The month of birds is ending and the Brown Pelicans are flying away for their evening roost. Time to think of another theme. Life is starting to pick up, I hope. Omicron is quickly fading--not quick enough for some. Maybe there will be growth in the Spring? Perhaps that is our next theme? We shall see.
Just a little thing. I finally got a picture, this morning, of a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. I have caught a glimpse of one here or there, but never been quick enough to get a picture. The vast majority of the Nuthatches that visited were of the white-breasted variety (see below). Same bird. Just no red. I didn't even know that the red version was a separate species as they look so similar. Finally, today, at the tail end of the January is for Birds month, I get a shot of this elusive visitor. Usually, I would get a visit and by the time I grab a camera, even if it is right there, the Nuthatch is gone and doesn't come back for the day. Well, I was prepared today and got the shot. So, a little thing but now I have documented 22 species that have visited the backyard. Pretty cool.
The funny thing about this backyard feeder is that I never saw an American Goldfinch visit the backyard before COVID. They were here but I never saw them. Now, I can get 12 to 15 at one time. Pretty bird and pretty amazing to see so many Goldfinches in the backyard. Set up a feeder and see what happens. Oh yea, they eat a lot for little birds!!!
I was in Hawaii way back in 2011 and this Myna Bird stopped by to visit. I didn't figure out it was a Myna Bird until Covid times as this was just one of those shots I would randomly take while traveling. "Oh, a bird!" Snap. Now I look for those opportunities, be it in the backyard or in the neighborhood or, if life reopens again, while traveling. Hope to see a Myna Bird again. Pretty bird. A little fierce looking, I think. I shot this with my Nikon D700 while sitting on a park bench checking emails. I think the hut was selling tourist trinkets and was a bit below me as you could walk past it towards the beach. Anyway, interesting that I got to do all this birding before I even became a birder. Now I have shots from all over the country randomly with various from various locations. Looking forward to trying to get some bird shots on purpose once again.
Way back in November 2011 my buddy Bill took me out to Jasper State Park in Indiana to check out these Sandhill Cranes. I was not a birder at the time but up for the challenge of taking pictures of these flocks getting ready to take off for Florida or other points south with a long lens. For this opportunity, I rented a 600mm f4 lens, which is the size of a small telescope. It is quite the lens and was selling for over $10,000. However, you could rent it for a couple of days for a hundred bucks. So I did and got some excellent pictures with it. These Sandhill Cranes are probably a half mile away and this shot is way cropped in on top of that to get these rather large birds somewhat large enough in the frame to make an interesting picture. Anyway, mission accomplished, and this was shot with just a 12 megapixel camera. Cell phones are better than that today.
The Bald Eagles were having a whale of a time shooting fish in a barrel near the lock and dams over by Galesburg, Illinois back in the winter of 2016. Probably the same this past week with temps back under freezing. The river freezes up and all the eagles concentrate below the dams which keep the river free of ice and allows them easy fishing in the open waters. Makes for some good shots. Caught this guy heading back to shore for a bite. Shot with my old Nikon D810 and my 150-600 lens. Eagles don't fly all the fast so got the shot at only 1/800 of a second. Wings are still blurry, so should have bumped up the shutter speed but it works. There is always room for improvement.
This Great Blue Heron was standing right off the bike path near the Shark Valley Visitor Center and gave a great pose for a close in portrait. Taken on a trip back in 2019.
This is my Covid bird. When I started working in the backyard in the spring of 2020, I would see these around a little bit here and there and that is when I went to get a feeder. I wanted to see more of these beautiful yellow birds. Now, I have American Goldfinches around everywhere, everyday in the back yard. They are by far the most common bird at the feeders. Had at least a dozen visiting at the same time this morning. It was quite the feeding frenzy. I often wondered why they were so yellow/gold. It makes them so visible to predators. That may be true in my backyard, but in the prairie, where they normally hang out, you can see that they can blend in much better like this shot taken in the fall of 2020. In the winter, such as now, the colors get muted. I will post a winter shot later this month. The chest becomes much less colorful, as the prairie also turns to browns and grey. Anyway, I have to love this little bird as it got me into birding. So, it remains one of my favorites.
