Dance of the White Morph Reddish Egret
Being the rarest of the American herons/egrets, Reddish Egrets are listed as a threatened species in Texas. Total population is estimated at about 2,000 nesting pairs with 5 to 10% being White Morph’s in the US. From my experience, they are much better at fishing than Great Egrets so hopefully they will continue to make a comeback from being hunted for their plumage. They are very active when feeding and will jump around and use their wings to help find their prey.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III telconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/3200 sec @ F5.6, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Focused Stare Down
This White Morph Reddish Egret was very focused as he was searching for breakfast. Had to widen the depth of field to F11 to get his head in focus with being so close. No noise reduction on this shot.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/800 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, + 1 2/3 exposure compensation
A Very Good Day
Bolivar Flats along the Gulf of Mexico in SE Texas continues to amaze me. Made my second trip over the long holiday weekend yesterday and this one was special. My typical goals at Bolivar include trying to find and photograph Avocets and Reddish Egrets. All other birds are icing on the cake. It was a target rich environment and had the opportunity to have my cake with lots of icing on top.
In my FeatherFest workshops, I stress to the participants to keep your head on a swivel and look behind you as the best shot may be there. Took my own advice and it paid off big time on this outing.
All photos were 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. Very little cropping on most of these photos.
Got up at 3:30 a.m. and made it to Bolivar before the sun came up. Hiked along the beach to check out where the birds were located and saw this Great Blue Heron flying by. Picked up my rig, including the ground pod, and got a series of blurred flight shots. Got a nice blurred wing spread when he landed.
1/20 sec @ F16, ISO 1600, +2/3 exposure compensation, evaluative metering, handheld
Worked my way down the beach and saw a group of White Pelicans, Gulls and Avocets in the distance. Didn’t see a practical way to get close to them so headed to one of my favorite spots and settled on a small sandbar just off shore within reach of a Reddish Egret. Got a few shots of him dancing around when the tide came in and the sand bar went under water. Decided to stay put and laid in the water waiting for some more bird action. Patience paid off as I heard a group of three American Oystercatchers coming in for a landing near by. Got off my first shot as this one was landing and he gave me a very nice wing spread. They only hung around for a couple of minutes and took off.
1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 4000, +1 1/3 exposure compensation, evaluative metering
Looked behind me and saw a Reddish Egret dancing in the distance so headed back in that direction. Saw what I thought was a Snowy Egret and decided to lay down and get a few silhouette shots. Discovered that he was actually a White Morph Reddish Egret, which ended up providing some great shots over the next hour.
1/4000 sec @ F9, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Followed this White Morph back to near my original location when a Reddish Egret flew in and scared him off. After the Reddish Egret didn’t do anything but stand there, turned around to see that the White Morph had landed back in the area where I first spotted him. Moved my position again and ended up working his way back towards me. Got some of my best White Morph shots as he danced around. I’ll post some more shots of him later.
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 800, +1 exposure compensation, evaluative metering
After the White Morph walked passed me, heard a familiar bird and looked behind me to see a single Avocet starting to feed along side a Yellow Legs and a Willet. The challenge at this point was to rotate around in the wet sand without spooking him. The Avocet kept moving back and forth and got close enough for some head shots. This one is uncropped.
1/400 sec @ F16, ISO 800, evaluative metering
A very good day indeed.
Snowy Launching
Caught this Snowy Egret as he was getting ready to take-off with wings extended, leaning into the wind and some catch light in his eye. Looking at the bird in the distance helped to give the photo some more interest.
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 @ F11, ISO 1600, +1 exposure compensation
Reddish Wing Stretch
This Reddish Egret was getting some stretching exercises in at Bolivar Flats. Always a good time. Hope to get back there soon over the holidays.
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 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
B&W Lift-Off
From the my last trip to Bolivar Flats, this White Morph Reddish Egret landed nearby and then suddenly took off. The colors were muted as the sun was behind the clouds so I tried using B&W on this one.
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
1/1000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Reddish Egret in Golden Light
Made another trip to Bolivar Flats on Saturday. The wind was supposed to be fairly calm on Sat. and got confirmation of that when heading into the Texas City area and could see the steam coming off the of refineries going straight up. Always a good sign. Was hoping for completely calm, like glass, water but didn’t get that lucky. Arrived at the Flats around 6:30 a.m. and had plenty of time to head down the beach and set up on the ground before the sun came up. Picked a location on a sandbar with water on both sides of me and the sun at my back. Turned out to be a good location with an abundant amount of bird activity, i.e. a target rich environment.
Was getting shots of a Marbled Godwit to my right when I looked around and saw this Reddish Egret to my left. He gave me a nice pose when the sun popped out above the clouds. Nothing like seeing a gorgeous sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico and having birds like this to photograph. I’m very luck to live in this neck of the woods.
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, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Squawking about the Seaweed
I wasn’t the only one complaining about the build up of seaweed at Bolivar Flats. This Willet was voicing his opinion as well.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1600 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Great Blue Point of View
On my last trip to Brazos Bend State Park, Doug and I didn’t have much luck with birds until we came across this Great Blue Heron that allowed us to get very close. Too close to get anything but head shots, which is not a bad situation to be in. When that’s the case with long necked birds, it’s time to go vertical. Got some photos as he was facing us but kind of liked these POV shots as he was looking away.
Somehow in the move to a vertical shot, ended up moving the dial by mistake and got -2/3 exposure compensation. I’m still not used to having the exposure compensation bar on the right side of the viewfinder compared to my 7D with the bar on the bottom.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation (wrong setting)
1/1000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation (wrong setting)
Rejection
No matter how hard you try, no matter what gifts that you bring, rejection can be a very hard thing…so just fly away, to try again, another day
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
American Oystercatcher
After a not overly productive morning at Bolivar Flats, started to head back to the car but the large amount of seaweed on the beach made me take a detour back off shore to walk along a sandbar, which turned out to be the best decision of the day. Ended up lying down to take photos of a couple of Willets when I heard a non-typical bird for this area and looked up to see this American Oystercatcher circle above me as he was coming in for a landing. Luckily he landed close off to my right. Had to carefully rotate my ‘ol body around without spooking him to get into shooting position. He looked around and then walked away, which allowed enough time to squeeze off several shots. A great end to a good day at Bolivar Flats.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/640 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/640 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
1/1000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, aperture priority
Morning Light Gaze
This Willet was gazing into the sunrise while giving it a little leg action. Full frame shot without any cropping from last Saturday at Bolivar Flats in SE Texas.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens and 1.4x teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Hiking in Seaweed
This little shorebird was quickly working its way through a patch of seaweed along the beach at Bolivar Flats. Appears to be a Dunlin with breeding plumage.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/640 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Avocet Close-up’s
Here are a couple of close-up shots of an American Avocet from Bolivar Flats as he was walking towards me. The darker colors around his head/neck are breeding plumage. Only minor cropping and no sharpening.
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
1/1000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation (due to bright background)
1/1000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
Mating Stilts
Takes a good balancing act for Black-necked Stilts to mate with those extra long legs. Just wish that they had not been facing away from me but you take what you can get.
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
1/1,000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1250 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/1,000 sec @ F10, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Reddish Strut
Here are a couple of shots of the Reddish Egret that walked by me as described in my last post. It pays to take shorebird photos from the prone position. Only minor cropping required.
Taken with Canon 1DX with Canon 500mm F4 IS II and 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/400 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/1000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
Avocet in Breeding Plumage
Took Friday off of work to properly break in my new camera at Bolivar Flats with a little sand and salt water. It was low tide at sunrise but most of the sandbars were covered in seaweed. Just as well since I forgot to take my rubber boots with me. The outing started out slow with some Willet shots at a distance but ended up great with getting head shots of Avocets and a Reddish Egret.
Relocated my position a couple of times and ended up with two options. Off to my left was a group of Brown Pelicans/Black Skimmers and off to my right was a Reddish Egret with a few Avocets near by. Not likely to get close to the Pelican’s without spooking them so I headed towards the Reddish Egret. Couldn’t get real close without my boots so ended up picking a spot upstream of the Egret and laid down with my ground pod hoping that the birds would come to me. I love it when a plan comes together. The Reddish Egret ended up going right by me and two of the Avocets walked right towards me. One ended up being too close to get a full body shot so I focused on the top half of this body. Minor cropping to reposition him in the frame gave me this shot.
Losing the crop factor from my 7D won’t be a big deal when the birds cooperate like this. Only minor adjustments in Photoshop with saturation/contrast for this photo. No sharpening was required in Photoshop. Something tells me that I’m going to like my 1DX/500mm combo.
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 @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 exposure compensation
First Outing with Canon 1DX
After waiting for Canon to come out with a high-end crop sensor camera, finally decided it was time to upgrade from my 7D to a 1DX. I fought it for quite a while as full frame wasn’t on my radar due to losing the 1.6 crop factor of my 7D. With bird photography being my niche, being focal length limited can be a challenge. A recent trip to Nebraska convinced me that it was time to upgrade with missing some good shots while not being able to crank up the ISO enough to get higher shutter speeds. My 7D is a great camera but it gets noisy above ISO 400.
This was my first trip to High Island this year. Each season is a little different at the rookery with this year not being as good as previous years, IMO, with increased growth of the vegetation on the island covering up some of the best perching locations.
Besides the changing landscape, trying out a new camera was also challenging, especially when showing up in the dark about 45 min before the sun came up. Will need lots of practice with this puppy to get used to the button locations. Luckily the buttons to change focus points and ISO settings are similar to the 7D.
The ability to crank up the ISO to get higher shutter speeds was very sweet. Took most of my photos at ISO 1600, which look very similar to my 7D at ISO 400. I’ll post more later comparing the 7D to the 1DX after I get some more trigger time with the new camera.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Gitzo tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Great Egret preening: aperture priority, 1/2000 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, -1/3 exposure compensation
Foggy Sunrise
One more Nebraska Sandhill Crane photo for the road. Taken after sunrise over the Platte River in cool 16 deg F weather. The Sandhill’s launched before sunrise with some coming back to the river for some final photo op’s.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Reddish Chase
Here are a few more shots of Reddish Egrets from my last trip to Bolivar Flats in Texas during my FeatherFest field trip. One Reddish Egret was fishing when another came in and started chasing him around.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
Aperture priority, 1/1000 sec @ F5.6, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F9, ISO 500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 500mm
Galveston’s FeatherFest “Photographing Shorebirds” Field Trip
My second field trip that I led during Galveston’s FeatherFest this year was “Photographing Shorebirds at East Beach” on Galveston Island. East Beach has been closed due to the recent oil spill near the Texas City dike. Had received special permission to scout of the area the day before the trip to see how close that we could park the bus from the jetty. Luckily, they fully opened the road and the beach on the day of field trip. The beach looked great with no evidence of the oil spill. Congrat’s to everyone that helped with the beach clean-up. Job well done.
With another full class, we hit the beach near the jetty just before sunrise. There were a few hundred Black Skimmers resting near the shoreline that made for some good photo op’s. The sun finally popped over the clouds and give us some good silhouette opportunities. Some local fisherman provided for some flight shots of the Skimmers at they spooked the birds several times. I encouraged everyone to try some slow shutter speed shots as the birds were flying around.
The Gulf of Mexico was rough on the west side of the jetty with some heavy waves that would crash along the jetty, which made for some interesting photo op’s as a Willet was feeding along the top of the jetty.
Once the action started to lessen, decided to move on to plan B, which was the east end of the island, north of the jetty. There were some shorebirds hanging out in some of the tidal pool areas. Came across some Terns, Willets, Marbled Godwits and Avocets. Tried to get close to the Avocets but they walked away to another group further towards the ship channel. Wasn’t sure if we could get close to the main group but we gave it the old college try and it paid off. We ended up walking down the trail and headed cross country and were able to get very close to the main group of Avocets. One batch was feeding and the other was snoozing. Some were in full breeding plumage with the darker feathers around their head.
After spending some time with the Avocets, made our way to plan C, which was where the shrimp boats come to dock behind the strand. Last year, a shrimp boat came in right as we got there but no such luck this year. We did get to see some Brown Pelicans and dolphins.
It turned out to be a successful outing and had a great time meeting another group of very nice photographers. Thanks to everyone who attended. Here are a few of my photos.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
Shutter priority, 1/6 sec @ F25, ISO 400, +1 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/8000 sec @ F4, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Shutter priority, 1/15 sec @ F32, ISO 200, +1 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 400, evaluative metering, +1/3 exposure compensation
Aperture priority, 1/1250 sec @ F4, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Aperture priority, 1/800 sec @ F10, ISO 400, evaluative metering
Leggy Reflection
This group of Avocets were showing off their legs and reflections at Bolivar Flats.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley II head
1/1000 sec @ F9, ISO 400, evaluative metering, -2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Silent Scream
This Great Horned Owl chick was intently tracking something and trying to scream but to no avail. Nary a peek could be heard. Silence can be golden or deadly, if you are trying to call momma back to the nest.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II head, 580 EX II flash with better beamer
1/160 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, fill flash at -3 stops
Great Horned Owl Chick
With being in a major rut lately due to no photography, decided around 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning (jet lag + normal brain damage) to head out to Brazos Bend State Park. My normal modus operandi would have kept me home with cloudy weather and the chance for rain but I really needed to get out and shoot for my own sanity. Encountered some light rain on the hour drive to the park but blew it off as scattered early morning fog/dew/wet stuff, anything but rain. Of course I believed the weather channel’s radar, at 3:00 a.m. Needless to say, turned out not to be a bright sunny day.
Got there about 1/2 hr before sunrise, which was a little too early on a cloudy day. Made my way around 40 acre lake when it started to sprinkle. Took off my jacket, covered the camera and kept on hiking. Not much activity except some Coots and distant Great Egrets. Headed back up the trail to find the owl nest after installing the 1.4x teleconverter. Found a few decent photo op’s along the way including a Northern Shoveler and a Great Blue Heron building a nest in a tree.
Got a little more rain as I neared the parking lot and decided to put my camera in the trunk to keep it dry. Walked down the trail to find the owl’s nest. Had to stop under a large tree to keep out of the rain when it started to come down with more intensity. Finally spotted the nest and started to walk back to get my camera when I turned around and saw the chick staring at me. Began to wonder if momma was in the nest or ready to attack from another tree. Got my gear and confirmed that the parent wasn’t in the nest, which provided some cool photo op’s of the chick. He was very attentive and would watch everyone that came walking by, including a few nearby squirrels.
Sandy showed up and we had a good talk while waiting for the mother to come back. Saw a glimpse of her flying back into the tree but she didn’t return to the nest. She ended up falling asleep in the tree so I headed home. A potentially crappy day turned out to be a good one. A very cool experience was had by all, well at least me. Thanks again Doug for the tips about the owl.
Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4x III teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II head
1/160 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, fill flash with better beamer at – 3 stops
1/320 sec @ F5.6, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, fill flash with better beamer at – 3 stops
Tim Timmis Photography 
