Posts in Category: action
Coyote in the morning sun…
Coyote. Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
I do not generally like zoo shots, but as I have mentioned before, the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum is somewhat exempt from my dislike. The exhibits at the ASDM are very well done…about as natural looking as you can get, and provide the animals with at least of slice of their natural habitat. This Coyote was laying on a rock in the early morning sun in its large enclosure, apparently content. When you visit the ASDM in August, you go early, as soon as the museum opens at 7:30, when the animals are more active, and the heat is more bearable. Coyotes are semi-nocturnal animals, and this one was apparently resting and warming before finding some shade for the day.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 250 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Broadbill in triplicate.
The same Broadbilled Hummingbird three times. Santa Rita Lodge, Maderia Canyon, AZ
This is another Broadbilled Hummingbird collage…three poses on the same branch. I suspect this is a young bird molting into adult plumage.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Broadbilled in flight…
Broadbilled Hummingbird. Santa Rita Lodge, Maderia Canyon, AZ
This might look like a multiple exposure flash shot, like many you have seen of hummingbirds in flight (these are Broadbilled Hummingbirds at Santa Rita Lodge in Maderia Canyon) but it is not. This is a collage of two images created in Coolage, with the feeder in the finished collage removed with TouchRetouch. The originals were shot with the Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view at 1/500th second, and edited in Lightroom. Not that it matters…the effect is much the same. 🙂 And I make no apologies for the digital manipulation. Apps like Coolage and TouchRetouch are tools, and it is the final image that matters. On the other hand, I am always right upfront as to the tools I use to create the image. I do think that is important.
The flight of hummers is always fascinating. The way they move their wings seems impossible. Because this is not a flash shot, the wings are naturally blurred, more as they appear to the naked eye, which, I think, adds to the reality of the shot.
Ground Squirrel at Prayer :)
Ground Squirrel, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum , Tucson AZ
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Ground Squirrels on the grounds of the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson. There might be that many in any equal sized area of Sonoran desert, but I suspect the population is inflated by easy access to the food put out for the other critters actually on display at the museum. If you have not been there, the AZ Sonoran Desert Museum is a cross between a botanical garden and a modern, natural habitat, zoo…with at least one important geological display. It is one of the best displays of the natural history of an area that I have ever seen. And, as I said, the Ground Squirrels seem to enjoy it too. 🙂
I really like the bokeh in this shot, and the pose. All in all it lends the Ground Squirrel a very “spiritual” aspect. Maybe the Ground Squirrels at the ASDM think of it as a monastery…but one that invites whole families. 🙂 Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Immature Broadbilled Hummingbird
Immature Broadbilled Hummingbird, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ
These are the kind of hummingbird pics I prefer…naturally posed on a natural perch…as opposed to on a red plastic feeder. Of course, they were taken near the feeders at Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, AZ. This is another Broadbilled Hummingbird, an immature male, I believe. Note the beginnings of the gorget in the bottom left image. Note also the width of the bill in the unusual pose in the upper right. If you have ever wondered how the Broadbilled Hummingbird, a stunningly beautiful bird by any standards, got such a mundane name…there it is. Look at that bill!
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 220 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Hepatic Tanager
Female Hapatic Tanager in molt, Santa Rita Lodge, Medera Canyon, AZ
We went to Santa Rita Lodge in Medera Canyon for the hummingbirds, of course…but the pair of Hepatic Tanagers hanging around the seed feeders at the Lodge are drawing just about as much attention from birders. The male made brief appearances, but the female was often visible. On one occasion she landed right at the foot of the wall where the observation benches are, just within my minimum focus distance of 16.5 feet. Up close! Due to molt, her features are a bit disheveled, but still a beautiful bird.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Broadbilled Hummingbird
Broadbilled Hummingbird, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ
On our last morning in Tucson, before our drive to Santa Fe, we spent a few hours in Madera Canyon, mostly sitting and watching the feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge. We did hike up to the Trogon nest on the Old Baldy trail, but we knew they had fledged the evening before, and, indeed, mom and pop apparently moved the chick up-canyon during the night. Still, there is always plenty of action at the Santa Rita Lodge. Besides the hummers, like this Broadbilled at the feeder, there is a pair of Hepatic Tanagers in the area and coming to the seed feeders.
