September 2nd, 2024 Working a Subject
Photographing a species and then checking it off your list is not something that I strive to do. The idea is to create interesting images. Though each of today’s photos is of the same subject, juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs, each is distinctly different. There are a variety of behaviors, poses, habitats, and image formats and designs.
Your Call?
Which of today’s seven featured images is the strongest? Please be so kind as to leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice.
Please note that there are several additional questions below; each is designed to make you think and hopefully, to help you become a better bird photographer.
What’s Up?
With high tide at 7:20am and cloudy skies and a southeast wind forecast for Friday past, I set my alarm for 5:15am and arrived at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge just after 6:15am. I had planned on visiting the East Pond on the Combo IPT on the previous set of morning high tides but things were so good at Nickerson Beach that Geri and I never made it.
As I walked out onto the pond, I was delighted to note the low water level. Kudos to the refuge management for getting the gate valve at the north end of the pond repaired and keeping the water down despite lots of recent rain. What struck me the most, were the huge stands of blossoming saltmarsh fleabane (Pluchea odorata) that covered acres and acres of shoreline. On 46 years of previous visits, you might see a few plants blossoming at the end of August.
I was feeling quite nostalgic as I traversed the pond. Forty-eight years ago, on my first visit to the East Pond, I saw a Marbled Godwit that wound up changing the remainder of my adult life. I thought of the late Thomas H. Davis Jr, all 145 pounds, 6′ 9″ of him. He taught me to identify and age the shorebirds that visit the pond every season. I thought of my late wife Elaine picking up a dying Forster’s Tern and comforting it. Memories of rare birds and two Jewish high holiday screw-ups flooded my mind and left me feeling quite emotional at times.
I was glad to see lots of shorebirds on the pond. I began on the South Flats and made my way up to the Raunt stopping several times to photograph. I left quite satisfied at about 11:00am. I hit the sack early on Saturday night and woke completely refreshed at 4:45am. I had not planned on returning to the pond but figured what the heck. After making some raspberry tea, I headed back to the East pond leaving at 5:45am.
With the wind having switched to the southwest, I was not feeling stoked. The morning began slowly but then things got better and better. I had lots of birds posing on the weathered boards at the Raunt and right before I headed home at 11:30am, I got my best ever, heck, probably my first ever, images of a Sora, a small usually secretive rail.
Today is Monday September 2, 2024. With a cold northwest wind in the forecast, I opted to stay home and begin packing up for my trip home. I see Dr. Pop tomorrow to have the seven stitches removed from the back of my right thumb. Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you choose to have fun.
Please remember to use the B&H links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
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.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear.
Behavior Question
Why is this bird lying flat in the water?
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This image was created on 31 August 2024 at the East Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY. Seated on damp grass I used the heel-pod technique to get as low as possible with the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/640 second at f/5.6 (stopped down one full stop for depth of field) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:15:27am on a very cloudy morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Lesser Yellowlegs — worn juvenal plumage standing
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Image Optimization Question
Images #1 and #2 are of the same bird photographed in the same light just minutes apart. For the first image, I desaturated it completely but for the yellow on the bill that was then juiced up. The color in the second image is much more accurate. Which version do you prefer?
Because of the answer to the behavior question above, this bird posed quite close to me long enough for me to remove the 1.4X TC, take the right off the tripod, and make several images. I will share my choice in the next blog post.
The Raunt
About 1/4 of the way up the eastern shore of the East Pond (heading north, toward the city), you will come across the remains of a circa 1950s baymen’s community.
Many lengths of weathered timber can be found in the area. Most are covered with algae and some have a variety of wetlands vegetation growing on them. These old rotting beams and planks make ideal perches for the visiting shorebirds because you get to see their feet (usually unseen in an inch or two of brackish water).
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This image was created on 31 August 2024 at the East Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY. Seated on damp grass and mud behind my flattened Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/500 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect. AWB at 10:03:17am on a very cloudy morning.
Focus was acquired via Tracking: Expand Spot AF/C. Then I turned the AF switch to M (Manual Focus) and made sure not to touch the focusing ring. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Lesser Yellowlegs — worn juvenal plumage resting in front of a stand of saltmarsh fleabane
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High Level Focusing Technique Question
Why did I focus first and then move the autofocus switch to OFF? Clue: I would not have had to do this if I had been using the a9 iii rather than the a-1.