I was not in Nebraska for the birds back in August 2013 but for the dark skies. This was an astronomy trip to one of the darkest parts of the United States. No towns within 50 miles. Only piece of civilization was a small resort about 8 miles away. At night, not only is it dark, but you get horizon to horizon viewing as there are also no trees to speak of in the sand dunes of central Nebraska. Glad I got this one shot of what I learned later was an Eastern Kingbird. Not a bird that I have seen in Illinois, although they are supposed to be here during the summer months. Going to have to go look for one sometime to see if I can get a better shot. I like this shot more as an environmental portrait, reminding me of the grasslands and of the stillness of the area. Almost totally devoid of people. Just intense heat, with no shade. But the skies are night are amazing.
I have posted this shot several times before as it remains an all-time favorite. Great silhouette. Great sunset. Nice orange colors and a wonder bird shot. This is a Brown Pelican and they do this thing where they stop in mid-air, turn and then shoot straight down to catch a fish underwater. If you snap at the right moment, you can get them perfectly still, which is what we have here. I shot this back in 2012 on Naples Beach and I was also able to visit that same beach back last year and yup, the pelican's were still doing their thing, obvious to all the humans there to watch the sunset.
Back in the days when the pandemic was just a Ted talk by Bill Gates or a big budget movie, in other words, 2017, I would take pictures of birds randomly when I got a good opportunity. But I never went back to figure out what birds I had in my catalog until COVID times shut down my travel and I starting noticing birds all over the place in my backyard. After that, I realized that I had dozens and dozens of species from all over the country, taken as a random picture here and there as I traveled. I probably have over 140 species now. For example, this Steller's Jay was shot in Bryce Canyon National Park. Obviously, this is not a bird you would see in Illinois, although it is a relative of our more common Blue Jay. I knew it was a Jay when I took it but I never heard of a Stellar Jay. Anyway, you have to agree this is a beautiful bird, with wonderful shades of blue and indigo. Definitely, one of my favorite bird shots.
Even if you are not a birder, and I wasn't back in 2012, you are going to take pictures of these huge, loud and energetic Mitred Parakeets, when you are walking around in South Beach Miami looking for pictures to take. These birds are escaped convicts as they are not native to the United States, but once free, they live quite nicely in forested parks near the tourist areas. These two were giving me the stink eye or perhaps looking for a quick handout. No such luck, but I did get this nice pose!!!
A dramatic sunset indicates it is almost time for bed for these White Ibis near Naples back in 2012.
While stuck in my den waiting for Omicron to die down, I thought I would throw January to the birds and post my 30 or so favorite bird shots taken over the years. While I didn't "officially" become a birder until Covid hit now almost two years ago, I still have lots of shots of birds randomly taken over the years. This one goes back to a trip to Jasper State Park in Indiana that I took with my buddy Bill in November 2011 where we went out to shoot some Sandhill Cranes. These birds stop off in a field in northern Indiana to rest and feed before completing their annual migration from Canada to Florida or other points south. I rented a huge 600 mm f4 lens for like $100 for the weekend and got some amazing shots from a half mile away. This one here is still one of my all-time favorites. Taken with my old D700 camera with a 12 megapixel sensor. I think camera phones have better sensors nowadays. This morning, I ran the shot through some updated software algorithm to further sharpen the shot and it really looks quite stunning. To shoot this same shot again with that lens, which probably retails for over $12,000 and a modern 45 megapixel camera like my Nikon ZS7ii would be amazing. I am going to have to try that out sometime.
Yesterday I said I can't pick a favorite family shot of the year. But then Cheryl brought out the reindeer clothes for the four youngest and well, that has to be a favorite. This is one of those shots where you get 5 to 10 seconds and that's it. Set it up. Plop them down. Snap away. Here are the other family favorites for 2021:
