Galveston FeatherFest 2019
Just finished up leading workshops and field trips for Galveston’s FeatherFest. Had a great time as always. Thanks to everyone that showed up and participated.
Here are some of the group photos.
Shorebird Photography from East Beach, Friday April 12, 2019
Ground Pod Photography from Bolivar Flats, Saturday April 13, 2019
Ground Pod Photography from Bolivar Flats, Saturday April 13, 2019
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
One of my 2018 Favorites
Happy new years everyone! Hope that everyone had a great 2018 and is having a safe new years eve celebration. Have a wonderful 2019!
Here is one of my favorite photos of 2018, an American Avocet from Bolivar Flats. It’s a challenge to get one of these birds isolated from the flock and this one did not disappoint. Sometimes before they take off, they will stretch out their wings and dip their head. This one did it right in front of me with a slight turn of his head and then looked right at me. Loved it.
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
1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm, aperture priority
Black Skimmer Blast-off
While taking photos from my ground pod at Bolivar Flats, several hundred black skimmers were hanging out near the jetty. It was difficult to see what kind of birds were there until you hear them “barking”. They eventually lifted off and formed a cloud of skimmers, which is always cool to see.
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
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Back to the Gulf
Sometimes the stars align (no wind, no waves, low tide) along the Gulf of Mexico and the waters are very calm at Bolivar Flats, which makes for some amazing conditions for shore bird photography. This happened on Friday when I took some vacation time to get back to Bolivar for the first time in 4 months.
Got very excited when driving onto the beach while seeing the calm water. This happens maybe once a year if you are lucky, from my experience. Pulled up to the parking area on the beach with nobody else in site and quickly geared up before the sun came up. It was 41 deg F and my neoprene waders felt nice and toasty.
Found a small group of American Avocets along the shoreline and laid down with my ground pod for some silhouette shots. Also had some photo op’s further out in the water with pelicans and black skimmers flying by. The sun popped up which led to some interesting photo op’s with the changing light.
Got up from my initial position and turned to my right just in time to see a peregrine falcon taking off from the beach. Wish that I had seen him earlier but he was very skittish and getting close to him would have been very challenging. Was able to get some flight shots as he flew by, which is always fun with hand holding a 500mm lens attached to a ground pod with a Wimberley gimbal head.
Moved offshore onto some sandbars to take photos of willets, long billed curlews, more avocets and hundreds of black skimmers that would periodically blast off and fill the sky. On the way back to my car, a reddish egret landed right behind me so got back down on the sand for some very close-up shots which was a great wrap up to a wonderful morning.
Needless to say, it was great to be back at Bolivar in perfect conditions.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III mounted on a Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Marbled Godwit
This Marbled Godwit walked very close to us at Bolivar Flats on the same day as we found the white morph reddish egret. He kept probing the sand for food.
I like this shot as he is facing in my direction, the position of his feet, got some interesting lighting on his bill and the raised tail feathers, which isn’t typical from my experience.
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.
1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
1/800 sec @ F8, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Reddish Egret Pose
Finally made it back to Bolivar Flats yesterday after a long hiatus (since April). Got invited to head to the flats by Lea, who contacted me back in May for some advice. It was a good time and I needed the motivation to get back out there in this heat. Feels-like temp when we arrived just before sunrise was 95 deg F. Decided to not wear my waders or jacket and just get all wet/sandy, which happened as predicted.
There were lots of birds around including reddish egrets, pelicans, willets, long-billed curlews, marbled godwits. Did not see any avocets. We spotted 2 reddish egrets and 3 white morph reddish egrets in the area and took some time to photograph them and get closer to this one. They weren’t very active but we had the opportunity to get some decent shots of them posing and preening.
Reddish egrets will puff out their feathers when they are trying to intimidate other birds. Not sure what got this one excited but it made for nice looking hairdo.
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
Caught it!
Reddish egret are quite the fishing experts. This white morph put on a great display of fishing prowess and ended up catching this fish and looked in my direction.
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.
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, +1 exposure compensation
Reddish Egret Jump in B&W
This white morph reddish egret was practicing his jumping skills at Galveston’s FeatherFest in April. This was shot #11 out of a series of 16 photos that he was in the air.
