Another new one for me this year! 03-12-2011

I did not get out much today I just went down the road from where I live just outside of Rexburg. I was just hanging out by the river to see if any of the Bald Eagles were around, hoping to get a last picture in before I took my camera in to get it repaired. The first thing that I saw was a Western Meadow Lark, this is the first one that I have seen this year. At first I really just saw a splotch of yellow and it took quite of bit of following before I could snap a photo of one. There was probably about five or six of them flying around most of which were females. Latter in the day I actually saw another one at a different location. I did end up seeing a Bald Eagle but it was to far off to do anything but watch. Besides those I saw and heard a few Red-winged Blackbirds which is pretty easy to do now I just have to open my front door. I also watched about 20 Canadian Geese land in a field to hang out with the cows. Latter in the day in passing I saw three Killdeer just on the outside of town another on for me this year.

Western Meadowlark, 03-12-2011, Rexburg, ID. f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm

Western Meadowlark, 03-12-2011, Rexburg, ID. f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

I was doing a little research between the Eastern and Western Meadowlark and they almost look identical. A couple difference is the lower mandible on a an eastern is white where as on the western it is yellow. The lower mandible would be the jaw area. The other big difference is the tail feathers are much lighter on a western compared to an eastern. Check out http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/mlarkdiff.htm for some great details and pictures. 

Busted! 03-11-2011

Busted that is what I did to the screen on my camera today, I was scrambling up a hill and my binoculars bumped my camera. No worries though it is still usable and I have a warranty that will take care of it. I really did not spend a whole lot of time today out and about I took my family to find a couple nearby Geocaches and saw a couple birds on the way.

Bald Eagle. Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i. 300mm. (Camera Raw Edits)

Bald Eagle, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

“Hey look there is a bird in the tree.” “Yes honey that bird is a Bald Eagle.” Well something like that she saw a figure in the tree and said there is a bird that bird just happen to be a Bald Eagle. I went down to the river and tried to get a closer shot well I got a shot as it was flying away and then a couple why it was perched across the river.

Mountain Blue Bird, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5,6, 1/640 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

On my way back from seeing the Eagle I caught a glimpse of two Mountain Blue birds along the road. I expect they are just on their way back to the area.

I went out a little latter to watch the eagle next to the river and there was two of them their an adult and a juvenile. I again managed to miss a great shot as they flew from the tree one at a time.

21 Birds! 03-10-2011

I went for a drive with my family yesterday and was gone for three hours looking for birds. Well it paid off I saw a few birds that I do not remember ever seeing before and I saw some for the firs time this year as well.

Northern Flicker (Red Shafted), Egin, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

Northern Flicker (Red Shafted), Egin, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 328mm.

Red Shafted Northern Flicker, this I would have to say is one of my favorite birds, I grew up knowing what they were and seeing them around my house. With the image of the flicker flying you can really tell that it is a red shafted with the color under the wings as well as at the tail. From the red malar or moustache that this one has you can tell that it is a male.

Bohemian Waxwing, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/500 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm. (Cropped)

This is a Bohemian Waxwing this image is actually cropped for a better view of this one in flight.

Bohemian Waxwing, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/500 sec. Canon T2i, 453mm. (Cropped)

Another Bohemian Waxwing I cropped this one as well and it looks like that it is just about to take flight or jumping.

Bohemian Waxwing, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/640 sec. Canon T2i, 453mm.

This is a good example of the actual distance I was from the waxwings. The waxwings are about the same in appearance and I can not tell them apart. Finding these was quite by mistake I have gotten into a bad habit of seeing a group of birds in a tree and writing them off as starlings. I got lucky and noticed one of them flying around then looked up to see what it was and the tops of the trees were full of waxwings.

Red-winged Blackbird, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/5004sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

The Red-winged Blackbirds are just coming back into the area and if you can’t see them then you can hear them everywhere. They are acting very territorial right now staking out there territory before the females come back. the males come back first set up a territory then when the females come back the females nest where ever they want and mate with what ever males territory it is in (and sometimes others as well). As well I learned recently that the males do a lot to create and defend a territory then when the Yellow-headed Blackbird comes in latter it will kick the Red-winged Blackbird out. 

American Robin, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

I saw the first Robin of the year on about the 20th of February now they are everywhere. It seems to be one of those birds that are common enough that most people completely ignore them, they are quite a pretty bird. It is the same thing with Magpies (I might get hung for saying this) if you stop and look at a Magpie you will notice it is more than a black and white bird. The Magpies feathers shimmer and there is a dark green to them as well.

Red-tailed Hawk, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/500 sec. Canon T2i, 398mm.

Red-tailed Hawk, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

Red-tailed Hawk, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400 sec. Canon T2i, 307mm.

Red-tailed Hawk, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/400sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

A Red-tailed Hawk is a Red-tailed Hawk I see so many Red-tailed Hawks probably close to twenty today and I can’t seem to figure them out. I am constantly thinking or hoping that it is a different type of hawk but to no avail yet.

Bald Eagle, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/320sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

This is one of five Juvenile Bald Eagles that I had flying over head at one time. It was neat to watch as they were scattered in different directions and they slowly came together then all flew off together. I came across two of them again later both perched in a tree not 20 feet off the ground and no more than and 20 feet from the road. These Juvenile Eagles are still trying to figure out what they are doing with their life, they are in the process of trying to decide to stay or go and trying to find a place of their own.

Bald Eagle, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/500sec. Canon T2i, 235mm.

Two of the Juvenile Bald Eagles.

Horned Lark, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/250sec. Canon T2i, 500mm.

This was a new bird for me and it took a while for me to figure out it is a Horned Lark. When I was trying to identify it a came up with one result a Horned Lark I looked at a picture did not see any yellow and disregarded it as the answer. Latter when I found out I went back at looked at more picture and saw the yellow. I was thinking about it latter and I need to pay more attention to details with the pattern this bird has on the face it should be pretty easy to identify. This is also one of those birds everyone has seen and have never noticed now that you have seen it watch for it along road sides near farmland or open areas.

Belted King Fisher, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/320sec. Canon T2i, 500mm. (Edited in Camera Raw)

Belted King Fisher, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/320sec. Canon T2i, 500mm. (Edited in Camera Raw)

Belted King Fisher, Rexburg, ID. 03-11-2011, f/5.6, 1/320sec. Canon T2i, 500mm. (Edited in Camera Raw)

Thank you hun, I was focusing on a million (close to) Common Goldeneyes in the river and trying to get the camera ready and out the door before they all flew off. Meanwhile my wife is telling me “no it is right there it is not going it is right there” not knowing what she was talking I looked up and focused a little closed to the car and saw it, a Belted King Fisher. it flew up the road a little so I got out and followed and and was able to get a couple of good shots. The third image was cropped for a better view of it as well the three images were edited in Camera Raw to bring out a little more detail (I was shooting in pretty low light). This is actually the second one I have seen this year the first one was a quick glance as it sat in some trees before it flew off.

By Complete bird list for today is Belted King Fisher, Northern Flicker, Robin, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, Blue Heron, Chickadee, Magpie, Starling, Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye, some Seagull, Bohemian Waxwing, Sparrow, Horned Lark, Red-winged Blackbird, and a couple others I do not recall right off (I should probably start writing them all down).

Third Times the Charm?

Three days in a row I have seen two different Bald Eagles in the trees down the road from my house.  The first two days it was a juvenile Bald Eagle and today it was a mature Bald Eagle. What I have missed three times now is capturing on my camera either eagle taking off from a its perching position, that is a picture that I have really wanted to get especially with how relatively close they were when I had a 500mm lens on my camera. Although I did not get the shot that I was looking for I did get some great images of the eagles a couple which I have already posted of the juvenile.

This was my favorite that I took today I had to follow this eagle for a while and miss the first 20 minutes of my class in order to get this shot.

I also got quite a few shots of the eagle in the tree before it took off I missed the shot I wanted this time by stepping out of my car it is always something else. Also something to note in the future for my self and anyone else about to get the shot of the day check the image size before you go out. I ended up shooting in JPG all day I am just glad it was on the large setting.

These are the a couple of the images that I got of the juvenile eagle yesterday. Boy if you could have seen it I had my camera down changing settings and looked up and this eagle spread his wings and took off. It was huge! And the color right now for this bird is amazing brown turning to black and white patterns scattered through the underside. I can not really tell how old this bird is but with the size and the color markings I would say that it was close to getting its permanent feathers in soon and 3 to 4 years old.

What is this bird?

