Bird ID part VI

[jfelbab]

Looks like a Barred Owl to me Lava Lamp

I need an ID on this guy.

[paulnj]

That's a barred owl alright!

Jim, you have a sandhill crane there.

BTW... My GF said that every owl that was in her grandmother's neighborhood last year is now GONE . I think people are chasing them out(which is illegal) fgrom what her grandmother said. Her grandmother watched the one neighbor DIG the burrow up so they'd leave. She did say she had seen a burrow that was barricaded off near a home for sale.She didn't see any owls the, but was only driving by. That burrow is on.......

Coranado to SOUTHEAST 9TH PLACE and the the house is just up SE 9TH Pl. a little.

Otherwise Merrit island will have them so my friend says

[jfelbab]

That's a barred owl alright!

Jim, you have a sandhill crane there.

BTW... My GF said that every owl that was in her grandmother's neighborhood last year is now GONE . I think people are chasing them out(which is illegal) fgrom what her grandmother said. Her grandmother watched the one neighbor DIG the burrow up so they'd leave. She did say she had seen a burrow that was barricaded off near a home for sale.She didn't see any owls the, but was only driving by. That burrow is on.......

Coranado to SOUTHEAST 9TH PLACE and the the house is just up SE 9TH Pl. a little.

Otherwise Merrit island will have them so my friend says

Thanks Paul.

I can't tell you how many locals have told me the bird population in the SE Florida area is way down this year, possibly due to the hurricanes. I never stopped to consider what a bird might be up against in a hurricane where sustained winds are blowing at 100+ mph.

[Mike T]

Here's one from today, I'd have to guess this is a juvy. I didn't see to many different birds today. I kept kicking up Woodcocks but never once got to aim the camera at one. I dropped by the Eagles nest and got to see both of them again today.
Mike

[paulnj]

that's a fox sparrow

OK..... what is this????

[SmartWombat]

I'd guess it's related to the Mergansers we have here.

I reckon it's an adolescent male from its use of feather-gel

[paulnj]

male red-breasted merganser , breading plumage adult male

[jfelbab]

Need another ID on a couple more.

Not sure what this is.



And I think this is an Anhinga.



A Blue Heron ?

[paulnj]

TRICOLORED HERON, ANHINGA and TRICOLORED HERON.

Did yoiu happen to take a shot a bit later(few steps forward) on the second tricolor?

[jfelbab]

TRICOLORED HERON, ANHINGA and TRICOLORED HERON.

Did yoiu happen to take a shot a bit later(few steps forward) on the second tricolor?

These Herons were in very different areas of the Six Mile Cyprus Slough. I actually thought the latter heron was a young blue heron but I have so little experience I couldn't tell the difference.

This area was very nice, almost on a par with the Corkscrew Swamp. The guides also commented that the population of birds was way down since the hurricanes. Might take a few years to recover barring no more bad seasons.

Heading back to Wisconsin on Friday so my bird shots will be different soon. The migration begins, I am a snowbird after all.

Thanks again for all the ID's Paul.

[paulnj]

Really, I thought you had retired there? Wisconsin birds huh.... great ;)

[mjs1973]

I found some wood ducks this afternoon in the same pond where I shot the ringnecked ducks. I love the colors and markings on these ducks. The pick is a little blury cause I was shooting thru the weeks and it was very windy.

I also found a pair of belted kingfishers on my way home from work today.

[paulnj]

I went out today for a little bit with my birding partner Bill who just got out of the hospital monday from complications with his newly installed pacemaker/defribillator. We found MANY wood ducks(dozens) , some pintails, shovelers, green winged teal and even a horned grebe... all 40 miles from the coast. They were all very far away though and he can't go too far yet.

Wood ducks and kingfishers are very hard to photograph, so KUDOS to you!

BTW, your kingfisher is a male. Kingfishers nest in the side of river banks in burrows too ;)

[mjs1973]

Here is the only shot I have of the other kingfisher, a female. I saw them on my way home from work, but didn't have my camera with me. It was a good half hour before I got my stuff and back to this spot and to my surprise, they were both still there. I did watch them dissapear down over the creek bank, but I couldn't see if they were going into a burrow or not. I will be going back to this spot again.

[Knight]

Think i have one that has not been posted Paulnj. Eastern Meadowlark not a very good capture but a capture none the less

Got a Question for you Wildlife photogs , How would i be doing with a Nikon D50 with a 70-300mm and a TCon ? not forgeting that im on a hobby budget hehe!

[mjs1973]

Nice shot Knight. I posted a VERY bad shot of one of these on the first page of this thread. Your's is MUCH better.

As far as the D50 w/ 70-300mm + TC, that could be a good starting point. Is the 70-300mm lens the f/4-5.6? Add a TC to that and you're giving up another stop or two of light depending on the power of the TC. You might find the combo a little to slow to get the results you need. You can always bump up the ISO tho, so it might not be a problem. One other thing to consider is loss of image quality caused by a budget TC. I have a cheap one I got from Ritz Camera a few years ago. I find I'm better off shooting without it, and cropping the image. I end up with a smaller file, but a sharper image.

[paulnj]

What do you shoot now?

That setup would (mostlikely) not be able to auto focus.

The meadowlark is not a very human friendly subject, so even with 800mm on film I have had trouble getting an image that tight.

BTW... I just today picked a meadowlark image out from the database that went to print( I work part time as a photog) . That image(paid) was no better than the one you posted here!! I have slides of them, but the client needed them ASAP. I got 9 of the 19 images, a few others got 8 and I found 3 stock images between corbis, getty and another stock site ;)

I guess I can add PUBLISHED and PHOTO EDITOR to my resume ;)

[Knight]

At the moment im using a Kodak Z 740 , 10 Optical with a Olympus 1,7 TCon .The Nikon lens would be a Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED, the TCon i really havent looked at yet also there`s a small chance that i could maybe consider a Canon Rebel XT at 8 Mp compared to the 6.1 of the Nikon.
I scrolled down Mjs1973 and i C that you indeed did have a Eastern Meadowlark

[paulnj]

Well, an XT is $589(after $100 rebate) and the 50D is $509(out of stock for the last 2-3 weeks) at B&H ;)

The nikkor lens is $289, while the "Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Autofocus Lens" is $179(after $10 rebate)

Basicly..... they both will cost you the same relatively. I won't suggest either, but will say that BOTH will be a great start! I started with a film burner and 400mm as did arthur morris ;)

[Knight]

Thanks for the info Paulnj , im gonna have to look into all that when the time comes . I figure to make a purchase at the end of June

[mjs1973]

This winter I found an old bird house along a trail where I take my dogs and do some birdwatching. I took the bird house down, and cleaned it out, then put it back. It had so much crap in it, a bird couldn't have used it if it wanted to. Yesterday I noticed a pair of eastern bluebirds in the vacinity of the house. I only had my film camera with me tho so I had nothing to post. Today I went back with my dogs and digital camera and found them both again. I haven't seen them go into the house yet, but I will be back to check it out.

[Mike T]

Here's one from today, I think I might have posted one of these in part 1. First one I've seen this year along with a Palm Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I think the bird season is just getting ready to go into high gear. First post with my 30D.
Mike

[Knight]

Mjs1973 and MikeT those are some fine captures

[mjs1973]

Thanks Knight. Mine is a pretty tight crop of te original. I don't know if I could get a very good print out of it, but it works for the web. I'm going to try to set up by this bird house this weekend and see if I can get a closer shot so I don't have to crop so much.

[paulnj]

Yes indeed they are!

That bluebird should take up residence in that area too

Mike, that waterthrush is indeed the start of the migration(as are the pine warblers that have been around for a week)

30D huh