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Bald Eagle from Anahuac NWR

Found this bald eagle at Anahuac NWR in Texas on 12/5/20. Was driving around a corner and spotted a very large bird sitting on a fence post. Initial thought that is was a turkey vulture as they are in abundance out there. Second thought was that it was too big for a vulture and then saw the white head. Bingo – bald eagle. Turned my car to the right to get an angle on him where I could take a photo out of my car window. The sun was right behind him getting higher in the sky resulting in a challenging exposure. Kept checking my histogram and was blowing out the sky at times which is not a major concern as the bird was my subject. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t blowing out the whites on his head.

Took several shots and was moving my car to get a better position what I heard another vehicle approaching on the dirt road. Pulled off of the road and then a pick-up truck came flying by. He had no clue that there was an eagle there and almost hit him when he spooked from his perch.

Ended up finding him a couple more times before I left but this was my best photo. Always very cool to see an eagle out at Anahuac. First time that I had one posing for me.

Found that he as a bad eye when reviewing my photos on the computer. His left eye is gray in color.

1/3200 @ F9, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm, handheld out my car window

Posted by  |  December 6, 2020 | Categories: Animals, Birds | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

Intimidation – NANPA Top 250

This was my first year to enter NANPA (North America Nature Photography Association) photo contest and was honored to get all 10 of my entries in the semi-finals and two photos making the top 250.

Here is my first one with a coyote intimidating a field rat at Anahuac NWR in Texas, which was taken in Dec 2018.  After pulling up behind a group of vehicles taking his photo, he reversed course and came my way.  Saw him “mousing” and he came up with a field rat and brought him out in the road right in front of my car.  He initially played with him like a dog plays with a toy.

I tried to take photos out my car window but gave up as he was right in front of my car and didn’t want to get out and spook him.  After watching him for a while, slowly opened up my door and stood between my car and my door taking photos. 

Right before devouring breakfast, he stood over the rat and bared his teeth which was very intimidating. 

Almost full frame shot with only cropping a little off of the bottom to remove the yellow stripe in the road. 1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 6400, evaluative metering, 700mm

Taken with Canon 1DX, Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld

Posted by  |  November 20, 2020 | Categories: Mammal | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Great Blue Sunrise

Had one of those great mornings along the Texas Gulf Coast recently when the stars aligned. One big star and a great blue heron.

Visualized this shot when spotting this great blue heron while walking on the beach when it was still dark out. Had to guess where to lay down based on the light peeking through on the horizon. Only had to shift my position slightly when seeing the sun start to pop to keep him in the sunrise. He stayed in one spot while I got off several shots.

While wishing that the skimmers weren’t in front of him, they blasted off and left me with a challenge – do I keep my focus on the GBH or do I try to take photos of the skimmers. I stuck with the heron and eventually all of the skimmers were gone. He then looked up into the sky and I’ll save that photo for a photo contest.

Taken with Canon 1DX Mark III and 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on skimmer ground pod with a Wimberley II gimbal head.

1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm

Posted by  |  November 16, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Published in Audubon Magazine

Have been published again by Audubon Magazine, this time the Fall 2020 edition. Audubon contacted me back in early August to use my great egret shot in an add for their Great Egret Society. This is the photo that made the top 100 in the 2019 Audubon photo contest.

Sent them the photo and pretty much forgot about it until I opened their magazine this week and saw my photo. Always a great way to start my day.

Posted by  |  September 30, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

White Morph Reddish Egret

Spent some quality time last week at Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary on the Texas gulf coast. Found several reddish egrets at sunrise with this white morph really standing out from the rest. Right place at the right time for some great action and beautiful light.

This was about 1/2 hour after sunrise. Had to cranked up the exposure compensation to get the proper exposure. Having 16 frames/sec from my new 1DX III comes in real handy in these situations with being able to capture the action as it happens. The focusing ability of this camera is just off of the charts.

Taken with Canon 1DX mark III, Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on a Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.

All photos at: 1/2000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2 exposure compensation, 700mm from ground pod, minor cropping

Posted by  |  August 10, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Incoming Pelicans

Took a couple of vacation days this past week and headed to the Gulf coast for some quality social distancing at Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary. Was well worth the time and effort.