I was on my way from church today with my family and we saw this huge bird in the tree it was just a couple hundred feet from our home. So I rushed home grabbed my camera and came back and got a couple of pictures. It was big enough that I was actually questioning whether it was a Juvenile Bald Eagle or not I thought maybe a Golden Eagle. Then I went home and looked at one of the last pictures I took as it was flying away, definitely a Bald Eagle. Although I must say this was the biggest Bald Eagle that I have ever seen.

Bald Eagle Juvy, 03-06-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. 500mm.

Bald Eagle Juvy, 03-06-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. 500mm.

The color in the tail feathers is what clued me into the fact of it being a Bald Eagle.

Bald Eagle Juvy, 03-06-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. 500mm.

As you can tell I was not ready for it to start flying away I did get a few more shots after this one but I was shooting into the sun so they did not come out.

Something else that I did to make sure that I was right on the identification of this bird and that I use on other birds is whatbird.com. In the forums you can post a picture of a bird and have it answered in just a couple of minutes. It is great resource when you are stuck on that bird.

Another bird that I used whatbird.com on is the Townsend’s Solitaire  pictured below. I am fairly new to birding so a lot of time when I come across a bird that I only see for seconds and am lucky enough to get a snap shot of I cant quite figure out what bird it is. This one I did have a clue on, was talking to one of my professors last week and he helped me identify a different Townsend’s Solitaire that I had seen by pointing out white the ring around the eye.

Townsend’s Solitaire, 03-05-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/125 sec. 500mm.

After looking closer again in another picture I also noticed the V in the tail. The V in the tail and the ring around the eye would have been two good indicators to help me identify this bird without a better look.

Technorati Tags: Bald Eagle,Townsend's Solitaire,Juvenile

A good day birding!

I spent a couple hours out looking for birds today and it turned out to be a good day for it.  Why I was out I also got to try out my new Sigma 170-500mm lens and it works pretty well. All the shots in this post are hand held at about 500mm except for the kestrels which I actually used my canon 250mm lens.

Bald Eagle, 03-05-2011, Saint Anthony, ID. Canon T2i, f/10, 1/200 sec. 500mm. (Exposure, contrast, Photo Shop)

I was taking some pictures of a flock of Common Goldeneye ducks that had just taken flight when I noticed this Bald Eagle flying over head. The shot did not come out as clear as I would like but for hand holding at 500mm with low light conditions it is not to bad.

Chickadee, 03-05-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/200 sec. 500mm.

Chickadee, 03-05-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/200 sec. 500mm.

These two Black Capped Chickadees amongst others have recently found the food that I have hung out for them. They also were the first subjects for trying out my new lens it may be a little soft at 500mm but I think the images turned out nice.

Perfect Flight, 03-05-2011, Saint Anthony, ID. Canon T2i, f/5.6, 1/320 sec. 500mm. (W/filter, exposure, Photo Shop)

This was 4th in a series of quick shots that I took as this swan came flying just above the river passing right in front of me.  This is one of the shots that I have been trying to get for awhile (a Trumpeter Swan in flight) and it turned out nice a little grainy up close but it looks nice.

Kestrels,  03-05-2011, Rexburg, ID. Canon T2i, F/5.6, 1/200 sec. 250mm. (Contrast, exposure, Photo Shop)

This was a first for me two American Kestrels side by side the one on the right is the male (the gray blue markings on the wing). This was a shot I was unprepared for so with a little help from photo shop I was able to make the kestrels really pop but at the same time they look like they are a cut out.

Technorati Tags: American Kestrel,Bald Eagle,Trumpeter Swan,Swan,Chickadee,Black Capped Chickadee

Catch up!

Wow it has been a long time since I have updated this blog this is mostly due to the fact that my last camera was stolen and I just updated to a Canon T2i. The canon T2i is a great camera and I really like using it it takes clear sharp pictures it is easy to use and the 1080 p video is great the one real down side that I am getting used to is the amount of noise the shutter makes every time I take a picture. I have been out a lot recently taking a lot of pictures for a couple of reasons including class assignments, I am in the photographic society on campus, and I love to take pictures.  Over the last year I have really started to enjoy birding (bird watching) and it helps that I have a class that requires me to bird and I am really learning a lot actually going out and looking for birds. I am going to try and keep the blog up to date weekly if not more as I take pictures this will be the place to come see them and read about them.