# The Birds and the Bees



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

Let me tell you about the birds:







and the bees:






and the iguanas in the trees:






that I saw when I visited my parents in Florida over the holidays this year.

Once again, we strolled around the local wetlands for about an hour each morning, taking pictures.  If you're interested, please scroll down and have a look.  I'll post more of my snapshots below.  

Regards, 
Eric


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Great Blue Herons*

Here are some shots of Great Blue Herons in flight:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*More Bees*

Here are a few more shots of bees (which I took in areas where there were no birds)


----------



## Dieseldoc (Jan 6, 2019)

Just outstanding photo's, good eye for the subject.

Charlie


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*And More Iguanas*

There are more iguanas than in previous years.  Being herbivores, they don't bother the birds, and the iguanas have no natural predators.  I'm told that unless there's a cold snap (which kills the iguanas), the wetlands managers periodically shoot several of them.


----------



## mbroberg (Jan 6, 2019)

Great shots Eric.  Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Chicks...*

Most of the great blue herons have only just begun to make nests, but one pair already has two chicks:











...and sometimes, they look downright demented:


----------



## Cwalker935 (Jan 6, 2019)

Fantastic!


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*...and Ducks...*

I saw mottled ducks, moscovy ducks, and blue-wing teals, as well as these black-bellied whistling ducks:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*... and Geese*

On my last visit to the wetlands, I saw a pair of Egyptian Geese.  The male is in front, and the female is behind him.  Shortly after I took this photo, they flew away.


----------



## Scotty (Jan 6, 2019)

Beautiful pictures.


----------



## magpens (Jan 6, 2019)

Outstanding photography, Eric !!!!! . Thanks for sharing !!!!


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Osprey*

An osprey flew overhead a few times, usually just long enough for someone to yell "osprey!", and everybody else to say "where?  where?".  I was lucky and happened to be looking up just in time to catch this one flying by.


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Cormorants*

I don't usually take many photographs of Double-Crested Cormorants, because - well - they're just not very photogenic.  This one, however, was posing and squawking up a storm, so I snapped a pic:






Later, I also took these pictures:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Roseate Spoonbills*

Last year, I must have seen nearly 100 Roseate Spoonbills.  This year, I only saw two - this adult (scratching an itch):






and this juvenile (catching a minnow):


----------



## TellicoTurning (Jan 6, 2019)

MeThinks you may be a wild life photographer............... and a good one.


----------



## mark james (Jan 6, 2019)

Wonderful pictures Eric.  I appreciate and admire seeing these.

Totally unrelated, but the Cayman Islands are being overrun by Green Iguana's.  After mulling what to do, they instituted paid culling:  $5-6/iguana.  In the first 8 weeks they have culled close to 250,000 iguanas, and have earmarked funds for 1 million.  This will stabilize the population.  Similarily, almost no native predators.

https://www.caymancompass.com/2019/01/03/cullers-eradicate-a-quarter-of-caymans-green-iguanas/

Anyone want to cast iguana skins???


----------



## gimpy (Jan 6, 2019)

AWESOME,


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Ibis*

A White Ibis and a Glossy Ibis - can you tell which is which?


----------



## Jim15 (Jan 6, 2019)

Awesome pictures! Thanks for posting them.


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Storks*

The Wood Storks were building nests too, and the males were collecting sticks from nearby trees:






Flying back to the nesting area:






And fighting over who got to keep them:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Palm Warbler*

Now, you may not believe me, but waterfowl activity was actually way down from previous years.  There are not nearly as many birds, and the ones present were not flying as much.  Therefore, I sometimes occupied myself by trying to take pictures of some small perching birds, such as the Palm Warbler below.











The bird was tiny (only about 4" long) and constantly on the move - jumping or flitting from branch to branch.  Tracking it through a super-telephoto lens and trying to maintain focus was quite a challenge.


----------



## RangeRat (Jan 6, 2019)

Some great shots there, Sylvanite! (Of course I expect no less from what I’ve seen on the pen photography threads!) I started beekeepojg about 3 years ago, so I really like the bee shots!


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Gnatcatcher*

This Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher was even smaller and quicker.


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Critters*

There were other animals present too, including a napping rabbit:






a raccoon foraging for berries in the top of a cabbage palm:






and (of course) alligators:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 6, 2019)

*Lastly*

To wrap things up, here's a Swamp Lily.






I hope you enjoyed the pictures,
Eric


----------



## BRobbins629 (Jan 6, 2019)

Your photography skills have always impressed me. Your artistry is even more impressive. Thanks for letting us look.


----------



## Master Geppetto (Jan 6, 2019)

AMAZING!! Great pics!


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 6, 2019)

THANK-YOU, Eric!!


----------



## 1080Wayne (Jan 6, 2019)

Many outstanding shots Eric . I look forward every January to seeing your work . Thank you !


----------



## TellicoTurning (Jan 7, 2019)

You know Eric, there's a fellow at my local Farmer's Market in downtown Knoxville that does photography.... he takes pictures of the local old buildings and such around town, blows them up to various sizes and mounts them on a backer board, puts them in glassene sleeves and sells them at the market... he must do fairly well as he's there every weekend from May through December.... your pictures are salable quality.  Something to think about.... if you do shows, put a section of your booth dedicated to your photos.


----------



## ajollydds (Jan 7, 2019)

Beautiful!  Thanks for sharing.


----------



## MDWine (Jan 7, 2019)

OK, it's a photographer thing... gimme the gear run-down
You've got the knack for the panning shots, evidently!
I have a hard time gettin' a softbox on'm... lol


----------



## Buckmark13 (Jan 7, 2019)

MDWine said:


> OK, it's a photographer thing... gimme the gear run-down
> You've got the knack for the panning shots, evidently!
> I have a hard time gettin' a softbox on'm... lol


Definitely interested in hearing about your equipment,  especially the lens!


----------



## diamundgem (Jan 7, 2019)

Damn, some of those gals have pretty legs


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 7, 2019)

MDWine said:


> OK, it's a photographer thing... gimme the gear run-down



Would you believe: 






Just kidding :biggrin:.  I used a Canon 7D Mk II body with a Sigma 150-600mm lens.  I'd only used the lens once before, so I missed a lot of shots getting used to it, and several because it doesn't focus closer than 10ft, and a few more because I inadvertently moved the focus range limiter and image stabilization switches to the wrong positions at one point.  There also were times when I simply couldn't zoom out wide enough.

All in all, though, I can't fault the camera or lens for image quality.  When I did my job right, they did theirs. - and that's something I think holds true for most cameras and lenses.

Regards, 
Eric


----------



## MDWine (Jan 8, 2019)

Nice... I often hear Sigma "poo-poo'd" for being soft, but I don't find that with my 70-200 or my 17-50.  I'm glad to see such nice work through another Sigma. 

Pardon the pun, but that 600 is a Cannon!

Well done sir, your panning skills are impressive.   
I particularly appreciate the flamingo catching his morsel.  Great timing!
Nice work and thanks for sharing!!


----------



## MRDucks2 (Jan 8, 2019)

I am a fan of the Ducks, myself. 
M R Ducks
O S M R
C M Ducks!
S I C M Ducks!
M R Ducks 2
O S M R


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Jan 8, 2019)

*Watching for more great photos*

Your photos are great.  I can't stop looking at them.






Ed


----------



## Lucky2 (Jan 8, 2019)

Amazing photos Eric, thank-you very much for sharing them with us.

Len


----------



## OLDMAN5050 (Jan 9, 2019)

I enjoyed your photos, thanks


----------



## Dalecamino (Jan 9, 2019)

MRDucks2 said:


> I am a fan of the Ducks, myself.
> M R Ducks
> O S M R
> C M Ducks!
> ...



C M E D B D eyes?:biggrin:


----------



## Dalecamino (Jan 9, 2019)

Never get tired of seeing your awesome photos Eric.


----------



## D.Oliver (Jan 9, 2019)

Love the pictures!  Thank you for posting them.


----------



## jimm1 (Jan 9, 2019)

Absolutely amazing. May I ask what your camera setting were?


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 9, 2019)

jimm1 said:


> May I ask what your camera setting were?


Well, for bird-in-flight shots, possibly the most important camera setting was "AI-Servo" autofocus.  That allows the camera to keep a bird in focus, even if it is flying towards the camera.  That, combined with high-speed continuous shooting (for my camera, that's 10 frames per second) allow me to follow a bird and stand a decent chance of getting an interesting pose.

In prior years, I typically enabled a large portions of my camera's autofocus sensors (it has 63).  That allowed me to focus on a bird even if it wasn't in the center of the frame.  That's ok if the bird is against the open sky, but not if it's flying in front of foliage.  This year, I dropped down to "center+4" (5 AF points), and then to center point only.  I had less success shooting birds far overhead, but for closer birds and other animals, I was better able to keep the eye(s) in focus.

To stop the motion of beating wings, I generally used a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec or faster, but for some of the bee shots, I upped that to 1/4000 sec.  I usually chose an aperture of around f/8 for sufficient depth-of-field (although there were a couple of times I went to f/16).  A professional photographer probably would have concentrated on a single subject and used full manual exposure, but I was wandering around shooting whatever popped up under varying light, so I used auto-exposure.  I started out using aperture priority at f/8 and ISO 1600 (which _usually_ yielded fast enough shutter speeds) but later switched to f/8 and 1/1000 sec with auto-ISO.  That was fine for everything except shaded (wooded) areas, where I would lower the shutter speed and make sure I hadn't inadvertently switched image stabilization off.

I shot in "raw" mode, but my father shoots in jpeg and gets better photos than I do (with a lot fewer shutter clicks).  Paying attention to wildlife behavior, being ready for action when it happens, choosing the best light and composition, and practice make more of a difference than equipment details.

