California Travelogue-Day 6

Last day and its going to be a long one, I ummed and arred all night as to what to shot and where to go on the last day, My wife had taken a days holiday but we still left at 6am, Last minute decision made me head towards the coast, We started North of Monterey and i shot a whimbrel and some other waders on the shoreline, i also shot some surfers whilst i was waiting, We then went into Monterey and had a look around and grabbing something to eat before heading off through Carmel and down to the Big Sur, Two areas of the road had suffered from Erosion, It down to one lane i one place as the other side of the road had fallen into the sea!! and further on a huge land slide had the road completely covered, I went to an area thats good for Condors , its was an extremely windy day and they didnt show, So back to the Monterey bay area and i check some places out for Sea Otters, We found one sleeping close in and i took some close ups, I had only shot one otter that week so i was happy to get some images in good light, I carried on down the coast and found an Otter on the beach which is quite unusual, the only other time i had seen one out of the water was when it had been badly beaten by another otter, I set up with the setting sun behind me and waited, I checked through the lens to see if it was breathing which it was, After about 15 minutes i checked the inlet area and there was an otter feeding there so i carefully moved and shot that, Another otter got out of the water near the sleeping otter so i shot that and carried on shooting otters in the inlet before going back to where i started with the sleeper, The light was beautiful and i hoped that at some point the sleeper would wake and have a look around, I had the D7000 with the 600+1.4x so i was not near, Luckily for me the otter stirred and looked around straight at me-job done, I went back to the inlet and shot some other otters and sea lions packing up as it was dark, We got back to the hotel at 10.30pm and after downloading and packing it was mid night, I checked the flights and found that they were early so the alarm was set for 4am-DOH, It had been a fantastic week, Lots of new species for me and some fantastic opportunities to improve on existing images

 Dave

Pond Life pt 3 - Adult Red Damselfly

With the the warm weather and only a relatively short passage of time, damselflies quickly mature into mating adults.  We had plenty visiting us over the last weekend, so I thought I would share a few with you here on today's blog

Dave did a blog quite some time ago about the effects of different backgrounds and on these images you have either the choice of the green foliage or the dark water of the pond surface (with associated blobs of duckweed show through)

 I prefer the more subtle tones of the greens, but the stronger contrast of the dark water does show the colours of the insect more prominently.

It is always worth experimenting with your subjects.

We have now started to see the first of the Azure Damsels so I will look forward to getting some images of those and also the shapes that the mating pairs make.

Martin

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Martin

Subtle Differences

Many species look and sound very similar to each other and i found this out again last week in California, I was at Jims house looking through some images and in particular the Grebe images when he said that's a Clark's Grebe not a Western Grebe, Well firstly i had only shot a Western Grebe once a couple of years ago and secondly i had never heard of a Clark's Grebe, The differences are quite subtle but once you know, there is no doubt
The top image is a Western Grebe and the bottom Image is a Clark's grebe

The main difference is the crown on the crown,On the Western Grebe it goes below the eye whereas on the Clarks the black crown stops above the eye, Also look at the beak, On the western grebe its a greenish/yellow colour whereas on the clark's grebe its more of an orangey/straw colour
So i guess its always best to carry a bird ID book with you just in case, Also locals will help, The thing with the grebes above is that they swim together making life harder if you do not know the difference

Dave

California Travelogue Day 5

I started the day back at the Burrowing Owls area, I drove past and looked at the entrance and it wasnt there and as i was about to leave i noticed a small brown blob in the tree above and there it was, I grabbed the D3s and 600+1.4x as the light was low and quickly took some images, I then checked to see if the Eared Grebe had come back and it had not so i drove over to the bay and set up on the floating pontoon, same as before, Lying flat with a camo jacket on and the hood pulled over my head, I dont know if it really made a difference but the birds came close again, Godwit,Stilt,Clarks Grebe, Avocet and a variety of small wading birds, The light was lovely and it was very enjoyable,Surprise of the morning was a very dark squirrel that came down to the waters edge to drink and got extremely muddy, As i left i checked out a couple of other areas that had been productive and noticed a couple of photographers set up around a tree, I stopped and asked what they were shooting and one guy said to follow his finger as there was a hummingbird on its nest-well my eye sight is getting really bad as i could not see it for looking and only after it had flown did i manage to pin point it, I have to say in my defence it was absolutely tiny, I grabbed the tripod and set up the 200-400 with the D7000 on it and waited, Sure enough after a few minutes it came back and i could see 2 tiny beaks protruding from the nest waiting to be fed, I stayed and chatted with the others for an hour grabbing shots as the adults came back and then the light was too harsh, The hummer was an Anna's and another new species to add to the list, The bright light left a nasty shadow across the adults head but at some points the sun went behind a cloud and the light was even so well worth the wait, I was told that there was another nest but somebody had disturbed it and made an opening to get some shots and the nest had been predated-if you have to shoot birds on the nest then do not remove there cover, Open the foliage if you have to but let it go back in place afterwards, This way the chicks will not be open to predation and will stay cooler-its our responsibility to keep the wildlife safe-no image is worth the loss of life-rant over,I spent the rest of the day downloading images and doing some processing whilst waiting for the light to drop, I picked my wife up from the office and took her to see the owl-both were out and then the hummingbird nest, We then went North to check another new area i had been told about and arrived in beautiful evening light and shot Godwit,teal and avocet from the comfort of my car, I will defiantly be returning to this place,

