which is much less expensive, to increase the reach of our lenses. With a 1.4 extender, a 400 mm lens  will be equivalent to a 560 mm lens.

I have had such an extender for two years, but almost never used it because the results had been disappointing especially in terms of sharpness. Finally, looking at photos posted by Jerry from Quiet Solo Pursuits here on WordPress, I decided to give it a try with the Canon 5D Mark IV that I have been using since last year.

Following are some of the shots I took yesterday at the refuge and at Colonial Lake under a bright sun with the 100-400 mm lens and a 1.4 extender.

Great Blue Heron shaking a fish.

Great Blue Heron in “flasher” pose facing the sun to warm itself up.

Mallard in flight.

Mallard in flight.

Female Mallard.

Snow Goose.

Snow Geese.

Snow Geese.

Some Favorites of 2018

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, golden retriever, gosling, great blue heron, great sand dunes national park, lotus, northern cardinal, osprey, photography, postaday, squirrel

The following photos are some of the favorites that you, my WordPress readers, have either liked the posts where they were posted in, clicked on their images to see them in larger size, or mentioned them in your comments.

Northern Cardinal, June 2018.

White Lotus, August 2018.

Ospreys, June 2018.

Goslings, May 2018.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, August 2018.

Great Sand Dunes National Park, October 2015.

Great Blue Heron, December 2018.

Squirrel, October 2018.

Jackie, the Golden Retriever, and frisbee, April 2018.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

Great Blue Heron fishing.

Great Blue Heron fishing.

Great Blue Heron fishing.

Great Blue Heron swallowing fish.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron Flying

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

Friday morning, a Great Blue Heron was standing in the water at the refuge, looking left then right. As the light was near perfect, I started to photograph it. When it decided to take off and fly away, I just kept pressing the shutter.

Great Blue Heron standing in water at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.

Great Blue Heron at start of flight.

Great Blue Heron flying.

Great Blue Heron flying and turning.

Great Blue Heron flying and turning.

Great Blue Heron flying.

Great Blue Heron in classic flying pose.

Great Blue Heron and Willet

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday, willet

A Great Blue Heron held in its bill a small fish that it had caught. A Willet had just caught a bigger fish, and flew up right in front of the heron. I was too far and actually did not see this small drama until I got home and displayed the image on my computer monitor. It looks like the Willet was bragging about its catch, and the heron was by no means happy.

Great Blue Heron and Willet.

Here’s a closer look.

Great Blue Heron and Willet.

Monochrome Monday

Tags

cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday

These are some shots I have taken earlier this year, rendered in monochrome.

Great Blue Heron.

Cormorant.

Great Egret.

Birds in Flight

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday

You won’t believe how many times I have missed capturing, or badly captured, birds in flight. Two days ago, at the refuge, I finally was able to get several good shots of a Great Blue Heron as it took off from the marsh.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

On the same day, a Great Egret also put on a good show.

Great Egret in flight.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Blue Heron in flight.

Colonial Lake Wildlife

Tags

canada goose, colonial lake, crawfish, eastern phoebe, great blue heron, photography, postaday, squirrel

Colonial Lake close to home is quite small, but it has a good variety of wildlife. An old Canada Goose, named Hank by the locals, does not seem to fly any more and enjoys eating the bread crumbs and cookies that people throw to him.

Hank, the old Canada Goose.

Squirrels are abundant, and at this time of the year they are stocking up on acorns and other wild nuts to prepare for winter.

Squirrel at Colonial Lake.

An Eastern Phoebe had something in its bill, but I couldn’t tell what it was. They usually eat small insects, and sometimes small fruit or seeds.

Eastern Phoebe.

A Ring-billed Seagull landed with a splash and caught something in its beak.

Ring-billed Seagull.

The champ was a Great Blue Heron who caught three fishes in less than 10 minutes as I photographed him.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron with first fish.

Great Blue Heron with second fish.

Great Blue Heron with a crawfish.

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

Tags

bald eagle, great blue heron, great egret, montezuma national wildlife refuge, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is at the Northern end of Cayuga Lake, one of the 11 finger lakes in New York state. It is less than a quarter of the size of Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, but has much of the same wildlife, with the addition of Sandhill Cranes and Black Terns that are not usually seen in New Jersey.

We drove on Wildlife Drive through Montezuma NWR, stopping occasionally to take pictures.

Marsh Mallows were vibrant and plentiful at Montezuma NWR.

Marsh Mallows at Montezuma NWR.

A young Bald Eagle surprised me by swooping overhead and diving toward the marshes. It was too fast and moved around too much for me to get good pictures, but the following will give you an idea of the drama evolving in the sky.

Bald Eagle at Montezuma NWR.

Bald Eagle at Montezuma NWR.

Bald Eagle at Montezuma NWR.

Bald Eagle at Montezuma NWR.

Bald Eagle at Montezuma NWR.

However, the young Bald Eagle failed to catch any fish.

There were several Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets that landed near Wildlife Drive then stood or walked in the water.

Great Blue Heron at Montezuma NWR.

Great Blue Heron and Great Egret at Montezuma NWR.

Great Egret preening at Montezuma NWR.

Great Egret at Montezuma NWR.

Great Egret at Montezuma NWR.

There were many Ring-billed Gulls and Canada Geese at Montezuma NWR. One gull was hovering over the marshes and crisscrossing the sky, asking to be photographed.

Ring-billed Gull at Montezuma NWR.

Great Blue Heron Fishing

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

Not too far from the Snow Geese, a lone Great Blue Heron was fishing for breakfast, with excellent results.

Great Blue Heron fishing.

Caught one. Small but good to eat.

Looking for another fish.

Quick!

More good eating.

Weekly Photo Challenge: 2017 Favorites – 3

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, great blue heron, photography, postaday, wave, weekly photo challenge

The URL for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/2017-favorites/

This is my third and final submission.

Great Blue Heron spearing a fish.

The following photo has not yet been published previously.

The eye of a wave near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Good Fishing

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

This Great Blue Heron was catching fish literally left and right. In the five minutes I spent photographing it, it managed to snatch five fishes out of the water. They were small but enough of them would be equal to a big catch. When I left, it was still looking for fish.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Flying Birds – Continued

Tags

great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday

There must have been at least a hundred Egrets and several Great Blue Herons at the refuge yesterday. They were very active fishing and flying from spot to spot, a golden opportunity for me to capture more BIF photos.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Here’s a sequence of a Great Blue Heron taking off.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron..

Great Blue Heron Fishing

Tags

bombay hook national wildlife refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

Less than two months ago, I posted photos of a Great Blue Heron under Fish for Lunch. Today, I saw another Great Blue Heron wading carefully in a pool at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Smyrna, DE. I had my camera aimed and focused on it for at least five minutes, but it kept advancing step by step, catching no fish at all.

Great Blue Heron wading in pool at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

Suddenly it turned around.

Great Blue Heron turning toward fish.

The following images perhaps need no narrative.

Great Blue Heron diving after fish.

Caught one! Good size.

Is it going to eat the fish or will it play with it first?

Suddenly, it dipped the fish back into the pool!?

Almost dropped it!

No way it could have dropped the fish!

Fish starting to be swallowed.

Very close to being done.

Almost done!

Done! Can you see where the fish was?

Fish for Lunch

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

When I left the house this morning to go to the recently reopened Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, it was 17 °F (-8 °C), perhaps too cold for the birds to show up. Sure enough there were not many, and most of them were seagulls that live there throughout the year.

However, just as I was about to leave the refuge, I saw a Great Blue Heron catching a fish for lunch.

Great Blue Heron seeing a fish in the water.

A quick stab.

Great Blue Heron came up with a good-sized fish that it had pierced.

It turned toward me as if to show its catch.

A slightly different angle.

It began eating the fish, much faster than you can imagine.

Swallowing the fish, less than a minute after it had caught it.

Down the neck it went.

A final shake and swallow.

Ready for the next one.

All of the above, and some other intervening action, mostly shaking and turning (not displayed here), took less than a minute.

Great Blue Heron, Hooded Merganser, Northern Pintails

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, hooded merganser, northern pintail, photography, postaday

He was standing on a bank of the marshes, his back turned to me, his face to the water. I stopped to take his picture, and as I aimed my camera at him, he turned around, a severe look on his face.