I prefer my hummingbirds on natural perches, but this is just such a detailed and beautiful shot that I can not resist posting it. Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 320 @ f6.5. Processed and cropped for composition in Lightroom.
Frog of the morning
Chiricahua Leopard Frog, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson AZ
I think this is a Chiricahua Leopard Frog. We found it at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, AZ. The range is right. The habitat is right. And it matches the descriptions. So that is what I am calling it until someone who knows better corrects me. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 200 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Roseate Skimmer. Happy Sunday (again)
Roseate Skimmer, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson AZ
Those of you were paying attention might have noticed that yesterday I was suffering under day-of-the-week confusion. My daughter Sarah and I are working the Tucson Birding Festival, and we have been up and out early to do workshops or just to get some birding and photography in while it is still only in the upper 80s, and for some reason I woke up yesterday convinced it was Sunday already. It was only after I had written and posted The Generous Eye post for the week, which is my Sunday morning routine, that I was divested of that illusion. Saturday! Oh well, too late now.
Therefore this is the rare week when I post two The Generous Eye posts. What a blessing! For you. And for me!
This is one of my favorite dragonflies, though I only see it when traveling to Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona…states within its range. We do not have them in New England. The color is just so unlikely in nature…so intense…so pink! I had seen them on, what turns out to have been Friday, while doing a workshop at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, but they would not perch for a photo. On, what turns out to have been Saturday, we found two different specimens perched nicely. One was a tattered individual, with frayed wings, but the other was this relatively new dragon. Even it has a little wing tare…life at Sweetwater, with a host of predatory dragonflies competing within a relatively small area, must be rough.
The Roseate always makes me smile. There is, for me, a deep satisfying joy in seeing one, and especially in photographing one. What an outrageous bug! How extravagant…how unneedfully generous…of the creator to have lovingly intentioned such a creature in our world. I have to admire such extravagance. I have to love such a creator. And sharing an image of the dragonfly that might cause you to experience even a echo of that tangle of feelings is just plain fun! Happy Sunday.
Handsome is as handsome does. Happy Sunday!
Gambel’s Quail, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson AZ
We spent the early morning yesterday at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ. Sweetwater Wetlands was one of the first municipal water treatment plants developed with native vegetation and trails specifically for birding. The size of its parking lot testifies to its popularity with Tucson area birders, and with visitors from around the world. In the winter it draws a wide variety of wetland species that would otherwise be hard to see in Tucson’s desert environment, and even in August there are birds aplenty.
This covey of 8-10 Gambel’s Quail were along the edge of one of the berm paths, feeding. I have attempted to photograph Gambel’s Quail in both New Mexico and Arizona, never with much success. They are easily spooked, hard to approach, and fast when they decide to disappear. At Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, even with a sheet of glass between you and the birds (at the feeder blinds in the Visitor Center), it is hard to get them to sit long enough for a portrait. This is the “guard” quail…generally a male…who has the job of standing watch while the rest of the covey feeds. For some reason, instead of leading his covey off into the brush when I came around the corner of the trail close to them, he took the challenge head on, and approached me…strutting his best…his head plume raised…ready to fight me if I insisted! Of course, his covey obediently followed a yard behind…so they all clattered down the edge of the path toward me. He repeatedly struck his best pose on the brow of the trail and dared me to do my worst. My worst was to take a lot of pictures 🙂 The light, behind him and still warm with rising sun, along with his attitude, made him irresistible.
Nikon P900 at about 1600mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Lightroom.
An encounter like this is always wonderful…in the literal sense of the word. It fills me with wonder…with a sense of the greatness of the creator God. And, of course, with an appreciation of God’s love in all creatures. How can I not feel blessed? It is way more than good luck. I can not believe there is not a loving intention behind an unlikely encounter like this, and it gives me great joy to share it with you. That is what the Generous Eye is all about. Happy Sunday!