Posts in Category: Pic of the Day
Bewick’s Wren
Bewick’s Wren, Ash Canyon B&B, Sierra Vista AZ
This is another shot from Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast south of Sierra Vista Arizona. Birders pay $5 to sit in the shade of the trees on the property and watch birds at the feeding stations around the yard…and it is always well worth it (photographers pay an extra $15 to bring a tripod in :). Many birders who come are looking for Lucifer’s Hummingbird or Spot Breasted Oriole, the two specialties of the house, but it is a great place to see and photograph all of the birds of the foothills of Arizona’s “sky islands”. This is a Bewick’s Wren, of the interior race of Bewick’s Wren, and it was hopping about under the feeders, less than 10 feet from my chair at the corner of the back porch.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 640 @ f4. Cropped for scale and processed in Lightroom.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird. Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Sierra Vista AZ
On our last day in Arizona, Sally and I visited the Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast south of Sierra Vista. Though it is a modest establishment it has a world class reputation among birders. It is one of the best places for both Spot-breasted Oriole and Lucifer’s Hummingbird. This, however, is a incredibly cooperative Anna’s Hummingbird. It came and sat above us, and allowed me to approach within 4 feet. Not so long ago, there were no Anna’s Hummingbirds in Arizona. They have expanded their range steadily eastward from Southern California over the past decade.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 220 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Eastern Collared-lizardÂ
Eastern Collared Lizard, Ramsey Canyon, Arizona
Birding in Ramsey Canyon was kind of slow yesterday, for whatever reason, but this beautiful Eastern Collared Lizard posing nicely just about made up for it.
Sony RX10iii at 525mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Green Heron and genetically confused duck
Green Heron and a Mallard/Mottled/farm/? duck, Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ
We were back at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ this morning, this time with a group of 25 young birders. The early highlight of the trip was this Green Heron, always a good bird, and especially good to introduce young folks to the wonderful world of birds. It is pretty, interesting, and, when visible at all, they tend to pose nicely. The bird next to it is a genetically confused hybrid between…definitely a Mallard, possibly a Mottled Duck, and very likely a common farm-yard duck…along with possibly others. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f5. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Broad-billed Hummingbird the wrong way around. Happy Sunday!Â
Broad-billed Hummingbird, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, Arizona
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!”
We visited Madera Canyon this morning, in search, mainly, of Elegant Trogons (which we did not find), but of course we had to stop by the Santa Rita Lodge and their Hummingbird feeders to see what was going on. All the usual subjects for a mountain August in Arizona, but nothing particularly unexpected. On the other hand, I could watch Broad-billed Hummingbirds all say. This is a somewhat unique shot. Many might call it a butt shot and disparage it as such, but I like it! I love the bow of the tail and the position of the wings, as well as the grace of the pose…and the colors…what can I say? I like it.
And of course that is part of the Generous Eye. You and I probably do not see the world, or even this image, the same way. And that is okay. More than okay. That is great. The Generous Eye is generous enough to allow you to see differently than I do, and generous enough (speaking personally, most of the time) to appreciate your point of view and value it equally with mine. It takes all our eyes to embrace the vision of the loving creator God. Happy Sunday.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Sora, Sweetwater WetlandsÂ
Sora Rail, Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ.
We had limited time this morning before show hours at the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, so we went to Sweetwater Wetlands, perhaps the best known sewage treatment plant in America. In winter the old settlement ponds, now converted to a birding destination, attract a host of waterfowl and wintering passerines that you would otherwise be hard pressed to find here in the desert Southwest. In summer…not so much…but it is still good for nesting waterfowl, rails and the normal Desert nesters. Today the birding was slow. We did hear a few Soras on our way around the levie trails, but it was not until the third pass by the main observation deck that this one flew across my view while watching an immature Black-crowned Night Heron way across the pond, and landed at the edge of the reeds. Instead of scuttling back in deep, usual behavior for rails, this Sora spent a good 15 minutes in plain view.
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view. (In-camera crop to 5mp.) 1/640th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Bobcat: Arizona Sonoran Desert MuseumÂ
Bobcats, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
We spent an interesting morning at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum on Thursday. The ASDM is one of my favorite places and certainly on of the few “zoos” I really like. The displays are excellent, with natural looking habitats, and of course it goes well beyond, as the name suggests, your ordinary Zoo. It covers the full Sonoran Desert experience… from plants and animals to geology.
So, while I do not generally like Zoo shots, I can not resist sharing this shot of a couple of Bobcats from the Cat Canyon display at the ASDM. It was taken through a window of thin vertical wires that forms one wall of the habitat…so thin that if you are close to the wires and the cats are a good distance behind them, they simply disappear in a photograph. It was a pleasure to catch these two bobcats interacting in the cool of the morning before they settled down for the day.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. Programed Auto with – 1/3rd EV exposure compensation. Spot focus and exposure. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Desert Sunset
Tucson Mountain Park, Tucson AZ
An early post for 8/11’s Pic for Today. First night in Tucson. Sunset form Grant’s Pass in Tucson Mountain Park.
Sony RX10iii at 24mm equivalent field of view. Program Mode with six stop in-camera HDR. – 1 EV exposure compensation. Processed in Lightroom on an Android tablet.
Ruby-throatÂ
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Kennebunk ME
Another shot from the back deck feeding station. Our only hummingbird. A Ruby-throated female that is regular at our feeder. She seems to be the only one in the neighborhood.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 640. Processed in Lightroom.
House Wren in the wood pile
House Wren, Saco Heath, Saco Maine
I have a spotty record with wrens, photographically. I find them hard to photograph, for some unknown reason. I am always happy to try! I am always happy to see on, even if I can’t photograph it. (The obvious exception is the Marsh Wrens of Arcata California with are dead easy to photograph…though I am always happy to see them as well.) So, when I spotted this House Wren hopping around in the pile of broken boards from the old boardwalk at Saco Heath I was delighted. The fact that I got a decent photo is even better! The Civilian Conservation Corps replaced almost the full length of the Saco Heath Boardwalk over the past few summers, and the Nature Conservancy (who owns the property) and the State are doing controlled burns when weather permits to get rid of the old rotting wood. In the meantime it is piled six feet tall in several piles just as you come off the boardwalk into the Atlantic White Cedar grove. House Wrens love wood and brush piles, so it is not too surprising that one or more have taken up residence in these attractive piles.
This has, to my eye, the look of a young bird. I think I see just a hint of left over gape at the back of the beak, but I could be wrong.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 640 @ f4. Processed and cropped to about a 1000mm field of view in Lightroom.