Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (m)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (m).

 

I love snow, but hate ice storms, and yesterday we woke up to ice on everything. We lost power sometime in the middle of the night, but we have a generator so we were fine. Along with a constant fire in the wood stove, it was very cozy. I made sure I put out lots of seed for the birds since getting to any on plants would have been impossible. One bird that came to visit was a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. The male is especially striking and posed nicely for me a couple of times. I really liked how the yellow from the bird reflected off of the ice on the post that it was perched.

 

It made me start to think about my youth a little. I could never run for any office because of my youth, and thank goodness that the internet was not around. I know that surely once or twice while daring one of my hooligan friends to do something crazy, like jump into a pond where we were sure there were snakes or giant snapping turtles, that I probably commented upon their hesitation, “what are you, a yellow-bellied sapsucker?” Where did this saying come from? And why? Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are very cool birds and weren’t afraid of anything in the yard. They were actually very brave. Having lots of extra time on my hands yesterday, I researched it and could only find the reference but no reason for the saying. So from this day forward when we see something that bravery is required, we should say “you can do it, you are a yellow-bellied sapsucker!”

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 3600, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BearWoodsWildlifeSanctuary, #BirdNirdvana

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Check out the new sushi place

Check out the new sushi place…

 

This Cormorant, and this fish, entertained our workshop group for about 5 minutes, possibly more while we were at Scipio Creek. The Cormorant appeared to be lining it up to swallow, but Pelicans kept going toward it and the Cormorant would abandon the fish. It is a catfish and you can see, and if you look closely, someone has been taking a bite previously. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like the same catfish a bird had earlier. Possibly the fish was too stiff for any of the birds to swallow or it was like the Christmas gift that gets passed around for a while, but we never did see the bird actually swallow the fish.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 220, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, handheld, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

Brown Pelican Reflection

Brown Pelican Reflection.

 

When the water is calm, the light is perfect, and the Pelican poses, you take the image. This Pelican swam back and forth posing for our group before finally joining 3 other Pelicans and posing for a group photo. I love the double “catch light” in the eye, which is a result of the Sun and its reflection on the water. Catch lights give detail to the eyes of your subject and can show the sharpness in an image.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 640, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, handheld, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

My Winter Residents

My Winter Residents.

 

Actually they are year round residents, but it seems they have multiplied by 2 or 3 times. I need to get out and do some eBird counts of the backyard, but it is a busy place for sure. This morning it is 22 degrees here in Bear Woods and I had a welcoming party waiting for me when I put the bird feeders out this morning. I am getting White-breasted Nuthatch, like this one, in big numbers, probably over 20, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Cardinals, Eastern Bluebirds, House Finch, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, an Eastern Phoebe, a Winter Wren, and huge numbers of Dark-eyed Junco, easily over 25, each day. Time to make another seed run.

 

The White-breasted Nuthatch are one of the most entertaining birds I get here, as they are very vocal, super active and not shy. This particular one landed on the table beside me a couple of times before settling on this post. It will be even colder tomorrow morning and I am sure the welcoming committee will be waiting again.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 720, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BirdNirdvana

Brown Pelican in Flight

Brown Pelican in Flight.

 

During our Apalachicola Workshop we had a couple of great opportunities to photograph birds in flight. I gave a quick lesson on settings and technique and shortly after the birds cooperated very well. I explained to the group to stop the movement you wanted a minimum of 1/1000th of a second for most birds. To get started, I said big slower birds with less movement are perfect to get the movements needed for sharp images. Enter the Brown Pelican and perfect lighting. We spent about an hour just waiting for the wide bodied jumbo jets to fly by at eye level offering plenty of images to be captured.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 200, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens in Mode 2 (panning mode), processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #BearWoodsPhotography, #NatureInFocusPhotographyWorkshops

Eastern Phoebe and Fall Colors

Eastern Phoebe and Fall Colors.

 

My perch with the fall colors behind it was a popular place the other day! An Eastern Phoebe landed and didn’t want to be outdone by the Eastern Bluebirds. This is the Eastern Phoebe that follows me around the yard as I do any raking or shoveling hoping to grab any grubs or other insects that become exposed in the process. It will chatter at me as I go out to put mealworms in the feeder. I think it has me trained very well.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 800, shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BirdNirdvana

Eastern Bluebird in Fall Colors

Eastern Bluebird in Fall Colors.

 

The trees are really starting to get some nice color to them up here in Bear Woods, and in early morning when the sun strikes the mountain across the way from us, it creates a beautiful backdrop for my bird studio. This is a post that several of the birds use naturally and it seemed they were extra cooperative yesterday being very still so I could reduce the shutter speed and in turn lower the ISO as well. I definitely added a few images from this session to the calendar folder for 2020!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 800, shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, Sirui P424S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BirdNirdvana