Swimming Shorebirds
Only a few species of shorebirds swim. Among those are all of the Tringas (including both our yellowlegs), Stilt Sandpiper, all of the avocets including our American Avocet, and somewhat surprisingly, Red Knot and Dunlin.
Sometimes Praying Helps
The yellowlegs in Image #6 was fishing well within range of my 840mm rig. I talked softly to it, “Up on the log, please.” I prayed a bit. Then my prayers were answered.
Sora Distraction
For two days, folk had been telling me about a Sora in a small pond on the South Flats. I had looked for it several times without success. I checked the location one last time before heading home on Sunday but did not see the bird. Thanks to the Asian woman who pointed it out to me. Typically, the Sora was playing hide and seek in the reeds that fringed the pond. When it hid, I photographed the preening Lesser Yellowlegs.
Note that this individual is in the freshest juvenal plumage of the lot with the upperparts’ feathers looking more black and white than brownish and white.
Image Question
Would you delete this image because the bird’s face is hidden? Why or why not?
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
August 30th, 2024 What’s Up?
My right hand continues to heal nicely. The thumb (trigger finger) was as good as new the next day. The stitches come out next Tuesday. Though the crushing, tingling pain in the hand is gone, it appears that I will have some lingering tenderness along the inside of the ring finger of my right hand for quite some time as the nerve heals and calms down.
I have been getting lots of rest at younger daughter Alissa’s home in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, and have been taking a 1 1/2 mile sun walk every afternoon. Older daughter Jennifer and her husband Eric flew to Long Island MacArthur Airport in nearby Islip on Thursday afternoon and we all enjoyed a fabulous spaghetti squash lasagna prepared by Alissa followed by an absolutely sinful dessert, Best S’mores Bars: chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallow sandwiched between two layers of a graham cookie crust.
Today is Friday 30 August 2024. I will continue working on a new writing project and a Getty Pacific-race Brown Pelican image submission. Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you too choose to have fun and to enjoy life.
Please remember to use the B&H links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
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.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear.
Save 15%!
If you’d like to try out a new lens or if you need a lens for a specific trip or project (or for an IPT), LensRentals.com is the only way to go. To save 15%, simply click on the logo link above, arrange for your rental, and type in BIRDSASART15. If you type the gear you are looking for in the search box, it will pop right up. LensRentals.com offers affordable insurance. You can decline it, opt for LensCap: Damage Only, or select LensCap: Damage & Theft. Then hit PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. After you enter all of your info but before completing your order, be sure to scroll down to Promo Code box and enter the BIRDSASART15 code to save 15%.
I checked on renting a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for a week. The cost is only $122.00. LensCap: Damage Only coverage can be added for a very low $18.00. Going with LensCap: Damage & Theft would be $27.00. The shipping charge varies. They offer an interesting program called Lensrentals HD. By signing up for this shipping discount program ($99.00/year), you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place.
Renting a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a week will cost you $536.00. The two coverage options come in at $76.00 or $114.00. Less your 15% discount when you enter the BIRDSASART15 code into the Promo Code box at checkout and enter the BIRDSASART15 code in the Promo Code box at checkout to save 15%.
Remember, to save the 15% on your rental you must start your search by clicking on the logo above, or on this link: LensRentals.com
B&H
To ensure that I get credit for your B&H purchases, you can always click here. The tracking is invisible but greatly appreciated. And, you can use your PayBoo card. You must use the website to order. B&H will reopen on Fri April 14. Thanking me for the past 4000 educational blog posts could not be any easier and will not cost you one penny. Please shoot me your B&H receipt for major purchases.
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Bedfords Simplified
Click here to start your search. Choose standard shipping, and when you get to the payment page, enter BIRDSASART in the discount code box and hit apply. You will be upgraded to free second day air Fed-Ex and receive 3% cash back on your credit card once your stuff ships. Either is greatly appreciated by yours truly.
Bedfords Amazing BAA Discount Policy
Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, prior purchases.
Visit the Bedfords website here, shoot Steve Elkins an e-mail, or text him on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592.
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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often stave you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. 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.
Lugworm City!