Colors were somewhat muted so I converted into B&W using NIK Silver Effects.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1250 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
White Morph Reddish Egret Launching
Sunday’s visit to Bolivar Flats with my last field trip for this years Galveston’s FeatherFest. Was a little worn out after 4 days but it was well worth the effort to take a couple of groups to Bolivar Flats. It was a new experience for some of them and we had some great photo op’s on both trips. We couldn’t get very close to the avocets on this trip but I did find a morph reddish egret. Spotted him at a distance and maneuvered the group close to the water as he was fishing. He worked his way back and forth in front of us making for some great photo op’s.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/3200 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Ground Level Photography from Galveston’s FeatherFest
Here are the group photos from Saturday’s Ground Level Photography field trip at Bolivar Flats. Had a great time with lots of laughs from this group.
The morning started out ominous with very high winds, close to 30 mph, and high surf. Wasn’t sure that we would see any birds until we got further down the shoreline. Found an estimated 3,000 American Avocets huddled together within shooting distance. You can see some of the remaining Avocets behind the group in the photos below. Lots of belly crawling involved. Turned out to be a very productive morning.
Participants can copy full size photos from my website:
https://www.timtimmis.com/Wildlife/Galveston-FeatherFest-2018/
Galveston FeatherFest 2018
As another year at Galveston’s FeatherFest comes to a close, thanks go out to everyone who participated this year. Special thanks to JulieAnn Brown, Executive Director from Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, and her flock of 200 volunteers that make the event possible every year.
Had a great time leading three field trips and three classroom workshops again this year. This was year #6 for me as a leader and can’t wait to do it again.
Extremely high winds on Friday and Saturday mornings provided some challenges but the birds and rain cooperated. We had a flock of black skimmers and beautiful sunrise at East Beach on Friday, a few thousand avocets in breeding plumage on Saturday morning at Bolivar Flats and a white morph reddish egret dancing away right in front of us this morning.
Here are some group photos from today’s Ground Level Bird Photography field trip to Bolivar Flats. They received the full ground pod treatment including laying in some prime-time muck. Thanks again Chris for helping out again this year.
I’ll post more photos later as time permits.
For the participants that would like a full size copy, I’ve posted them on my website that you can copy from:
https://www.timtimmis.com/Wildlife/Galveston-FeatherFest-2018/
Reddish Egret Dancing
While getting prepared for leading workshops at Galveston’s FeatherFest again this year, went back over some photos from last years event and found this one taken at Bolivar Flats. This reddish egret was dancing around and put on a great show for my group.
Wasn’t sure why the two birds were hanging out together until observing interesting behavior a few weeks later when a pelican kept stealing fish from a reddish egret. Whatever works for getting breakfast.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on a Skimmer ground pod with a Wimberley II gimbal head
1/2500 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Happy New Year!
Hoping that all of you had a great 2017. My plan was to post my favorite shots for 2017 before now but I got tied up over the holidays so it will have to wait for early Jan.
2018 will start out with a bang for me from a photography perspective and then have some challenges. It’s going to be an interesting year for sure.
Spend the morning of Christmas Eve at Bolivar Flats along the gulf coast taking shorebird photos, along with a few raptors. While walking out along the shoreline, saw a dark spot out on the sand that looked out of place. Trusted my instinct and picked up my camera and spotted a peregrine falcon. Got very excited and walking slowly closer to him, laid down, took a couple of shots, went to check my histogram and he took off.
Walked away from that area over to one of my favorite spots around the corner and spotted a couple of hundred Avocets feeding just off shore. Laid down and belly crawled towards them. The muck was very slimy and ended up on my knees and pushed my ground pod along for about 60 ft and stayed put for a couple of hours.
All of a sudden, all of the birds flew away, which usually means that either a raptor or human was nearby. Spun around on my stomach thanks to the slimy muck and caught this Northern Harrier flying along the vegetation line.
Ended up seeing a couple of Harriers and four Caracara’s. Tis the season for migrating raptors.
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.
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, +2 exposure compensation.
Reddish Egret Portrait in Golden Light
Golden light at sunrise rocks. Got this Reddish Egret portrait shot from Bolivar Flats along the Gulf Coast on Friday. As usual, was using my ground pod to get the low-level look.
I try to get into position about 1/2 before the sun comes up to get some cool pre-dawn color but that’s not practical with the time change. Have to get up at 4:00 a.m. at the latest to make the 6:00 a.m. Bolivar Ferry. Was walking out to my spot when the sun popped but it was still good. Don’t know about the birds, but I had a great time.
