Why did the...

Gallery: AvianPosted January 30, 2010125 views6 comments

********s cross the road?? OK, this is kind of a lighthearted post for a serious avian crowd that does incredibly detailed and amazing work. So I apologize upfront, just thought it was kind of playing off the old saying, but I don't know the species to fill in the blank.

This is from my one and only trip to "The Brig" this past summer at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. To repeat from months-ago posts in this gallery, I found out how totally equipment-defecient I was to go birding. But I truly enjoyed the experience and can't wait for an upgrade to try and capture some more incredible birds. Thanks for looking!!

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Jay Martin on January 30, 2010 at 1:18 PM

Maybe Willets, but not a lot of detail there. Maybe someone who knows shorebirds better will chime in. Not sure what you're shooting with, but there are situations where you can shoot with relatively short tele lenses 200mm. The main thing is to make sure that you are not disturbing the bird or altering its behavior especially during the breeding season. lying still and allowing a bird to approach you is one of those situations.

Registered on December 6, 2005, 200 Posts, 2209 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on January 30, 2010 at 1:39 PM

Sorry Jay, yes the detail is horrible. The story is that the green flies (totally unexpected) were out in SWARMS in certain areas of the refuge, so after about a half an hour, I only got out of the vehicle if a real good opportunity presented itself. This I'm sure was shot thru the windshield which of course doesn't help clarity at all. And I did stay at a distance as you can tell. Thank you for the advice too. Here is a crop of it which may bring a bit more detail to the pic.

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 30, 2010 at 2:34 PM

They look like willets to me Bill, I think the repost looks better.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Dubois on January 30, 2010 at 3:46 PM

The repost has more presence to me too Bill. There's a strong green cast to the image, possibly from your windshield, that could be corrected by adding a little magenta.

Registered on February 22, 2005, 129 Posts, 4739 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on January 31, 2010 at 8:22 AM

Thanks for the info Nate and Ed. I'm really looking forward to going back there, sans the mega-flies.

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Katja Rosvall on January 31, 2010 at 12:12 PM

Answer: To get to the other side!

I like the way the birds are just walking casually. I hope they remembered to look both left and right!

Registered on August 16, 2009, 28 Posts, 636 Comments