The lugworm (Arenicola marina) is a large marine worm of the phylum Annelida. Its coiled castings are a familiar sight on a beach at low tide, but the animal itself is rarely seen except by those who, from curiosity or to use as fishing bait, dig the worm out of the sand. At DeSoto, it is a favorite food of the Marbled Godwits that will often work for minutes extracting the worms from their holes. Black-bellied Plovers and Willets will almost always attempt to steal a just-captured lugworm from the larger godwits.
The plover in Image #1 grabbed the lugworm from a Marbled Godwit and flew right at me. Note that the black axillary (armpit) feathers are diagnostic of Black-bellied Plover and separate them from the slimmer, shorter-billed, (much rarer along the east coast) American Golden-Plover.
Photo Tip
Whenever the possibility of action exists, it is usually best to select a fast shutter speed along with the relatively high ISO that will result in a properly exposed to the right raw file. At times a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec. (or even slower) will suffice. Shutter speeds of 1/4000 sec. are ideal for flight and for action.
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This image was created at Indian Lake Estates, FL from the driver’s seat of my SUV on 30 May 2024. I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera.. Exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the rear dial. Multi-Metering +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 2500. 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 8:03:26pm just before sunset.
Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #2: Black-bellied Whistling Duck chasing another
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Real Photographers Use Manual Mode 100% of the Time. Not!
There are many who firmly state that real photographers use Manual mode 100% of the time. For years, I have firmly disagreed.
In bird photography, the main reason we work in Manual mode more than 90% of the time is that the tonality of the background changes frequently and often. In Manual mode, we determine and set the correct exposure for the bird manually so that the changing background tonalities will not screw things up as they would if we were working in an automatic (exposure) mode.
There are times, however, when working in situations where the tonality of the background is relatively consistent that working in Shutter Priority mode offers some huge advantages. At the beach, before the sun comes up, the sky, the water, and the beach are all of about the same tonality, each much lighter than a middle tone. As the possibility of creating some nice pleasing blurs exists, I will set up the camera as follows: AUTO ISO, Exposure Compensation (EC) on the thumb dial, and Shutter Priority. Then I’ll usually set the EC to +2 1/3 stops and the shutter speed to 1/15 sec., the classic blur speed.
The camera sets the ISO and the well-to-the-right exposures are excellent. And, I can quickly and easily change the shutter speed during a blastoff to try for a different effect. If a nice bird lands right in front of me, I can quickly dial the shutter speed up to 1/60 or 1/125 sec. and begin making sharp images almost instantly (without having to change both the shutter speed and the ISO as I would have had to do had I been working in Manual mode). Note: By using Zebra technology, I can always tweak the EC as needed.
I often use a similar strategy when photographing action against brightly colored skies or their reflection off the water (as in Image #2, above). I will set a fast shutter speed and an EC of +2 or so. As noted above, the camera will set the ISO. This approach works perfectly if either the sun is well muted or not in the frame. If I want to try for an image with the bird crossing in front of a partially muted sun, I can reduce the EC depending on the exact situation.
This approach will be far more efficient than opting to work in Manual mode “100% of the time.”
Note: some camera bodies allow you to save a combination of settings as a Custom Setting and usually denote them as C1, C2, or C3. That done you can do everything noted above in one fell swoop simply by moving the main dial from M to 1 (for example).
Your Call?
Which of today’s two featured images is the strongest? Please be so kind as to leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
August 28th, 2024
What are They Thinking?
After reading the article below, please take a moment to sign and share the petition below. I did, and it only took a minute as most of the work has been done for you.
https://floridawildlifefederation.org/action-state-parks…/
In addition, call the Governor’s office at 1-850-717-9337. Press option 1 and voice your dispaproval of all plans to develop Florida State Parks.
It is hard to comprehend that these plans were announced by the Department of Environmental Protection. What’s in a name anyway? Governor Ron DeSantis wholeheartedly backs the plans.
I first learned of this important issue on William Steele’s Facebook page. The first round of scheduled meetings has been postponed. You can find lots more important information here.
Florida Is Trying to Ram Development of State Parks, “Skirting the Legal Process”
Posted August 21 2024
By Jason Cochran (from the Frommer’s Website here.)
Floridians are sounding a red alert after the state unexpectedly revealed its intent to allow rapid development at nine of Florida’s nature reserves, sidestepping the usual process that allows for public participation.
