Bronzed Cowbird
One of my favorite birds from my last trip to Santa Clara Ranch was the Bronzed Cowbird. They have a bronzed iridescence and their eyes turn red during breeding season. When trying to impress a potential mate, the male will vibrate his wings and hover in the air a few feet off of the ground. Got lucky on the last day and caught that behavior with the last two photos.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II on Wimberley II gimbal head mounted on a tripod
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, 500mm
Pyrrhuloxia
Had to look up the spelling on this bird. Related to the Northern Cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia thrives in the desert southwest. They were very skittish and didn’t stick around long so I was very pleased to get these shots, especially the wingspan shot of the female.
Took these photos at Santa Clara Ranch in SW Texas in June.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on a tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head from a photography blind
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F5.0, ISO 1600, spot metering
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F6.3, ISO 1600, spot metering
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F6.3, ISO 3200, evaluative metering
Burrowing Owl Portrait
This juvenile Burrowing Owl was hanging out near the fence line where I was taking photos. Moved my car up close to him and shot away for about 10 min as he was trying to stay awake.
He finally moved for the second photo but there was a blurred out barbed wire fence right above him so I cropped it tighter.
Had to use negative exposure compensation to keep from blowing out the whites on his chest.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 II II with 1.4X III teleconverter, handheld out the car window
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation
Dive Bombing an Osprey
Had lots of fun taking Osprey photos on my Indiana trip. Their nest was still active with two large chicks along with two protective parents.
The parents had some challenges when flying as several small birds would chase and dive bomb them. It was obvious when the Osprey would take an abrupt turn that they were being chased. Made for some interesting flight shots.
Ended up using all focus points as it was a challenge to keep a single focus point on the fast moving action.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 II lens, handheld
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F8, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F8, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F8, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Aperture priority, 1/2500 sec @ F8, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, 400mm
Great Horned Owl
Made my summer trek back home to Indiana a couple of weeks ago with limited expectations from a wildlife photography perspective. We usually go in June when the Osprey’s are nesting and there is an abundance of Sandhill cranes in the area. Therefore, I left my 500mm lens at home and traveled light with my 100-400 II lens.
To my surprise, the Osprey’s were still around along with some Sandhill cranes. Best of all, found this Great Horned Owl along a dirt back road.
Just after sunrise, I was driving along my usual route when a bird caught my eye with just a glimpse of something flying just under the tree canopy as it spread over the road going up a hill. I crested the hill and saw the bird gliding very low about one foot above the road. Thought to myself that it wasn’t a hawk but had to be an owl. He flew up into a tree near the road. When my car got closer, he flew away and continued down the road. As he approached an intersection with a paved road, I thought that he was going to get hit by a car if he continued his path but he took a quick right turn before getting to the stop sign.
Drove very slow while scanning the area when I spotted him lying in the grass along the road on my right side. Had to go past him and turn the car around to get into position for some photos. The first photo shows what he looked like after I turned around. Slowly inched the car forward to try to get to a better position with the grass out of his face. Made it to that position but there was some trash just on the left side of his head. Had to move again to get the trash behind his head.
Had to remove my teleconverter and use ISO to 10,000 to get my shutter speed above 100. Luckily he stuck around for 10 minutes which allowed me enough time to remove the teleconverter and get several photos. On my computer, I can see the reflection of my car in his beautiful eyes.
Aperture priority, 1/80 sec @ F8, ISO 12,800, evaluative metering, 560mm
Aperture priority, 1/125 sec @ F5.6, ISO 10,000, evaluative metering, 400mm
Tim Timmis Photography 