Snow Geese in DE MD VA area 2012

Last year (2012) was an odd year for Snow Geese. There were some here and there but it seemed like the largest group was in the Prime Hook NWR DE area. Counts were roughly 200,000!


I managed to get out there a couple times and saw the most I've seen anywhere. But there were so many that they came and went and were all over the place so I doubt I ever saw the "full" group.



On one particular occasion I went hunting for a group that had left the refuge proper, any group really. And I found a couple groups in fields about 5 or 10 miles out.
This group was north west of PHNWR:




I don't know what 2013 holds in the way of Snow Geese. I heard there were some at Bombay Hook last month, and I think I saw a photo with a small number from Prime Hook recently...

But where are the huge number of Snow Geese in 2013? If you know, please share you info in a comment.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon / +nikographer

Peregrine Falcons in Wildwood New Jersey

I went to Cape May NJ this weekend and stayed in Wildwood, which
is just up the coast from Cape May.

Yesterday morning when heading out to shoot for sunrise in Cape May, I heard what I thought could be a Peregrine Falcon atop the building next to where I was staying. Without any light, I couldn't really judge it but had just a hunch. All I could see was something, hawk-like, perched along the edge of a roofline. The call sounds like a PF to me, but I am not so good at judging calls, especially at 6am in the dark.

On a side note, that's one of the things I learned with experience - know that you don't know things. It is too easy to take a tiny thread of evidence and jump to a conclusion... While it is somewhat comforting to feel like you know everything and can ID this or that bird, it is actually counter productive because it can stifle the urge to actually learn more (because you think you know it all already, and can then make a judgement which you then want to defend.)

Anyway, back to my in the dark spotting of a possible Peregrine Falcon. So, that was yesterday, today I slept in and left my hotel a bit late, around an hour after sunrise. I decided to sleep in and relax - since I had already shot: sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise, and sunset in a row.

As I left I heard the same screeching/calling coming from the same spot atop the neighboring building to where I was staying.




So, with some light and this being the second time I thought I heard a PF, I got to a better vantage point and spotted this guy.




Within a few minutes of checking this guy out, I realized there was actually a second Peregrine up there to the right. Before I could try to get both in a photo, the second one took flight and sort of circled over me and then went back to the roof area.



As luck would have it, this was a banded bird and my quick shots seem to show a black and green band, with 22 on black (top) and b? on green (bottom).

The banded bird then flew in to what looked to be a hidden gutter - so my guess is that this pair is calling this building home. It is a somewhat new building in Wildwood, and would make sense that they would pick it. It is around 13 stories tall and the neighboring building I was in was just 5 stories.





I've reported the sighting and location to NJ Audubon folks so hopefully they can get more info on the spot and determine whether or not they are actually living/nesting at that location. I will be sure to check it again as well as the beach nearby - I have heard stories of PF's catching and eating prey along the beach and would certainly like to see that for myself.

-Jon
--50--

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Not in a rush anymore

For quite a while I was in a rush. A panic, motivated, rush, to see, shoot, get, photograph, share. I'm not anymore. It took about 4-5 years of that before it really changed.



So, what was previously a daily task of posting an image, something hopefully grabbing, something cool, is now a weekly, or monthly, or who knows task. I really no longer feel a drive to share. I feel a drive to try to take good images. But not to share, not to 'feed the machine' or keep 'posting to flickr daily'.

I don't know that I am shooting any less. Maybe slightly here or there, but I'm still trying to get out and could be shooting 100's a day, nearly a couple thousand over a weekend when I am at it.

The photo in this post is a foliage shot from Vermont taken a couple years ago. I did not post anything from this trip prior to today.

One of the things I've hoped to do is to shoot during an event, a season, and then share just prior to it when it happens again, say a year or two later. This is now one of those things, I waited about 23 months to finally post some foliage images.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Osprey update June 30, 2011

I haven't been to visit "my" nest in a couple weeks. Last I checked the 3 chicks were doing well.