Started out shooting black necked stilts when this reddish egret flew in. He didn’t stick around long but loved the golden light on him and the weeds in the background.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Reddish Egret Fight
These two reddish egrets went toe to toe yesterday at Bolivar Flats along the gulf coast of Texas. Had my ISO cranked up to 3200 while taking static shots of a couple of white morph reddish egrets when these two started fighting. Should have increased to ISO to 6400 but didn’t have enough time to change any settings as the action happened very fast. Lots of blurred action in this series but it was very fun to watch and photograph. More to come…
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500MM F4 IS II with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
1/20 sec @ F5.6, ISO 3200, evaluative metering, + 1 1/3 exposure compensation
Black Skimmer’s Landing Gear
This black skimmer was doing a fly-by and actually skimming at Bolivar flats, which is a somewhat rare event in that location. From my experience over the past several years, they usually just fly around looking for a place to land so this was a very nice change of pace. Especially since this was during a guide trip that I was leading with three great guys from New Zealand, Canada and Indiana.
It’s always a challenge to capture these birds in flight while using a ground pod since your range of motion is limited while laying on the ground. Added bonus was he briefly turned directly towards me. Also like that his feet were hanging like landing gear coming down.
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.
1/1250 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
All Puffed Up
This white morph reddish egret was all puffed up while strutting around Bolivar Flats. There has been a record crop of white morph’s around this neck of the woods lately, which is very cool.
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
1/2000 sec @ F8, ISO 400, evaluative metering, no exposure compensation
Reddish Egret Stalking
This reddish egret was stalking its prey just after sunrise. He had his head on the down low while running towards the fish. His legs lined up perfectly that it looks like he only has one leg with two feet attached to it.
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
1/125 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation
You Lookin at Me??
You lookin at me? Better not be. My boys behind me will come after you.
Made another trip to Bolivar Flats over the Memorial Day weekend while guiding three clients for two days. They were at the end of a 3 week trip across south Texas with the Galveston area their last stop. Thanks again to Kent, Bill and Ian for allowing me to show you around this part of Texas. Had a great time and got to see lots of birds.
Made two stops to Bolivar Flats and found some avocets, reddish egrets and lots of snowy egrets. Had several opportunities for some interaction shots which are always fun. One was a little weird with an avocet trying to mate with an inanimate object. More on that later.
While focusing on a avocet, saw two snowy egrets walking behind him. Switched my attention to the background and visualized this shot coming as they crossed behind him. The avocet cooperated by staring at me while getting some scratching action in. Made for a cool shot.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on a Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1250 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Pelican Stealing White Morph’s Fish
Here are some photos of the brown pelican scaring the white morph reddish egret in order to steal his fish. He surprised me as well and they were too close at 700mm and ended up clipping the pelican’s wings in the first shot. You can see the fish drop in the second photo with the pelican getting ready to enjoy his spoils in the last shot.
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
1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Flying Fish – White Morph Style
As a continuation from my last post, both white morph reddish egrets that we saw caught some very large fish. A lazy or very smart brown pelican then started to chase the white morphs to scare them into dropping the fish so that he could reap the benefits of the great fishing skills of the egrets.
This white morph apparently fled the scene and kept the fish in tow while flying, which was a first for me to see, let alone photograph. Luckily he landed fairly close to us with a very nice wing spread.
Got some photos of the pelican getting one of the white morphs to drop his fish later in the morning. I’ll post those next time.
This was one of my most successful guiding trips to Bolivar Flats. This was a very rare event to witness/photograph so I’m very pleased that my client got to see this behavior and get some great photos.
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.
Aperture priority, 1/2500 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
White Morph Reddish Egret
On this recent trip to Bolivar Flats in Texas, the reddish egrets were out in force, including two white morph’s. I was guiding Bruno from San Diego, who hadn’t seen a white morph before so it was great timing. They danced around right in front of us and both ended up catching some very large fish and had a close encounter with a brown pelican. More photos to come.
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
1/1600 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Brown Pelicans in Missing Man Formation
These brown pelicans were flying in formation in a line when three of them broke off in what looks like the missing man formation. Taken during my second trip to Galveston’s FeatherFest.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500MM F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1600 sec @ F5, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 