Mourning Dove

Mourning Dove.
I usually see small groups of Mourning Doves in the yard this time of year, maybe 4 or 5 at a time. Apparently this year was a banner year for Dove and successful breeding. I have groups of 20 at times in the yard now. This is good, but it also means I will be seeing more activity from the hawks around here. Doves, like this juvenile, are a little slow in taking off, and make a large target, so they attract a lot of hawks especially Cooper’s Hawks. I hate to see all the feather remains, but at the same time I know it is part of the circle of life in nature. In case you wondered, Mourning Doves got their names because the soft cooing they make sounds like the mourning sounds of humans at times.
Tamron 150-500mm Di III VC VXD lens on a Sony a6600, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 500, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui tripod, Acratech Panoramic head and leveling base, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #withmytamron #withmytamronmirrorless #tamronusa #TamronLensesUSA #TamronImageMaster #tamron150500 #tamronglobal #tamroncreates #BearWoodsPhotography #birdphotography #birdnirdvana #birdsofinstagram #bearwoodswildlifesanctuary

Mourning Dove

Mourning Dove.

 

I have the “Bird Studio” set up and back in business for the winter. I don’t leave feeders out in the summer since we have bears and the birds have plenty of food sources available. I typically put it out in late fall for any migrants passing by, which was the case this year. I finally set up the tripod and camera yesterday. It didn’t take long for the birds to get used to seeing me and the camera in the window. This Mourning Dove posed nicely for me!

 

Thank you all for the kind words about my Mother. She has been missed but she is always present in our lives.

 

We had our annual Christmas party last night at my sister’s house. It was great to see my brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews and even great nephews! When did we get old enough to have great nephews? Life sort of sneaks up on you a day at a time apparently. The Gunny was there and was feisty enough to try and claim an entire apple pie for his own. Due to the shortage of apple pie, my brother has challenged my sister to an apple pie bake off on Christmas. I volunteered to be a judge. They didn’t buy into my rules of having one piece cold, one warm and one with vanilla ice cream on top as the requirements for deciding the winner. I still get to judge though.

 

Whatever religion you practice, even if it is none at all, take this time of year to open your homes to family and friends, even those who don’t have someone to visit this time of year. Small random acts of kindness can go a long way. It isn’t about religion to be kind, it is about being a caring human being.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens on a Canon 7Dii, Aperture Priority, f8, -0 stops of exposure compensation, ISO 400, resulting in a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, Sirui R4214X tripod and PH20 Gimbal Head, Lowepro Flipside 500AW photo backpack, processed in Lightroom CC.

Mourning Dove head shots with the Tamron 150-600mm

Mourning Dove with the Tamron 150-600mm lens. I had my first opportunity to shoot a few images in the “Bird Studio” yesterday morning. I started shooting some full body images but found that it wasn’t letting me test the lens at it’s long limit. So I decided to do some head shots of birds as they perched. One of the best subjects was this Mourning Dove. It posed perfectly against the great background. I am super impressed with the lens at it’s longest zoom length. I did use the lens on my tripod setup yesterday simply to compare results against the 200-500mm I have been using.

I will be heading to Baton Rouge in the morning and will get a chance to shoot in the field with the lens when I go to a swamp on Friday morning. This will be the icing on the cake I am sure. As I was shooting and checking out the results on the LCD screen, I kept asking myself why would anyone not want this lens if they are shooting wildlife, sports or need a long lens and not spend a fortune. Absolutely this lens has to be the greatest bargain in long telephoto lenses I have seen. I am absolutely loving it. I will post some more images later hopefully of a male Northern Cardinal that didn’t want to be outdone by the Mourning Dove!

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens on a Canon 7D, Manual Mode, f6.3, 1/125th of a second exposure, ISO 1000, focal length 600mm with 1.6x crop factor of the sensor making it 960mm, Vanguard Auctus Plus tripod, Wemberley head, processed in Lightroom 5.