Saw these 3 brown pelicans flying close to each other at a distance and started tracking them with my camera. Got about 80 shots of them just waiting for this photo when they were side by side, coming right at me with their wings outstretched.

Pre-visualized this shot as I’ve gotten some similar pelican photos probably 10 years ago and have been waiting to recreate it ever since. Was very pleased on how this one turned out.

Taken with Canon 1DX mark III, Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III telconverter, mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.

1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, aperture priority, + 2 exposure compensation, 700mm from ground pod

Posted by  |  August 9, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Clapper Rail After Downpour

After taking photos of wood storks in the rain, found this clapper rail in the middle of the dirt road at Brazoria NWR. As soon as my car moved, he ran into the grass next to the road. Slowly moved forward while watching the spot where he went in. Pulled closer and turned my car perpendicular to the road to be able to photograph him out my window. Changed to a small single focus point while trying to spot him in the grass with no luck.

Waited patiently for a few minutes when he started moving through the grass towards the road. He eventually came out onto the road to dry off from the rain. Was very cool to see as they are usually hanging out in the weeds and not in the open.

1/2500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm, hand held out my car window

1/4000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm, hand held out my car window

1/4000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm, hand held out my car window

Posted by  |  August 1, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wood Storks in the Rain

I’m usually not out taking photos when it rains but may have to start doing it more often.  Was taking wood stork photos at Brazoria NWR when I got a text alert from one of my weather apps that it was going to rain.  Looked to my right and saw the rain coming.  Reached for my lens raincoat and it started pouring.  Through the raincoat on the seat and stuck my 500mm out the window to start shooting the storks in the rain.

Wasn’t sure what shutter speed would be optimal to emphasize the rain so pretty much tried them all from 1/60 to 1/1250 sec.  Having a clean background would have helped to see the rain but didn’t have that luxury. 

The gully washer lasted about 8 minutes.  Hoped that they would flap their wings to dry them off when it stopped but they just stood there.  Turned around to drive away and found a much better target standing in the road…

1/250 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm, hand held out my car window

Posted by  |  July 26, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audubon Top 100

Honored to make the top 100 in Audubon’s 2020 photo contest again this year. Entered several photos but only got one to make it. Always appreciate Audubon’s support with my bird photography. Can’t wait until next year.

White morph reddish egret from Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary on the Texas gulf coast. This shot was taken last July and was a great time. He was almost too close, which is always a good problem to have.

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2020/the-2020-audubon-photography-awards-top-100?ms=digital-eng-email-ea-x-engagement_20200708_eng-email_apa-top-100&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engagement_20200708_eng-email&utm_content=apa-top-100&emci=8313e098-edc2-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&emdi=7d5c9455-15c5-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&ceid=567470

Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.

Posted by  |  July 16, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Magnificent Frigatebird

Paying attention to bird behavior really paid off on Friday morning.  Was taking photos of a reddish egret when he started looking up in the air.  Reddish egrets don’t usually pay attention to other birds in the sky unless it’s another reddish egret.  This one kept glancing to the sky which peaked my couriosity so I decided to look up from my prone position and got a fantastic surprise when this magnificent frigatebird was right above me. 

Decided to quickly take my camera off of the ground pod and rolled onto my back and started shooting straight up in the air.  The wet sand in my hair was a new experience but well worth it.  She was almost too close as I was clipping wings off of the frame.  Got a few shots from that position but it was too difficult to control my 500mm lens so rolled over and sat up to shoot.  Didn’t want to stand up and potentially spook her.  She kept circling me and I wondered if she was checking me out, which I confirmed was the case after looking at the photos on the computer.

Magnificent frigatebirds are huge with a 7 ft wingspan and a forked tail.  Have seen them at the east end of Galveston Island and while in my car on the ferry several years ago but never at the flats.  Getting that close was a major bucket list event for me.  Was thinking about frigatebirds a few weeks ago while on the ferry and envisioned having a close-up encounter.  I need to start dreaming about birds more often…

Posted by  |  June 21, 2020 | Categories: Birds | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments