A summer walk at Strumpshaw Fen

There were plenty of majestic dragons and fluttering damsels at a very muggy Strumpshaw Fen on Sunday. Newly emerged dragons lifted from the meadow trail as we walked, their fresh and filmy wings glistening in the harsh sunlight, mostly darters that were not yet developed enough (for me) to identify. Common and ruddy darters appeared and just as quickly disappeared, whilst brown hawkers patrolled, hunted and buzzed at us when we lingered too long. Common and blue tailed damselflies alighted on upright stems off the paths and waterways and a Southern hawker eventually obliged by settling on dead leaves, possibly trying to blend in. Black tailed skimmers always kept a step ahead of us on the paths near fen hide, settling again and lifting off as we approached, rarely realising we would just keep getting closer again.

Black-tailed skimmer

Southern hawker

Vivid butterflies were also out in force, some dark mysteries until opening their wings. Peacocks and red admirals littered the waterside brambles, contrasting with the green foliage. Small and other ‘whites’ were everywhere, like large petals of blossom alighting, then being blown by a spring breeze. The odd small tortoiseshell and speckled wood settled and showed off. Never before had I noticed how furry speckled woods are, usually they are moving too quickly through dappled woodland, chasing their competitors or potential mates.

Red admiral	Peacock
Small tortoiseshell	Speckled wood

The birds were mostly quiet, with most now being in eclipse. An obliging kingfisher at Fen Hide decided to show off with a long bath and preening session as we watched, in little hurry. Here, a little egret also danced whilst trying to spear fish. Tower hide held a handful of ducks, young and begging black headed gulls and a couple of moulting ruff. There was no sign of the reported great white egrets from the previous day. However, the dragonflies and butterflies certainly made up for it – I’m now looking forward to their butterfly and dragonfly safari next month!

A few recent Nickerson photos - summer 2017

 The morning of the big eclipse I was at Nickerson and shot some skimmers and terns...

 



There was a shipping container on the beach, I assume it is used for storing Life Guard and beach maintenance supplies, but IDK...



The paintings on it were pretty cool, I had to shoot them.

-Jon

July Osprey - 2016

July is a great time for photographing Osprey in Maryland.  The chicks are getting big, and still in the nests, not yet fledged.  They are also eating a ton of fish so the adults need to be active to keep up with the demand for food.

In years past I have let other things grab my time and attention and I have missed out on shooting the osprey chicks.

But this year I took a day off of work, and I also took a weekend day and went to 2 specific nests near St. Michaels Maryland to shoot the birds.  There are so many nests in Maryland, but I liked these two because they are near but not too near to land, and they each had 3 chicks this year.

At the first nest I watched as one particular bird worked out, flapping away, gaining wing strength.



What really caught my eye was how the adult was perched slightly higher than the chicks, and was surveying the area but also keeping a close eye on the chicks too.



The other nest I shot at had the 3 chicks, and they spent more time being fed.  The male osprey was nearby and delivered 3 fish within about an hour while I was there for about 3 hours.  It was super hot, above 90/95 degrees.

While shooting from a nearby marina I drank 4 bottles of water to just keep up with the heat and sweat.

The above photos are new posts to flickr.  The below images I have shared already, here's the male at the second nest checking me out while carrying a fish, and then coming in for a landing at the nest.





I really like how crowded the nest seemed and how they were all huddled together so closely.  They were also very eager to eat, and the female (adult) went right for the fish and then repositioned herself to feed the chicks.  The male was more tentative.

It is not that often that I have seen and photographed chicks and both adults in a nest.  Usually the male will stay away or fly away quickly.  This male was similarly edgy but delivered 3 fish, and stayed in the nest longer than I expected.

 

Part of the reason could be the distance of the nest from the shore.  It was not that close - I used a 600mm and crop body (D500) to shoot them, and with a 1.4 teleconverter for some images.  In addition, when the male came by and seemed to do a couple fly-bys checking out the nest and me, but not landing, I backed up slightly, until he landed on the nest.  At one point I also used a cheap wireless camera trigger - where I set up the camera on the nest, turned off auto-focus, and then walked away to see if the birds' behavior would change.

During this time the male caught the fish and then would land on a nearby channel marker and eat some of the fish and wait.  The male, and female actually while the male was hunting, took to the air to ward off other osprey that intruded on their territory.

Each day was about a 4 hour drive round trip, and probably around 4-6 hours shooting. 

 The osprey should be coming back in two and a half to three months.  It will be fun to see them again.

-Jon