Big Breakfast!

Big Breakfast!

 

I was picking up the camera yesterday morning when all of a sudden the Worm-eating Warbler appeared, and in great light! I quickly turned the camera back on, framed the image, and the Warbler grabbed an insect from the base of a leaf. It then turned its head to the side as if he was posing with his catch. I have learned a lot as to landscaping my yard to be more friendly to the birds and will carry these lessons over to next year as well. Lots of flowers and bushes that attract insects also attract the birds!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 800, shutter speed of 1/200th of a second, Sirui P424S carbon fiber monopod and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear

Nature’s Palette

Nature’s Palette

 

I remember when I was in art school as painters we mixed our palettes for our work that day. Seeing all of the beautiful colors we could mix though will never match what nature mixes each and every day. Sitting on the back porch the other day when this Hooded Warbler landed near the Crepe Myrtle blossom, I had to just think about how incredible the colors were in our natural world. Flowers in their bright colors attract bees and other insects, which in turn attract colorful birds hoping for a meal, all the mean while their color is there to attract a mate. As colorful as the Hooded Warbler is on the front and side though, the dull drab back is there to protect and conceal the female as it sits on a nest of eggs. As hard as we try to copy nature’s palette, we can never outdo what is there in front of us. Turn off the TV, get outside and just look at the palette of color around you.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 3200, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S carbon fiber monopod and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MIndShiftGear

I don’t have a large beak, just a small head

I don’t have a large beak, just a small head.

 

One of the most beautiful birds we get up here is the male Scarlet Tanager, but its counterpart is extremely bright and colorful as well. The male is a bright red and black, but the female is a beautiful yellow. We see them in the treetops often, but this year they have come down to the feeder area, not for the feeders but the bushes around them. They are foliage gleaners, which means they “pick” their insects from the branches and leaves of trees and bushes. This female seem to follow in some of the juvenile Eastern Bluebirds yesterday but I have seen her or one similar come in and eat insects in the Crepe Myrtles. Birds to me are more than beautiful colors and song, their behavior is interesting to watch. It is so interesting to see how their beaks have adapted for their eating habits over the years. A great book that discusses this is “The Beak of the Finch”, written primarily about finches in the Galapagos islands.

 

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 and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear

Northern Parula, another new visitor to Bear Woods

Northern Parula, another new visitor to Bear Woods.

 

The year of the Warbler continues in Bear Woods. Yesterday, a Northern Parula stopped by for a visit. I hope it stays at least a few days. It is a beautiful bird with a great song. I had another 8 Warbler day from the back porch, which is better than some days I have had walking in the woods! I look forward to seeing what this morning holds for Warblers and other visitors!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 4500, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Sirui P424S carbon fiber monopod and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear

“Clouds are rollin’ in”

“Clouds are rollin’ in”

 

One of my all time favorite singer/songwriters was John Denver. He died way too early and I would love to have heard the songs he would have written if he had not passed. His song “Back Home Again” starts with these lyrics, “There’s a storm across the valley, clouds are rollin’ in, the afternoon is heavy on your shoulders”. That pretty much summed up how the afternoon took shape here in Bear Woods yesterday. I did however finally get a chance to shoot the new Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens! I have been hoping to get out and shoot some waterfalls with it, since I have had it a couple days now, but the sun has been limiting the opportunities for that! I wanted to shoot the lens handheld at slower shutter speeds to test how the Vibration Compensation handles it, and it did not disappoint. I will post more images and a review as I have more opportunities to shoot it. I will have it with me at my presentation this Thursday at the Smyrna Chapter of the Georgia Nature Photographers Association meeting where I will be presenting “Designing a Landscape”.

 

Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-750, Manual Exposure mode, f5.6, ISO 100, shutter speed of 1/25th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster

Kentucky Warbler

Kentucky Warbler.

 

A beautiful Kentucky Warbler also visited the backyard the other day, and it good light! I have been thinking about my theme for calendars this year and with the images of the Warblers I have captured in the backyard I am leaning towards one being “The Warblers of Bear Woods”. I am also going to do a scenic landscape calendar this year, and possibly the “Bear Woods Bluebirds 2018” edition. I will be starting to select the images and put together the layout in the near future so stay tuned.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 800, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S carbon fiber monopod and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear

Another Nemesis…captured!

Another Nemesis…captured.

 

I posted a couple weeks ago about one of my nemesis, the Cerulean Warbler, was finally captured on digital film. I mentioned other nemesis that have taunted and haunted me for years. Another one of them was the male Hooded Warbler. I have captured them on my fence and in less than ideal light. Yesterday, that nemesis is taunting me no more, he is now another file on my hard drive! I was shooting on the back porch with a friend when he said he spotted a male Hooded Warbler coming in from the right. It landed on the fence and then hopped up onto the crepe myrtle. There he posed for about 30 seconds or so allowing me to capture some images of one of the most beautiful Warblers I have ever seen. Tomorrow, I will post another beautiful bird’s photo that we captured as well. This has truly been a great year in Bear Woods for Warblers. Now if I could just get that Ivory-billed Woodpecker or the Sasquatch that lives in the woods…

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 2000, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P424S carbon fiber monopod and L10 head, MindShift Gear TrailScape 18L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear