Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo.

 

The past day or so it seems the summer visitors are starting to head out. I have had the occasional Warbler, but not in any big numbers, still lots of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, but only a few Vireo, mainly Red-eyed. Yesterday was the first day since April I didn’t see a single Hummingbird, however I know I will see some as they migrate through and will keep the feeders out until late November. I finally was able to capture an image of one of the Red-eyed Vireo in the bright light where the eyes were brilliant red. We are having a cold spell here, mornings in the 40s, highs in the upper 60s, so I think we will see lots of birds migrating through but not stopping for more than a day. Fall is my favorite time of the year, but I hate thinking it will be months before all the birds return.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 180, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

Hopefully a helpful guide

Hopefully a helpful guide.

 

Birds migrating south in the fall can be very tough to ID and it is easy to mis-identify some birds that look totally different as they are moving north in spring. A lot of birds molt their feathers at least twice each year, for some of them it is in and out of breeding plumage. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one such bird. Throw into the mix the birds that were hatched this year and are in their “first fall” plumage. Hopefully this guide will help at least a little with Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Females will look very similar each season and the easiest thing to ID them is if they lift their wings, you will see yellow on the undersides. Males will have red under their wings. First year or juvenile males will not have completely gotten all of their black feathers on their wings, and the underside of the tails will still be light brownish. Adult non-breeding males will look very similar, but can be seen in many different stages of their molt. One thing to help distinguish the adult non-breeding and first year will be the underside of the tail. Adult non-breeding will have white and black vs the duller or plain feathers. The wings will also be almost if not completely black. The amount of red on the breast can vary from spring to fall as well, so don’t always look to see just a red patch. You can see the head feathers change as well, where spring adult males have black heads, in fall they will have head colors that resemble juveniles or females. I hope this guide helped at least a little! #bearwoodsphotography, #bearwoodswildlifesanctuary, #birdphotography, #birdnirdvana

“I’m posing, hurry up and take the photo”

“I’m posing, hurry up and take the photo”

 

It is really neat to see all the Eastern Bluebirds returning the yard this fall. They have almost completely molted into their adult plumage but it is easy to tell which ones are the parents. All the others move out of their way when they come in to feed! Although it isn’t breeding season some level protecting their territory still takes place. This will settle down for the winter and I will have a dozen or so Bluebirds here until spring.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 1800, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

Breakfast and an ID tip

Breakfast and an ID tip.

 

This time of year the adult Northern Cardinals are still feeding the last of their broods around the feeder. Normally they would not be feeding them at this stage as they would be working on an additional clutch. The juveniles have started to molt into their adult plumage and it can be tougher to ID them with except for the beak. With Northern Cardinals the beaks on juveniles are brown where the adults have bright orange beaks. Other birds, like the Brown Thrasher, the difference will be in the color of the eyes, juveniles will have blue, adults yellow eyes. Osprey juveniles have orange eyes, adults yellow eyes. Even Bald Eagle juveniles can be easily ID’d by their brown eyes, but it takes longer for them to get the yellow eyes that the adults have.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 2000, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

Golden-winged Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler.

 

I always like it in Spring and Fall when the Golden-winged Warblers stop by for a visit before moving south. Hopefully they will be here for a few more days. One of the prettiest Warblers in my opinion.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 4500, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

Passing through again

Passing through…again.

 

The other evening I noticed my feeder was about empty as I was taking it down for the night. I just figured that some squirrel had found a way to get to it. When I put it out the next morning I heard the distinctive chirp of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and it hit me as to why my feeder was empty. I quickly swapped out a small hanging bowl feeder for my larger seed feeder so the Grosbeaks could get the calories needed for their journey. They eat a lot! During the summer months I only put out a smaller seed feeder as there is a bounty of natural sources for the birds, but fall and winter I put out larger feeders which allow the birds to get the calories they need so badly. As I look out the window I have 6 Grosbeaks on the feeder and a dozen or so in the poke berry bush eating fruit. What a great sight. You can see this one in the photo has already had some berries!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 2500, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

White-eyed Vireo

White-eyed Vireo.

 

One bird that is easily identified when it is seen is the White-eyed Vireo. Its bright white eyes can easily be seen even from a distance. I usually get them in the yard in spring and fall, but sometimes they will be in the area during the summer months.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 2200, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

Grey Catbird

Grey Catbird.

 

One of my favorite birds is the Grey Catbird. It isn’t a colorful bird, but instead I think it is a beautiful bird in its simplicity. The slate grey with black accents, and a little rust coloring that is rarely seen. It mimics a cat in its call and has driven me crazy over the years as I search for a kitten hiding in the bushes. It is here feeding on two very large poke berry bushes in the backyard. Many of the migrants are stopping by the bushes and getting the calories needed to fly south for the winter.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 2800, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BearWoodsPhotography

My favorite Balanced Rock image from Moab

My favorite Balanced Rock image from Moab.

 

So this will probably be, well maybe anyway, the last of the series of images I post from my trip to Moab. I can’t promise it though as I still have so many others. This is probably my favorite image that I captured from Balanced Rock using the H&Y Filters Pure Night Filter. It is not a lot of difference in how you capture the image, but processing it becomes very easy and the results are better. Street lights tend to show up in images as light pollution, and this filter reduces the light cast by the 2 most popular types of street lights, sodium vapor and mercury vapor. By reducing it, I was able to get rich color in the base of the Galactic Core as it was positioned between the rocks. The color of the core was consistent throughout the visible Milky Way which, for me, it has always had a different color at the bottom vs higher up in the sky. Unfortunately it doesn’t remove the red light from someone’s flashlight in the bottom left on the tree…

 

Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD lens on a Sony a7Riii, Manual Exposure mode, f2.8, ISO 3200, shutter speed of 15 seconds, H&Y Filters Pure Night Skies Filter, Sirui AM 284 US tripod, Acratech GXP ballhead, Shimoda Action X50 backpack, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #withmytamron, #tamron, #tamronusa, #tamronlensesusa, #tamronimagemaster, #tamron1728, #hyfilters, #sirui, #siruiusa, #acratech, #shimodadesign, #outofmoab, #outofchicago, #bearwoodsphotography

Another Balanced Rock sunrise

Another Balanced Rock sunrise.

 

The haze had moved in the last 2 days of our conference but it still offered some incredible opportunities for the participants to capture unique images. On the last morning I asked if it was okay for us to open up our morning session to the other groups who were scheduled to go to another locations. Of course the answer was yes and I think it gave everyone a chance to have a great last morning. Since we had been there the day before we knew exactly where to position everyone to get perfect images of the sun rising over the horizon. I set my camera off to the side and set it to do a time lapse, which by the way I still need to process. Cecil and I were joined by Aaron King who is an incredible photographer and has some great videos on YouTube. When the conference finished I think everyone got some great images and learned some lessons about adapting to the conditions. The next conference is just around the corner up in Acadia NP and I am sure we will be doing a little adapting up there as well.

 

Tamron 28-200mm Di III RXD lens on a Sony a7Riii, Manual Exposure mode, f4, ISO 50, shutter speed of 1/160th of a second, Sirui AM 284 US tripod, Acratech GXP ballhead, Shimoda Action X50 backpack, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #withmytamron, #tamron, #tamronusa, #tamronlensesusa, #tamronimagemaster, #tamron28200, #sirui, #siruiusa, #acratech, #shimodadesign, #outofmoab, #outofchicago, #outofmoab, #bearwoodsphotography