“This appears to be something that has been planned in secret, and it doesn’t appear to have involved the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are volunteers in the parks, the citizen support organizations, or the many people who have been involved in helping to create and develop Florida’s award-winning park system,” said Eric Draper, who served as the director of Florida’s state parks between 2017 and 2021, in the Tampa Bay Times.
On Aug. 19, Florida’s current Department of Environmental Protection announced plans to carve out major sections of nine state parks for several construction projects. Many of the areas are on pristine land that has never before been built upon.
One proposal obtained by citizen watchdogs called for the bulldozing of a section of John Dickinson State Park, north of Jupiter, to be replaced by two 18-hole golf courses, another 9-hole golf course, and a clubhouse. The development would destroy protected Atlantic coastal scrub habitat and a heritage observation tower at Hobe Mountain, pictured above.
“I’m not sure who is feeling a desperate lack of golf courses in southeast Florida, but what I can tell you is we are feeling a desperate lack of native scrub habitat,” Julie Brashears Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, told the Palm Beach Post. “Putting in a golf course on top of habitat is not what state parks are meant to be.”
Plans for construction at all nine state parks were announced simultaneously, and, contrary to the legal protocol, the state gave members of the public just 8 days to research the impact to the natural habitat, study potential conflicts, and catch corruption in government contracting before public comment is solicited.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, other projects suddenly threatening Florida’s nature reserves include a new 350-room lodge at Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine and another 350-room lodge at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park near Panama City Beach.
Sections of Hillsborough River State Park near Tampa are slated to be cleared for a “disc golf course” and paved over for pickleball courts. New space for “glamping” was announced for Oleta River State Park, a rare green space in the urban Miami Beach area.
Most of the state parks already have amenities for recreation and overnight visitors. The Hillsborough River State Park Preservation Society, for instance, says that location already has a 106-site family campground, picnic areas, pavilions, and a canoe launch.
In interviews, the Tampa Bay Times found that even officials who run the state parks had not been informed of the construction plans. Meanwhile, the state’s newly filed land planning documents claim the changes have been in the works, including through “field meetings,” since 2022.
The public comment process is happening in a manner that will severely limit citizen input. The Florida government is scheduling eight different public comment meetings to be held on a single day—Tuesday, Aug. 27—spread across various locations spanning a whopping 620 miles across the state.
That far-flung simultaneous scheduling, which comes just 6 work days after the plans were announced, will make it impossible for citizens to attend more than one hearing or to comment on the scheme as a whole.
“This seems like a process that is deliberately intended to avoid public participation. The whole spirit of the law is to encourage public participation,” Draper told the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—famous for loving golf (he even owns a $28,000 golf simulator, courtesy of a political donor) and his administration have named the state park destruction plans the “Great Outdoors Initiative.”
The Tampa Bay Times has spent this week pressing Gov. DeSantis’ office and the state’s environmental agency to answer questions about the surprise development scheme, but so far, DeSantis and company have stonewalled journalists.
This isn’t the first time the DeSantis government has gone around state residents to force its commercial will upon vacation-related destinations. In 2021, after a majority of Key West voters approved a legal referendum to limit the number of cruise passengers permitted to disembark in the town, the DeSantis administration and the Republican-dominated state legislature simply passed a new law to reverse the result of the public vote.
This also isn’t the first time Florida’s ruling elites have tried to convert the state’s nature reserves into cash cows catering to personal leisure interests. In 2011, the Florida legislature attempted to pass a law to allow celebrity golfer Jack Nicklaus to build golf courses in state parks. That plot was withdrawn after public outcry.
It should go without saying that nature reserves have a deep value to our society and our heritage (not to mention the Earth), and citizens should always have an extensive opportunity to examine and approve any construction plans that affect public lands.
The DeSantis government, hiding behind closed doors and trying to splinter any opposition by scheduling distant in-person public hearings swiftly and simultaneously, is trying to force irreversible destruction and commercial exploitation on Florida’s dwindling and threatened ecosystem, and the public deserves better.
Nature reserves are not a partisan issue, and any changes to them must be conducted in the sunshine. The so-called Sunshine State is now depriving Americans of both political parties of the right to appropriately scrutinize and evaluate any changes to our public lands.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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