I hope that helps, 
Eric


----------



## GaryMGg (Jan 9, 2019)

Great pics Eric.
Where were you when you took most of these?


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 10, 2019)

GaryMGg said:


> Where were you when you took most of these?


I took most of these pictures at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, which is essentially a man-made swamp that is part of the Palm Beach County water treatment system in Delray Beach, Florida.  It's like a small wildlife preserve in the middle of suburban sprawl.

That reminds me that I took another photo while I was there - one that the locals probably all overlook but which woodworkers might appreciate:







I hope you like it, 
Eric


----------



## MDWine (Jan 11, 2019)

Sylvanite said:


> jimm1 said:
> 
> 
> > May I ask what your camera setting were?
> ...


 

That's a great run-down Eric, and good advice for any photog.  I don't think a "pro" would do it much differently.

Thanks for sharing it.


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 11, 2019)

Ed McDonnell said:


> Watching for more great photos


Would you really like to see more?


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Jan 11, 2019)

Sylvanite said:


> Would you really like to see more?



I'm all eyes!






Ed


----------



## gtriever (Jan 11, 2019)

Wondered when you would get to the obligatory duck shot...    :biggrin:

Verry nicely done!


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 12, 2019)

Ed McDonnell said:


> Sylvanite said:
> 
> 
> > Would you really like to see more?
> ...


Well, would you'd like:  Bitterns, Blackbirds, Coots, Doves, Ducks, Egrets, Herons, Moorhens, or more perching birds?


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Jan 12, 2019)

How about small perching birds like warblers.  Butterflies are always great to look at as well.

Ed


----------



## Brian G (Jan 12, 2019)

I think there are enough Bittern Coots on this site, so some of the others would be good.  :tongue:


----------



## vtgaryw (Jan 12, 2019)

Sylvanite said:


> MDWine said:
> 
> 
> > OK, it's a photographer thing... gimme the gear run-down
> ...



Love the birds in flight, especially the heron.  I've been trying for years to get a good heron in flight, and am still not happy with what I've gotten.  Love the autofocus abilities.  Is that a full frame sensor in that model?

Gary


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 12, 2019)

Ed McDonnell said:


> How about small perching birds like warblers.  Butterflies are always great to look at as well.



Ok, here's a White Peacock Butterfly that I happened upon while looking for Bitterns:






and a reflection that I found interesting.






I hope you like them, 
Eric


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 13, 2019)

vtgaryw said:


> I've been trying for years to get a good heron in flight, and am still not happy with what I've gotten.  Love the autofocus abilities.  Is that a full frame sensor in that model?


The camera I used has an APS-C (1.6x crop) sensor, not full-frame.  That has both advantages and disadvantages.

The trick to getting in-flight shots is to go somewhere where there's lots of activity (such as when the herons are building nests); set up in a good spot; learn to anticipate bird behavior; and be ready when they take off.  After that, it's mainly practice in acquiring and maintaining good framing of the bird.

My vision is poor, so I wouldn't even try photographing birds without autofocus.  Long ago, before cameras had autofocus, I knew a guy who had a (film) camera mounted on a gunstock.  The foregrip had a squeeze bulb that drove the focus and the trigger released the shutter.  He would track a bird in flight, squeeze the bulb to focus, and then pull the trigger.  Photographing birds was much like hunting them with a scoped rifle.  It's much easier today.

Regards, 
Eric


----------



## Dieseldoc (Jan 13, 2019)

Sylvanite said:


> vtgaryw said:
> 
> 
> > I've been trying for years to get a good heron in flight, and am still not happy with what I've gotten.  Love the autofocus abilities.  Is that a full frame sensor in that model?
> ...


 ERIC:  First of all very outstanding photo in all respects.

However i bit confused with your equipment, on post  36-56 you say  7D Mark 11 with sigma 150-600 lens. so are you using two different camera for you  photos listed?

I run a 5d Mark 11with a boat load of 2.8 canon lens and have  great  results, not  as good of what you have.

charlie


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 13, 2019)

Dieseldoc said:


> However i bit confused with your equipment, on post  36-56 you say  7D Mark 11 with sigma 150-600 lens. so are you using two different camera for you  photos listed?


Just one camera and lens.  The Canon 7D series cameras have APS-C (1.6x) sensors, unlike the 5D and 6D series which have "full frame" (35mm) sensors.

I'd love to have a 5D Mk III or Mk IV, or a 5DS, but I can't justify the expense.  Ditto for the Canon 100-400mm Mk II lens.

Regards, 
Eric


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 24, 2019)

*What are you looking at?*



Ed McDonnell said:


> I'm all eyes!



Lol, your sandhill crane picture reminded me of this shot I took a couple of years ago:


----------



## Sylvanite (Jan 24, 2019)

*Happy Bird - Sad Fish*

And, while I was looking for the crane chick picture, I came across this old shot of a heron with a fish.






I hope you like it,
Eric


----------

