Stick Marsh FWC Good News! The March Stick Marsh IPTS are a Go!

What’s Up?

On Tuesday morning I did well setting up the new computer once Apple Care Senior Advisor Andrew got me logged into my iCloud account. My Keychain and my e-mail settings came along with that. I have PhotoShop and Photo Mechanic up and running and Jen worked on Word and Excel for Mac in the afternoon. I have seen the recovered images and have backed up the recovery hard drive, but have yet to copy the recovered data to the new machine.

I was glad to learn of the pending sale of all three of Sandra Calderbank’s three listed Canon items on the first day of listing.

Scroll down to read the recent Stick Marsh e-mail conversation I had with Alexander Kropp, NE Region Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). I was glad to learn that my efforts led to some positive changes.

Today is Wednesday 9 February 2022. Again, the forecast does not matter as I have too much work to do. Today I will be working on installing my Topaz stuff and some additional Apps including RawDigger, DPP 4, Sony Imaging Edge Desktop, Sony Catalyst Browse, Capture One, A7INFO, and others. We have super-slow internet here at ILE; right now that is the best option … Updating the operating system for the new laptop took more than four hours. Downloading and installing Photoshop took more than three. Office for Mac more than two.

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 8 weeks (the Stick Marsh stuff …) and 90 minutes to prepare and makes 88 days in a row with a new one.

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Click on the composite image to enjoy the incredible quality of the hi-res JPEG. Clockwise from upper left back around to the center: spoonbill with mangrove background; spoonbill head and shoulders portrait; spoonbill braking to land; spoonbill dramatic landing pose; adult Black-crowned Night-Heron; spoonbill with nesting material; Great Egret returning to nest; incoming spoonbill; and Limpkin landing.

Stick Marsh IPT: #1: WED 9 March thru the morning of SUN 13 March 2022: $2,299.00. (Limit 6 photographers)

Stick Marsh IPT #2: MON 14 March thru the morning of FRI 18 March 2022: $2299.00 (Limit 6 photographers)

Do both IPTs back to back and enjoy a $200 discount: protect your travel and time investments against bad weather by signing up for both IPTs for $4398.00.

Stick Marsh, where the living is easy. Photograph incoming Roseate Spoonbills in flight at point blank range with intermediate telephoto zoom lenses. This year I will be trying the new Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, often with the 1.4X TC. Longer lenses either on a tripod or hand held are best for the green background stuff. There will be endless flight photography opportunities with a variety of species; in addition to the spoonbills, we should have some excellent chances on Limpkin, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Double-created Cormorant, Anhinga, Black and Turkey Vultures, and more. Folks with 500 and 600mm f/4 lenses will have lots of opportunities to hone their skills whether they are working on a tripod or hand holding.

There will be five morning photo sessions averaging four hours. We start in the pre-dawn. The first four morning sessions will be followed by a working brunch. The cost of brunch is included. There will be two after-brunch photo-sessions on sunny days (averaging about an hour) to try for bathing spoonbills, usually centered around 1:30pm. There will be one after-brunch photo critique session (probably on DAY 3). And there will be one Image Processing session after brunch.

We will be based in or near Vero Beach. There are AirBnB possibilities for folks who register early. The deposit is $599.00. Call Jim at the office any weekday at 863-692-0906 to pay by credit card. Balances must be paid by check.

What You Will Learn on a Stick Marsh IPT

• 1- You will learn the basics and fine points of digital exposure. Nikon and Canon folks will learn to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and SONY folks will learn to use Zebras so that they can be sure of making excellent exposures before pressing the shutter button..
• 2- You will learn to work in Manual exposure mode even if you are scared of it.
• 3- You will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography.
• 4- You will learn the pro secrets that will help you to become a better flight photographer.
• 5- You will learn to zoom out in advance (because the birds are so close!) 🙂
• 6- You will learn how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them.
• 7- You will learn to spot the good and the great situations.
• 8- You will learn to understand and predict bird behavior.
• 9- You will learn to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system.
• 10- You will learn to choose the best perspective.
• 11- You will learn to see and control your backgrounds.
• 12- You will learn to see and understand the light.
• 12- You will learn to see and create pleasing blurs in pre-dawn situations.
• 12- You will learn to be ready for the most likely event at all times.

And the best news is that you will be able to take everything you learn home with you so that you will be a better photographer wherever you are and whenever you photograph.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission on items priced at $1,000 or more. With items less than $1000, there is a $50 flat-fee. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. If you are interested, please click here, read everything carefully, and do what it says. To avoid any misunderstandings, please read the whole thing very carefully. If you agree to the terms, please state so clearly via e-mail and include the template or templates, one for each item you wish to sell. Then we can work together to get your stuff priced and listed.

Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice only to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past years, we have sold many hundreds of items. Do know that prices for used gear only go in one direction. Down. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Super Telephoto Lens

BAA-friend Mark Berney is offering a Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS USM lens (original DO lens) in near-mint condition for $1,499.00 (via cashiers check only). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it including the 400B case (AKA the lens trunk), the leather front lens cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, a LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your items will not ship until the check is good to go.

Please contact Mark via e-mail.

I used and loved both the original 400 DO and the version II. I never really saw many differences in the image files … Both versions are very sharp and relatively small and light and do very with either the 1.4X or the 2X tele-converter. Most folks can hand hold a 400 DO without a problem. Grabbing Mark’s lens would be a great and inexpensive way for folks (especially R5/R6 users) to get into super-telephoto photography. As the version II sells for $6899.00, you can save a fortune by getting in touch with Mark ASAP. artie

Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Lens & Canon 1.4x EF Extender II

BAA-friend Mark Berney is offering a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens and a Canon 1.4x EF Extender II (both in excellent condition for) for a silly low $449.00 (via cashiers check only). The sale includes the original product boxes and everything that came in them along with insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your items will not ship until the check is good to go.

Please contact Mark via e-mail.

The versatile 70-200mm f/4 lenses have long been big favorites of many nature photographers. They are great for landscapes. I owned and used this lens when I shot Canon to create bird-scapes and pre-dawn blast-off blurs at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico. They are relatively fast and sharp and have 1000 uses. The 70-200 f/2.8 lenses are a specialty lens for bird photographers. Like the bad little child, when they are good, they are really, really good! I’ve used mine mostly for flight photography at point blank range where their performance is unmatched, especially in low light. I’ve killed with these lenses on the gannet boat in the UK, in Homer for eagles, for pre-dawn and blizzard blast-offs at Bosque, and at Merritt Island on feeding sprees right next to the road. Lenses in this class are easily hand holdable by just about everyone and do well with the 1.4X TC. artie

ps: To see what the 70-200 zoom lenses can do, see the blog post here.

Sony a9 Mirrorless Camera Body

BIRDS AS ART Record Low Price

Used Gear regular and BAA-friend Anthony Ardito is offering a SONY a9 mirrorless camera body and the SONY VG-C3EM vertical grip (a $398.00 value) in like-new condition for a BAA Record-low $2,049.00. The sale includes the grip, the original boxes and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Anthony e-mail.

The a9, the original AF king, offers superb autofocus that absolutely kills for bird photography; virtually every image is sharp on the eye. Many feel that the AF system on the a9 ii is no better. As the a9 ii sells new for $4498.00 you can save an incredible $2651.00 by grabbing Anthnoy’s a9 right now! artie

SONY FE 70-200mm f2.8 GM OSS Lens

BIRDS AS ART Record Low Price

Anthony Ardito is offering a SONY FE 70-200mm f2.8 GM OSS lens in like-new condition for a BAA record-low $1,347.00. the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Anthony e-mail.

The versatile 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses have long been big favorites of many nature photographers. They are great for landscapes. I have used this lens with Canon and Nikon and SONY. I used my Canon version to photograph granddaughter Maya’s dance recitals and to create bird-scapes and pre-dawn blast-off blurs at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico. They are fast and sharp and have 1,000 uses. The 70-200 f/2.8 lenses are a specialty lens for bird photographers. Like the bad little child, when they are good, they are really, really good! I’ve used mine mostly for flight photography at point blank range where their performance is unmatched, especially in low light. I’ve killed with these lenses on the gannet boat in the UK, in Homer for eagles, for pre-dawn and blizzard blast-offs at Bosque, and at Merritt Island on single birds from huge feeding sprees right next to the road.

This super-fast lens weighs only 3.26 pounds and is easily hand holdable by just about everyone. As it sells new right now for $2,298.00, you can save a cool $800.00 by grabbing Anthony’s lens ASAP. artie

ps: To see what the 70-200 zoom lenses can do, see below, and also see the images in the blog post here. artie

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link immediately above). My link works with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on 2 February 2022 at Stick Marsh. Standing at full height for flight photography I used the no-longer available GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined perfectly by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:55:23am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Roseate Spoonbill landing atop colony with one foot raised

An e-Mail Conversation with Alexander Kropp, NE Region Wildlife Diversity Biologist, FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

AM: Hi Alex,

Thanks for getting back to me. I was beginning to lose faith in humanity 🙂

AK: Sorry for the late response.

AM: Me too. I had serious laptop problems that are now resolved.

AK: I’m catching up on some older e-mails since the holidays. Feel free to call me if you would like to discuss further.

AM: Thanks for that.

AK: I was contacted by Audubon FL (through their communication with you) about this issue just prior to the holidays, so thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.

AM: That is good to know as Florida Audubon ignored all but one of my many e-mails and all of my phone messages …

AK: In response, just before the holidays, I organized a meeting with our FWC CWA biologist, FWC Avian Conservation biologist, and SJRWMD engineers working on the S-96 project. The two key protections afforded to wading birds at this site are: 1) protections associated with Critical Wildlife Areas (CWAs), and 2) protections given to state-threatened wading birds.

In this case, the boundaries of the CWA are well outside the zone of this project, so we determined no CWA entry permit was necessary for work at S-96. Since the CWA harbors threatened wading birds, protections associated with Species Conservation Measures and Permitting Guidelines for Threatened wading birds also need to be considered. In most cases, these guidelines assume “take” (harm or harassment) of wading birds is avoided when construction activities are at least 330 feet away from active nesting areas. We determined that all S-96 construction areas were just outside the 330 ft. buffer listed in guidelines. However, portions of the west staging area (where materials are stored) were determined to be within 330 ft.

AM: I would agree that there was lots of big stuff stored “within 330 feet.”

AK: SJRWMD staff sent us a proposal over the holidays for reducing disturbance at the project site by reducing the size of the western staging area. After reviewing their proposal, we believe it is sufficient to avoid “take” of threatened wading birds nesting at Stick Marsh CWA. Therefore, at this time, we are not recommending they apply for an incidental take permit.

AM: That was a good idea. I visited on 2 February and noted the nice new orange plastic fencing to keep the workers from parking at the bottom of the slope closest to the colony.

Here is some good news from a recent blog post:

Stick Marsh was better than expected. Just before sunrise there were about 20 Roseate Spoonbills on the North Rookery Island. Most of those birds flew off at about 7:15am. Soon thereafter, there were spoonies flying in and out until about 8:15am. The birds were displaying, courting, and pulling leaves (but not sticks or branches). They seemed not to be disturbed at all by the big construction project. All in all, I would say that things are looking good for a successful breeding season.

So thanks for that 🙂

AK: Having said this, we are continuing to monitor the site and are encouraging SJRWMD staff and others to report any signs that “take” is occurring as a result of project activities. For example, if nesting birds are observed repeatedly flushing from the CWA in response to project activities, additional actions will be necessary to either reduce disturbance or mitigate for take via an FWC incidental take permit.

AM: Right now, as noted above, things are looking good.

AK: Feel free to call me at the number below if you have additional questions or concerns. Thank you again for bringing this issue to our attention.

AM: YAW and thanks again.

With love, artie

ps: If you ever need any bird photographs for educational purposes, LMK and I would be glad to send some along gratis.

This image was created on 2 February 2022 at Stick Marsh. Standing at full hight for flight photography I used the no-longer available GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 1250. The exposure was determined perfectly by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:42:41am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #2: Roseate Spoonbill landing at colony

Glad to Have Made an Impact

I was glad to see that some substantive changes were made and that some eyes were opened as a result of my sticking my nose into the S-96 project. It did, however, take quite a while. I was buoyed by what I observed on my 2 February visit. The spoonbills are are actually early and again, things are looking good for a successful breeding season.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.