Great Blue Heron: “You there, keep quiet. Don’t scare the fishes!”

So I drove on. The tide was falling, and water from the marshes was pouring out toward the ocean. At one of the outlets, I found a Hooded Merganser swimming by himself, coming very close to where I was, as if he had not noticed me. This was the closest I had ever been to these usually shy ducks.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser, from the back.

Male Hooded Merganser stretching.

Male Hooded Merganser.

There were female Hooded Mergansers in the vicinity, but they were paired with other males. None paid any attention to our handsome bachelor!

I moved on to another pond and saw a pair of Northern Pintails busy in their favorite pursuit: dabbling in shallow water to find plants and crustaceans to eat.

Northern Pintails, male on left, female on right.

After a while, they paused and struck a classic pose, with water still dripping from the male’s bill.

Northern Pintails.

Best of 2015 – Part 3

Tags

canada goose, egret, great blue heron, house wren, nuthatch, osprey, photography, postaday, red fox, snow geese

I take a lot of pictures of wildlife, so Part 3 of this series will be about the birds and animals that I have seen through my camera.

Mallards taking off from an icy pond, February 2015.

Great Egret and Snowy Egret, April 2015.

Ospreys mating, April 2015.

Young Red Foxes, May 2015.

Canada Goose and Gosling, May 2015.

Nuthatch pretending to sleep, June 2015.

House Wren holding meal for fledgeling, August 2015.

Sanderling, November 2015.

Great Blue Heron in Flight, December 2015.

Snow Geese in flight, December 2015.

Great Blue Herons: Flight

Tags

great blue heron, john heinz national wildlife refuge, photography, postaday

Great Blue Herons are large enough birds that I found it relatively easy to photograph them in flight. Here are some photos I took at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge a few days ago. They are of three different herons.

Great Blue Heron taking off.

Another Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Blue Heron in flight, one second later.

Another Great Blue Heron taking off.

Same Great Blue Heron, a fraction of a second later.

All of the above herons flew only short distances to position themselves at a different fishing spot. They probably never went higher than 20 ft (6 m) above the surface of the pond.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Eye Spy

Tags

blue jay, brown pelican, cardinal, eyes spy, great blue heron, mourning dove, photography, postaday, red fox, tufted titmouse, weekly photo challenge

The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/eye-spy/

When I photograph birds and animals, I try to get a good eye expression, or at least get their eyes in clear focus. Here are my entries for the challenge, all from photos taken this year, some as recently as yesterday.

Great Blue Heron keeping an eye on a fish, which it caught just a few seconds later.

Blue Jay with a questioning look.

Female Cardinal modelling for photographer.

Brown Pelican.

Tufted Titmouse. These birds have some of the most photogenic eyes.

Juvenile Red Fox.

Bighorn Ram.

Mourning Dove.

Goldfinch in winter plumage.

Great Blue Herons Fishing

Tags

great blue heron, john heinz national wildlife refuge, photography, postaday

True to their name, Great Blue Herons are the largest herons in North America with striking shapes and colors that are hard to miss. Yesterday I saw a dozen of them at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge on the other side of I-95, opposite Philadelphia Airport. Despite the near freezing temperature, they were busy catching their breakfast.

Great Blue Heron stabbing the pond looking for fish.

Within less than a second, a fish!

The above fellow or gal was very skilled. It caught three fish within 13 minutes!

Another fish caught.

And another!

Later I saw another Great Blue Heron catching frogs.

Great Blue Heron caught a frog.

Another frog caught.

Here’s a shot of a Great Blue Heron spreading its wings. Despite their enormous size, these herons weigh only about 6 lbs (2.7 kg).

Great Blue Heron spread out.

Tossed Fish

Tags

edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday

Two days ago, a Great Blue Heron was stalking fish at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Great Blue Heron stalking fish.

I saw it repeatedly stab at something in the water, but never saw it catch anything, unless it swallowed its prey even before coming up for air.

Great Blue Heron jabbing at something, but came up empty.

Meanwhile, a nearby Great Egret had better luck and seemed to enjoy its tossed fish.

Great Egret: caught one!

Great Egret smiling and tossing fish before swallowing it whole.