 Sun Out

 Sun In

Dave

Mini Trip Report pt 2 - RSPB Minsmere - Marsh Harrier v Water Vole

As promised in part 1, I said I would bring you Marsh Harrier in the next episode from Minsmere.

This part though focuses on just one short incident that we observed on Tuesday afternoon when I noticed a male MH flying in with prey.

Taking a series of approach shots, it was clearly a sizable prey and when I zoomed on the back screen of the 7D is was clear that it was a Water Vole.  Which given their endangered status was quite sad really, but they are said to be doing well at Minsmere.

The male bird came in and landed on a pile of reed cuttings and eat about half of the Vole.

After a while he took off with the remaining bit of the Vole, flew across towards his female partner, who was nested down in the reedbed and called her up.

She took off and flew just behind and below him for a great view of a food pass.  It was too far away to photograph but it was a great sight to witness.

I will bring you some closer MH shots in the next part of this trip report

Martin

California Travelogue-Day 4

Another early start and back at the lake, The Eared Grebe is no where in sight and i am sure its migrated off, I take some low Coot images and decide not to hang around, I was driving down the road to leave the park when i see another photographer on the side of the road, I look to see what he is shooting and see a Burrowing Owl, A couple of minutes later and i too am shooting it-another new specie for me and one i have wanted to see and shoot for some time, I talk to the photographer who is a local called Hank Christensen, We spend some time talking and he gives me some local knowledge, Afterwards i head off down to Monterey to meet up with blog reader Jim Lindenthal who was kind enough to feed me and take me to some of his local haunts, Jim has recently purchased a Nikon D700 and a Nikon 500 so after we sat around and discussed cameras and photography, Its always nice to meet up with like minded people and Jim is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet, He lives in a wonderful place for a wildlife lover, before dinner i popped out to the bay and found some Clark's grebes and a few Loons, I climbed down the rocks to the sea shore and waited and the loons soon made their way over and in the late light looked fantastic, I watched a young look preening and waited until it reached up and stretched its wings as most birds do, I went back to my car and looked at the beach, I could see a wader making its way through the surf and had a small amount of time to grab some images, it turned out to be a Whimbrel and i ended the day on a high, After a fantastic meal with Jim and his wife i headed back to San Jose and by the time i had downloaded and charged the batteries it was gone midnight, California was treating me very well and i wish i had more time here

 Burrowing Owl

 Harbour Seal

 Common Loon/Diver

 Harlequin Duck

 Common Loon/Diver

 Clark's Grebe

 Whimbrel

 All Images using Nikon D7000 with 600+1.4x

 Dave

Sad Sunday News

It is quite unusual to see a crow on the ground in the garden.  They come in from time to time for food in the winter but rarely in the spring.  It was when I noticed the commotion by the Wood Pigeons that my eye was drawn to a little grey furry blob by the pond that the Crow was trying to eat.

Sad to say it was an unfledged Wood Pigeon that the Crow had obviously robbed from a nearby nest.

It was not able to eat it while the Pigeons were mobbing it, and it was still there when it got dark, but was gone by the morning, unsurprisingly.

We haven't seen any fledglings this year yet, although I will be expecting Blackbirds any day now as there are three nests in the garden - two at the back and one at the front.

Checking the Wood pigeon nest at the front, she was still sat on it so I guess the dead Pigeon was from elsewhere.

Taken with the P & S Panasonic with flash.

Martin