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Monday (10/14) I met Terry at the marsh while my son Daren was playing tennis. A relatively new birder who I sometimes see at the marsh told us that she had seen two shorebirds with long bills off the #3 viewing platform. I thought she might have seen yellowlegs or dowitchers. We walked over to the viewing platform and found two Wilson's snipes.
I experimented with the white balance settings. "Cloudy" brings out yellow and brown which gives a warm tone that I think evokes an autumn look.
While "sunshine" brings out green which I think will look better in spring and summer.
We ran into another regular marsh photographer who told us she heard a heron in one of the trees which borders the sidewalk by the tennis court, but she could not see the bird from the sidewalk. I walked a little way into the marsh and found two herons in the tree. I had never before seen herons in the trees on the north side of the marsh.
Daren and I returned to the marsh after I had picked him up from tennis, but the tide had come in and the snipes were nowhere to be seen. We ran into yet another regular local bird photographer who told us there was nothing worthwhile at the fishing pier. We went to Yost Park, where we found a very late season Swainson's thrush. According to the local bird book, the thrush should have left last month, but very few thrushes read bird books or calenders.
The thrush was in the shade at the bottom of the ravine in fading light. The shot was taken at 1/250, f/5.6, ISO = 12800. Edit: One local birder has identified this as a hermit thrush, not a Swainson's thrush. That would be nice, as it would be a "lifer" for me. I'll have to check on it further.
That did you good on the first pic in the series. I'm going to have to utilize the setting and see what happens. Seems I have a little free time, autumn is nearing it's peak in color and I feel a lucky streak of weather coming on.
I got some hummer shots at the marsh Thursday afternoon (10/17) after the sun finally broke through. Wesley was busy defending his territory against two other hummers. Look closely and you can see two and three hummers in some of the shots.
Last three. Wesley finally gets a break in the action.
A note about photographing hummers. It takes a shutter speed of at least 1/2000 to begin to freeze the wings. An ideal aperature setting of at least f/16 is desirable to avoid depth of field problems like you see in some of my shots above, which were taken at 1/2000 and f/8. Due to the light, I sacrificed depth of field for freezing the action.
Red-breasted Sapsucker at the entrance to the Fish Hatchery grounds. We watched it for some time until it kindly moved to the sunny side of the street
October 17 Canon 400mm f5.6L on the 40D
Bill or Terry, Having problems trying to put a positive ID on this bird. I took the photo at the Ridgefield refuge on Thursday. I believe it to be a Sparrow of some kind, an immature maybe?
Any input from the members would be greatly appreciated.
Once again, the fog did not lift Friday (10/18) until nearly sunset. My son Daren and I went to Yost Park hoping to find varied thrush and the barred owls, which I have not seen since August.
At the east end of the ravine we saw a pair of hairy woodpeckers.
female
male
A noisy jay and a single "hoot" enabled us to locate the female barred owl perched in a tree near the parking lot. I walked by the tree at least once before I spotted her.
She was probably watching me the entire time I searched for her.
She began grooming herself, which enabled me to check out her talons.
The owl eventually flew off. Before we left, a male pileated woodpecker landed nearby. It was getting dark and these shots were all taken at 1/500, f/5.6, ISO = 51200.
It went into a burrow and never came out. I assume it intended to spend the night.
Last year Terry and I photographed a female pileated coming out of this same burrow.
Things were so quiet at the marsh Saturday afternoon (10-19) that I had to resort to photographing the resident herons to stay entertained. Although it was dark, the lack of direct sunlight eliminated some of the lighting problems I usually experience with shots facing south once the sun starts remaining low on the horizon for much of the day.
Coming in for a landing.
One heron was perched in a tree bordering the sidewalk. I had to walk out into the marsh for this shot.
The perpetual fog continued through Monday (10/21). As I was walking the marsh past the tennis courts, I noticed some bird poop on the walkway. This is a nature's clue that there may be a bird in the branches over head.
The bird was one of the great blue herons that has recently taken to perching in the trees on the north side of the marsh next to the walkway . Last week I took photos of herons perched facing the marsh. Monday a heron was perched overhanging the sidewalk.
Out in the marsh, an evil minion of the Dark Lord was grooming one of its fellow henchbirds.
The gourds were put up two years ago by the local chapter of the Audubon Society to attract purple martins to nest in them. So far the gourds have only served as perches for other birds.
I was looking at photos in the thread from last winter. I really hope some of the more colorful winter migrants will arrive soon.
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