Reddish Egret in Flight
Hope that everyone out there is well and staying safe. It’s a very strange/surreal world that we are currently living in. I have been working from home for awhile now so nothing new there, just less travel these days. My day job work has actually picked up lately with more projects so that’s a good thing. Have been spending my off-hours backing up my photos and entering some photo contests. I’ll post more later about my updated back-up strategy that I’ve just completed implementing.
Since almost all of my favorite areas for wildlife photography around Houston are shut down, I’ll dig up some of my photos from my newly archived storage unit.
Here is a reddish egret in flight from last year’s July 4.
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 – handheld
Great Blue Heron Golden Silhouette
My first trip to Bolivar Flats along the Texas gulf coast in 2020 was magical. One of the rare times when the Gulf of Mexico was very calm and the pre-dawn light was amazing. Caught this great blue heron coming in for a landing and was able to get some decent shots with very slow shutter speeds @ 1/100 & 1/80 sec. Had to crank my ISO up to 6400 and use 1 2/3 exposure compensation as it was before the sun came up. Wish that I would have used ISO 10,000.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wilberley II gimbal head
1/100 sec @ F5.6, ISO 6400, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, from ground pod
1/80 sec @ F5.6, ISO 6400, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation, from ground pod
Brown Pelican in Golden Light
Caught this brown pelican doing a fly-by while in the prone position with my ground pod. Got a nice series of shots with this one being one of my favorites with the wing position just off of the water. The calm water and reflection helped as well.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on a skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
Great Egret in Flight
Headed back to High Island yesterday to get some more photos from the rookery for an upcoming presentation that I’m doing for Houston Audubon on April 7.
https://houstonaudubon.org/programs/adults/flight-in-focus.html
Had the platform all to myself, which was great and worth taking 1/2 day off of work. Challenging to get flight shots from that location so moved down to the second platform and the flight opportunities were amazing. Great egrets and spoonbills were flying back and forth from the rookery island to the trees on the south side of the pond. They would occasionally bank right towards me like this great egret.
1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, aperture priority
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Short-eared Owl on Fire
Got very excited when the Anahuac short-eared owl flew towards the sun giving me a chance to play in the light with back-lit photos. Was heavily cropped but still fun to see and take photos.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/2000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
White Tailed Hawk
Hope that everyone survived new years celebrations. We did our usual Mexican restaurant for dinner and headed home before the crazies got on the road.
For my old friend Joe, here are a few shots of a White Tailed Hawk that I found on the road leading up to Anahuac NWR while guiding Stephen Bontempo around a few weeks ago. These were taken out my car window. Pulled up and had to quickly get ready to shoot. He laughed before I got the first shot off but got several photos of him as he took off and flew away. Good times…
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter.
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Juvenile Caracara in Flight
Hope that everyone had a great Christmas yesterday. Didn’t feel like that time of year in the Houston area with mid 70’s deg F temperatures and very humid. Looking forward to some cold weather in January.
Here are some more Caracara shots from my last trip to Santa Clara ranch. They were taken at the raptor blind as the birds were coming in to perch.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on trip with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 500mm 
Tern and Burn
I was watching a small group of Royal Terns close to shore when they started to fly away. Focused on the last one and caught him taking off, flying towards me and making a hard right turn. Got several shots in this sequence. This turn and burn sequence was good practice for the upcoming Wings Over Houston airshow.
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F5.6, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 