Posts in Category: action
that’s a real Raven’s breakfast!
Raven with prey. Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
One of the great things about Bosque del Apache National Wildlife is that, right along side the major spectacle of the 30,000 Snow Geese and 14,000 Sandhill Cranes, you have all the other wildlife of the Rio Grande Valley high desert…and wildlife that seems somehow more accessible than it is outside the refuge. We watched this Raven devour some anonymous chunk of meat…and then drop down into the water channel and come back up with the next course…which is some kind of mouse or vole. It flew off with it pretty much intact. The Raven, seen this close up, is a beautiful bird, and demonstrated its hunting power for us.
Nikon P900 at 1750mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 110 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
In Sync. Snow Geese
Snow Geese. Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
It always takes me a couple of days at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to get my flight shot hand in. Practice! And there is no better place to practice flight shots. The Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese are always in the air, and relatively close. One of the amazing things about the Geese is how closely they fly…and how synchronized their wings are.
Nikon P610 at 1200mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed and cropped slightly in Lightroom.
Snow Geese!
Snow Geese panic, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
Hundreds in the air at once. A Harrier put them up. It is an experience you never forget.
Nikon P900. Processed in Lightroom.
Cranes in Winter!
Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
Well not quite winter…but definitely snow on the mountains this morning at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the Festival of the Cranes. I stood on the Coyote deck for a half hour waiting for, and trying for, this shot. There was one spot of sun on the snowy mountains, and occasionally Sandhill Cranes moving up the refuge would pass in front of the spot. Photo in the making. 🙂
Nikon P900 at just under 1000mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 400 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Festival of the Cranes (posting schedule)
Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM.
Friends and followers. I am at the Festival of the Cranes, at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for the next 6 days. One of the things about Bosque is that you want, as many days as possible, to be on the refuge at dawn. This is especially important when, like me, you are actually “working” the festival, and have most of your daylight hours already committed to “inside” activities. So, for the next week or so, my posting schedule for Pic for Today is going to be skewed. Most days my post will not arrive until late in the day…perhaps even evening. So we will kick it off with this special edition afternoon post.
Sandhill Cranes are not the Cranes the Festival was named for…back in the 80s the Sandhill flock at Bosque del Apache included several “fostered” Wooping Cranes. They all eventually died out, including the only offspring…a single hybrid Sandhill/Wooper. However, the festival remains…now as a continuing celebration of Bosque’s winter population of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. It is, according to some authorities, the oldest birding festival in the US. It is a big deal in Socorro…filling every available hotel room most years…and fostering a range of local spin-offs including a craft fair, an art fair, and lots of community dinners offered by churches and civic organizations.
The Sandhills are majestic, prehistoric looking and sounding birds, beautiful feeding or in flight. This shot is with the Nikon P900 at about 950mm equivalent field of view. Sports Mode to catch the action.
So, watch for the Pic for Today posts later in the day for the next while. I promise it will be worth the wait.
Variegated Meadowhawk
We are Albuquerque New Mexico on a somewhat lieserly trip to the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache NWR this morning, but this is from our last festival in South Texas.
The Veriegated Meadowhawk is one of the showier dragonflies. This specimen, from the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas is a particularly bright one.
Nikon P610 at 2300mm equivalent field of view (using some digital Perfect Image Zoom) from about 7 feet. 1/250 @ ISO 220 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Little Green
Green Kingfisher, Estero Llano Grande SP and World Birding Center, Weslaco TX
I always hope for a Green Kingfisher when I go to Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center in Weslaco Texas. In fact, on this, my second visit to the site in two days, Green Kingfisher was very much on my mind. You might say it was the bird I was requesting of the day. The tiny Green Kingfisher is one of my favorite birds. It has color…and it has attitude. In fact it seems to have more attitude than would reasonably fit in such a small body (it is not much bigger than a sparrow). This might be an very immature male, or it might be a female with some interesting staining on the plumage. It is a bird that is never completely still for long. These four shots were taken over just a few moments…as you see…all on the same perch. The light was not great, and there was still a touch of mist in the air from the retreating morning fog, and the bird was a bit far away…but still, I would never pass up a Green Kingfisher! Especially after requesting one.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view…cropped slightly for scale. 1/160th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Wind in the Willows
Eastern Fox Squirrel and Cotton Rat, National Butterfly Center, Mission TX
Okay, so really this has nothing to do with wind or willows. This image makes me think of the book, The Wind in Willows, with its stories of humanized animal friends…Ratty, Mole, Toad, Badger, etc…mainly because it looks like Squirrly and Cotton here are enjoying a companionable meal together, under the feeders at the National Butterfly Center. You know, like nattering away between seeds about what is happening in the gardens, and how the kids did this summer, and the prospects for high temperatures today, etc. Yes, I know how anthropomorphic that is, but I can’t help it. The Wind in the Willows, despite its talking animals, is one of my favorite books. In fact, after taking this pic, I downloaded a copy for my Kindle!
Nikon P610 at 900mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 640 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom. Cropped for composition.
King of the Hill: Dragonfly Style
Roseate Skimmer and Blue Dasher, Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center, Weslaco TX
I was already focused on the Roseate Skimmer assuming obelisk position (attempting to cool itself in the hot Texas sun), when the Blue Dasher flew in and tried to knock the skimmer off its perch. It made repeated attempts, and, at one point, actually latched on to the skimmers leg. It was over before I could remember to hit the video record button, but I got two shots of the action. The skimmer held on to the perch…and the Blue Dasher settled for a similar perch a few inches away. I have a second shot of them both obelisking.
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 220 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom. The second shot is more complicated. Since the two bugs were not in the same plane of focus, I could only get one in focus at a time, even zoomed out to 700mm equivalent with both dragons in the frame. I took two rapid shots, one with the Roseate Skimmer in focus, and one with the Blue Dasher, and then combined the two images in Photoshop so that both dragons are in focus. Final processing was in Lightroom.
Roseate Skimmer and Blue Dasher
Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl. Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center, Weslaco TX
There has been a Screech Owl in this nest box at Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center in Weslaco Texas for at least the past two years…and it right around a corner in the trail from the Common Paraque that has been roosting beside the path for past 6 years. Two great birds, reliable with a few dozen yards of each other. World-class Birding Center indeed! For those who are new to owls, and Eastern Screech Owls in particular, this fellow is small…not much bigger than a Robin.
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. Flash aided exposure at 1/200th @ ISO 200 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.