April 16, 2017

I was able to make a trip down to Virginia Beach a few days ago. I visited Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge which is a very beautiful place. I walked down the beach a couple miles and enjoyed the waves and sand dunes, not as many birds as I thought would be hanging out in the surf. I did see several variety's of gulls and terns, and brown pelicans.

There is a large fresh water lake behind the line of dunes that was once a brackish backwater. It closed itself off naturally from the ocean. As a  CCC project in the 1930's the dunes were enhanced and the lake has become fresh water.

 
These are royal terns, the picture was actully taken at a boat ramp in Norfolk, Virginia.

This was the unset over the fresh water lake. The lake is loaded with ducks and geese in the winter; not much here now as they have migrated north.

April 9, 2017

Here are a few more shots taken yesterday in the late afternoon.

April 5, 2017

I have made my way into Virginia for a couple weeks, should have some good opportunities to do some shooting in some interesting places. I hope to have time to go up to Chesapeake Bay and see what I can get into up there.

I shot these last night at Dutch Gap Wildlife Area just south of Richmond. This area lies along the James River and is interestingly located directly adjacent to a power plant. Lots of marsh and flooded lowland timber. I took the pictures of the wood ducks out the window of my car; I was driving along the edge of flooded woods and was able to stop and take a couple hundred shots of them.

The mockingbird perched on a branch very close to me, I normally do not shoot back lighted subjects. While this may not be technically great I think it works pretty well.  The red-winged blackbird posed nicely for me. I have had a difficult time getting good shots on the RWBB in the past and I really like this one.

March 30, 2017

I made a late afternoon trip up to Delaware as I have so many times this spring. The wood duck had managed to sneak past me into a back water area; I caught just a glimpse of him and his girlfriend. I heard them calling and pretty soon he emerged and this time swam very near to me, less than 15'. As he passed I shot literally 100 or so pictures and processed the best of the lot. I read and look at many things on the net about photography and there is this consensus that pictures of wildlife have to be unobstructed close up views, I have had critics tell me to clone out sticks and things with processing software. I came to the conclusion that having these trees, sticks and brush in these some of these pictures is not a problem; it shows the birds in their natural habitat and it proves these shots were taken where the birds live. I have come to understand the pleasure in spending time with relaxed wildlife in  their natural surrounding. I was standing in knee deep water last night leaning on a tree until well after sunset watching a group of 5 hen mergansers rest and loaf only 15 feet from my tree.

The forth shot here is an immature male hooded merganser. I first thought it was a scraggly female and then it occurred to me that the female should have red eyes and a yellow/blackish bill. This guy has yellow eyes and a solid black bill. I have to wonder how many times I have made this mistake identifying these birds.

The last shot is an osprey that made a couple of passes and then perched in a tree on the other side of the pond at least 150 yards away.

March 21, 2017

The 2017 Ohio Wildlife Legacy Stamp is on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website. They have made no formal announcement but it is thrilling to see the stamp put together. If anyone is interested in purchasing a stamp here is a link with information on purchase.

March 18, 2017

 I think I have finally caught up for the most part with processing the files I have accumulated over the past month. I have been out in the field until dark 3 nights this week. I want to take a few minutes and catch up on something equally important to me as photography; just being out enjoying what mother nature has given us. I have a bad habit of getting hung up on the pictures and technical crap and forgetting to just stop and reflect on the experiences afield while they are somewhat fresh in my mind.

I was Delaware Wildlife Area Wednesday after work. While working my way into the back water marsh in my favorite pond I nearly stepped on a woodcock that was hanging out in a in a hedge row. I thought that was pretty neat since these guys are migratory and this bird was obviously headed back to Michigan, Pennsylvania, or even Canada to nest and hopefully have success breeding the next generation.

The next evening I was in the same place. After standing in thigh deep water for a couple hours shooting ducks and geese until well after sunset I was cold and ready to call it a night. I headed out and stopped during the short walk to my car to listen to a pack of coyotes howling. I got to the car, unloaded my gear, and got out of my waders and heavy jackets. As I stood watching wave after wave of ducks and geese fly into a large tract of flooded timber I noticed a different bird. I watched this guy fly over and circle and then saw him come down and land in the overgrown field; woodcock again! I began looking and watching closer and saw at least a dozen more come in and land with the first, I found this amazing as I have only witnessed something even somewhat similar with woodcock in the fall. I have never given much thought to the fall migration of these fascinating little birds.

I have posted this spring a couple shots of the trumpeter swans and continue to see a pair on the properly at Delaware. I love seeing these beauty's and will take and post more photos and opportunities arise. Another large migrator I have seen a fair amount of are sandhill cranes, its obvious when they are near when I hear the dog bark like calling they make.

 Its been an awesome spring with regards to waterfowl and I am sure we have not seen the peak of activity yet. There are a few other places I will be visiting as we move along here; I wish there were more hours in the day.

I have watched a small flock of hooded mergansers fly into the marsh 15 minutes after sunset and land in the same place for a couple nights. Thursday I was set up leaning against a tree in waist deep water when they flew in as scheduled to their landing strip. I shot this female hoody in very low light with my 300 mm lens. Since I was so close to her I was able to get a pretty good image despite the fading daylight. The second shot is a pair of buffle-heads; they are the first buffys I have seen this spring.

March 17, 2017

I am way behind with getting stuff on here; I have been out shooting and cannot seem to catch up with post processing and posting. The spring waterfowl migration is fantastic this year and I have spent as much time as possible in the fields and marsh's.