Posts in Category: New Mexico
New Mexico! Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill: Randell Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2023 — A couple more shots of the Red Crossbills currently visiting the Randell Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe: perched and caught in the act of taking flight. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
New Mexico! Western Bluebirds
Western Bluebird: Camino Real Hike and Bike Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2023 — I think these might actually be first and second brood chicks from this year, still hanging around the nesting area in the Cottonwoods along the Santa Fe River channel beside the old Camino Real route through the city. Either that or the more adult looking one is molting. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 and f7.1 @ 1/640th and 1/1000th.
New Mexico! Immature Red-tailed Hawk
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk: Randell Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2023 — I went up to Randell Davey Audubon Center, in the foothills above Santa Fe, one last time on our last day in New Mexico. We are home now and I am about half unpacked, but taking a break to revisit this very healthy looking juvenile Red-tailed Hawk which was circling the parking lot with one of its parents. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1250 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV.
New Mexico! Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2023 — Red Crossbills are a rare bird at the Randell Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe, though they are common in the mountains above. Something has brought a few down this July…some combination of food supply and breeding success probably. There is at least one adult feeding a fledgling at the feeders in the gardens at Randall Davey. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
New Mexico! Rufous Hummingbird in the shade.
Rufous Hummingbird: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2023 — I went up to the Randall Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe to photograph birds around the gardens and feeders. The Audubon Center never disappoints. The feeders attract many of the birds of that elevation, and a good selection of New Mexico Hummingbirds. This is the season in New Mexico when Rufous often dominate the feeders and I found both adult male and immature birds guarding feeders. I tracked this one down to its perch in the deep shade of tall bush, right between two feeders. It was apparently trying to guard them both…but then that is the Rufous for you. 🙂 Note that in the subdued light of the interior of the bush, the gorget shows as much green as orange. OM Systems OM-1 at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 500 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
New Mexico! Western Tiger Swallowtail
Western Tiger Swallowtail: Camino Real Hiking Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2023 — There is water flowing in the Santa Fe River, still, after a wet spring in New Mexico, which means an unusual amount of birds and insects along the water course where it flows down through a series of parks on the west side of the city and along the bike and hike trail of Camino Real. True it is more of a creek than a river at that point, but along with quite a few birds, I found a couple of nice fresh Western Tiger Swallowtail butterflies sipping minerals from the wet sands at the edge of the river. They would fly over the water and dip for drink, and them, if I was patient enough, eventually settle on the shore. OM Systems OM-1 at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Juvenile Rufous Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird: Bear Canyon Campground, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — I shared one shot if this juvenile Rufous Hummingbird at these flowers in the Bear Canyon Campground above Santa Fe, New Mexico a week or so ago, but I can not leave my New Mexico experience without sharing a couple more poses. The Hummer was very busy and remained around the flowers long enough so that I got a number of keeper shots. In these two you can see the the distinguishing features on the front side of the bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Another selection of Sandia Crest Wildflowers…
Snowplant, Beardstongue (Pentstimon), and California Cone Flower. Capulin Snowplay Area, Sandia Peak Highway, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Sandia Mountains rise abruptly above Albuquerque to the east and slope gently (more or less) further to the east on their trailing edge. The updraft from the Rio Grande Valley at their base drops moisture as it goes over the 10,000 foot crest, and makes the forests on the east side some of most well watered in the Southwest. You can tell by the abundant wildflowers, and rich bird life. Here we have another selection of flowers from Capulin Snowplay Area on the slopes of the Sandia, just off the Sandia Crest Highway. Snowplant is a parasitic plant that is fed by a fungus on the roots of trees, similar to the Indian Pipes we have here in Maine, but as you see, much more colorful. The purple Pentstimon replaces the more common red Penstimon of the lower slopes at this elevation, and the California Coneflowers grow in large masses in the wetter meadows and along the edges of parking areas. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Snowplant at ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th, Pentstimon at ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th, Coneflower at IS0 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/800th.
Yerba Mansa
Yerba Mansa: Leanora Curtin Wetlands Preserve, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — The Leanora Curtin Wetlands are a tiny cienega (a natural marsh) just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, managed by the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens. It features a small pond, boardwalks over the marshy area, some giant Cottonwoods. and acres of wetland plants, including large beds of Yerba Mansa. While comments made by others during our visit lead me to believe that Yerba Mansa might be an invasive exotic, a bit of research this morning indicates that it is indeed native to New Mexico and wetland all the way to the west coast. It is related to the Lizard Tail plants, and the aromatic roots have been used in traditional medicine to treat skin and digestive disorders. The flowers are pure white when new, and get the red spots as they age. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 100. 1-3 @ f7.1, 4 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th.
Sandia Crest Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Sandia Crest, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA — There were hundreds of Red-breasted Nuthatches along the Sandia Crest Nature Trial when we visited last week. New Mexico Nuthatches seem to be quite large by Maine standards. They seem to be pretty much the same size as our White-breasted Nuthatches. In Maine the RBNH is noticeably smaller, by a full size, maybe a size and a half, than the WBNH. The same perky little bird though…always busy. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and given the Machine Learning Maximum Resolution treatment in Pixelmator Pro, then cropped back to fill the fame more, and finished in Apple Photos. I am guessing the net result is a frame of view approximately equivalent to a 2000mm lens on a full frame camera. This is my new method for overcoming the limitations of a 600mm equivalent lens for small birds at a distance. 🙂 ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.