(6/19/2011)



I visited tonight and was met with a sad sight. One of the 3 osprey died, and is still in the nest.

(6/30/2011)


The chick in the background was really bothered by the situation, just looking at its sibling that wouldn't move any more. And it bothered me too.



I couldn't tell what the cause was for sure until I got home and reviewed the images closely, but I had a suspicion. I thought maybe a hook from a snagged fishing line had managed to be eaten by the osprey. But it appears that the osprey chick got tangled in the line and died from that.

There wasn't much to do, but I reported it to someone that can hopefully get a visit from someone that can remove the dead bird.

And to be expected, mom was still mom, and yipped a couple times. And dad came by with a fish, circled a few times, and then delivered a fish. And then mom fed the (2) chicks.

Life goes on.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Have Fun - Flickr

Every few days or weeks I notice that someone has favorited one of my flickr multi-image posts, and often especially this Red-Tailed Hawk set of posts.





There was someone on flickr, and it hit facebook too, where ppl turned posted individual images in to posting collages or multi-tile images one post at a time....



I first saw it on flickr, but soon realized ppl were doing something similar on facebook to create sets that when viewed as thumbnails created a single image.

Whatever you do with your images, have fun. Post. Print. Sell. Share. Donate. Take images and do something with them - and have fun.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

Maine Osprey 2011

My brother has been getting in to photography a lot lately and found an awesome spot for Osprey in Maine. There's a river and a run of fish going on now, and well, the river's pretty narrow and there's lots of fish and osprey. It's an awesome spot.

A half hour's walk through the woods and then there it is.



Continued...




In a few days I've gone a few times and spent quite a few hours there. There are all show with a 500mm handheld and cropped some...



The spot is setup pretty nicely, by late morning the light is working its way to the side of the river and behind the spot to shoot from.






While there my brother and I were both initially put off because of some hikers and people fishing there along the river. But after a while, I realized that by this not being an untraveled spot the osprey are actually more accustomed to people being around.

Original content posted at http://natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon

All I get is butt shots!

Ok, so, I haven't posted in months. I ran in to someone today and they said "All I get is butt shots!"

I think I might be able to help, and this seemed a like a good topic to tackle.

It just so happens that while browsing past images this one struck me. I had already done the edit, and tonight framed it and added a logo.



So, first thing is - sometimes a butt shot is ok and cool.

But if what is happening is that every time you see a bird it flies away, then yeah, that's a problem.

Birds will do what they are doing until they want to do something else. If you are not there they will do their own thing. If you are there, you can either watch and see what they'd do on their own, or you can influence things and then see their reaction. The trick really is to be observant, and to tell when your presence is affecting things.

With some observation, you can start to guess at what might or might not cause the flight-response.

I've even used that simple premise as a way to get CLOSER to birds. Here's how - if I see a bird, I'm watching, and I see someone else on a trajectory towards me and the bird, I will back off. Give the bird lots of room, so I am no longer a part of the equation. Then I (sometimes, and sometimes succeeding) have tried to predict what the person approaching might do, and what the bird might react by doing. Then I've moved and sat or positioned myself in a non-threatening position, and waited. It doesn't always work out, but some times it does.

Butts shouldn't always be seen as a bad thing.



But if that's all you get to see you need to rethink your approach and try to think like the bird a little.

If you are approaching to the point that the bird always flies away, then, you need to not approach so close and learn to read the birds better. Some birds don't like friends and will always fly away (like a kingfisher) but others will tolerate you if you do it right.


Other things you can do to limit your impact when out looking for birds are:

turn off cell phone

travel alone

put the sun at YOUR back

secure your car keys so they make no sound

secure your camera gear so it makes no sound

wear camo or colors that don't jump out (contrast-wise) while out shooting

Good luck,
-Jon

Original content posted at natureandwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Nikographer.com / Jon