Beauty in Birds through digital photography

Roseate Spoonbill, has pink angel wings.

Brown Pelicans are beautiful when viewed close up, look at the eye.

There's much beauty in birds, some of it undiscovered until you take a digital photo and realize all the things you have not looked at before. Digital photography and telephoto lenses give you new eyes and new appreciation for birds. These photos were taken with my Canon SX 50 HS camera, a superzoom bridge camera.
Lillian

"Okaleeee, Okaleeee, Okaleeee," And the translation is...

 "Oakaleeee, Oakaleeee, Oakaleeee"

"Oakaleeee, Oakaleeee, Oakaleeee"

Translation, "I am a Red-winged Blackbird and this is my territory. So stay out other Red-winged Blackbirds. If you are a female Red-winged Blackbird, come check me out because I have an awesome territory and would make an awesome mate."

(P.S. photos taken with Canon SX 50 HS this morning while I was in a kayak)

NH Spring Birds Canon SX 50 HS

Common Redpoll, f.

Tree Swallows

Fox Sparrow at our feeder. (AV, 1/200, f 6.5, +.1/3, ISO 400, digital zoom 195%)

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

Canada Goose on the pond

Ring-necked Ducks (female, l. male, r.) on a cloudy day on our pond, (AV, 1/400, -1/3, f 6.5, 400 ISO, digital zoom 400% 4800 mm equivalent, handheld.)

Returning home from FL to NH, here are some of the birds that greeted us. The feeders were busy with flocks of about 60 Common Redpolls and 50 Dark-eyed Juncos. Both will soon more on to their breeding grounds. A beautiful Fox Sparrow is visiting the feeders, one of my favorites. It too will move on to northern breeding areas.
Tree Swallows are here in numbers claiming their nesting boxes. We have about 15 nesting pairs and this time of year there is much fighting over boxes. Song Sparrows were singing. They breed here as do the Canada Geese. Ring-necked Ducks are migrants on our pond, so dramatic looking. This morning we had a Bald Eagle swooping on them, but it did not catch any.
All photos were shot with the Canon SX 50 HS. This camera loves good light and you can do pretty well in Smart Auto with good sunlight. The challenges are in low light. I mainly shoot in AV, as it gives you some of the most control over the camera. I use exposure compensation, often changing it, as well as ISO, in between photos to suit the lighting situation. With the Fox Sparrow I added plus compensation because it was a backlit bird. The Ring-necked Ducks were very far away, in low light, yet I still got a photo with a painterly quality, kinda dramatic. I handheld it at the far range of the digital zoom, where the camera goes to 4800mm. If you want my tips for using this camera, email me, email is at top right of blog.
Speaking of spring migration, will you be ready to ID all the birds you see? Our just published, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Regions will help you, especially if you take bird photos!
Lillian

Northern Parula, Canon SX 50 HS, Up Close!

So here's another up-close-and-personal photo, uncropped, of a Northern Parula, female, at the Sanibel Lighthouse yesterday, taken with my Canon SX 50 HS at 200x (4800mm equivalent), 400% digital zoom, handheld, AV, 1/500, f6.5, ISO 400. Note, this is way beyond the usual 50x optical range of the camera, into the far end of the digital range. Challenging shot, because, as you know, warblers don't hold still. This one was feeding, moving through a dense bush, then paused for a moment. That's when I zoomed in for this shot.
Yes, I know, at that powerful a telephoto range the photo is more painterly and not as detailed an image as a DSLR (like my incredible Canon 1D Mark IV) would take. Then again, I would never get this close a photo, without cropping. I am addicted to getting these eyeball type shots, they give you such an intimate and magical view of the bird. I love the power of the telephoto on the Canon SX 50 HS, yet it is so light and portable.
(P.S. If you have this camera and want my tips on how to use it, email me. Email link is on top right of this blog.)
Lillian

Pileated Woodpecker Wow Factor!

Pileated Woodpecker, male, head shot, Canon SX 50 HS

Av, 1/50, f 6.5, ISO 400, +1 1/3, 400% digital zoom ratio

This was shot on Auto, 1/100 sec., f6.5, 400% digital zoom ratio, not cropped

Here are the pair

Here is the female, she has a darker eye and no red coming off base of bill.

AV, 1/40 sec., f/6.5, +1, ISO 400, 195% digital zoom ratio

Pileated Woodpeckers were active in our yard this morning. They convened on a dead stub of a palm tree we had deliberately not cut down, it was left for the woodpeckers. A great chance for photography. I used my Canon SX 50 HS camera, the powerful little point-and-shoot superzoom. I tried many different things in terms of shooting with this camera, including Auto setting, Av setting, using standard digital zoom pushed to the 400% limit (the equivalent of 4800mm) and the digital zoom with the 2x teleconverter, as well as adding exposure compensation for this back-lit situation.
What is so addictive about this camera is getting these intimate, close, eyeball shots that give you such an appreciation for the bird. The Wow factor.
P.S. If you want my tips for using this camera, email me. Email address link is at the top right of this blog.
Lillian

Ovenbird Up Close, J. N. Ding Darling NWR, Canon SX 50 HS

Ovenbird on the ground, viewed from above, at the entrance ramp to J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Visitor's Center. This is such a cool view of that head pattern of the two dark stripes on either side of the orange crown. (Photographed with Canon SX 50 HS super-zoom point and shoot camera (cost $429), AV, 1/60, ISO 2000, f5.6, + 1/3, 100% digital zoom ratio.) This was a difficult photo situation and bigger, more expensive DSLR cameras like my Canon 1D Mark IV (cost me $5,000) would have produced better photos. Even for DLSR cameras, the low light, moving bird that was mostly obscured by twigs and brush, it would be a photo challenge. I only post these photos to show what is even possible with this little camera in a tough situation. If you want a camera that shoots in low light with better quality photos, get one of the more expensive DLSR cameras from Canon or other manufacturers. It you want a fun camera with an incredible zoom power (up to 1200mm, or 4800mm with digital zoom), weights a little more than a pound and costs a lot less, then you might be interested in the SX 50 HS.

This bird was walking on the ground under bushes and tangle in a shaded area, just the kind of place a wintering Ovenbird would like. Ovenbirds winter in Florida, the southern tip of TX, and farther south.

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Can you find the Ovenbird? It was very camouflaged against the leafy, bushy understory. The lower light level made photography a challenge. 

I was amazed I got any clear photos at all. The bird was constantly moving, there were branches in the way, and the very low light levels meant I had a slow shutter speed. I bumped up the ISO to 2000 to increase shutter speed, but even then I still had shutter speeds of 1/60 or 1/50. I kept shooting, waiting for the few seconds when the bird paused and was somewhat still. This camera has image stabilization, which helped. I am constantly surprised at the photos I get with this camera.

Heres the ramp that leads to the visitor's center building and bookstore. The ovenbird was on the right side, near the top of the ramp, so we were looking down on it from above. 

What a secretive and wonderful bird and so special to know it's making a living wintering in this national wildlife refuge. Many people walked by us, not knowing the ovenbird was below. Some stopped to ask what we were looking at. When we said "Ovenbird" some people knew what we meant and were thrilled to see it. For other people, when we had to explain "It's a warbler that walks on the ground," they responded "Can it fly?" We realize there's still so much education about birds to do, and we're happy to do it.

FYI, the AOU (American Ornithologist's Union) has changed the classification of warblers and this is included in our new field guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, which will be for sale on March 26th. For example, Ovenbird is the first bird in the warbler section, followed by Worm-eating Warbler and the two waterthrushes. The genus Dendroica is gone. The Genus Setophaga, which used to include only the American Redstart, now also includes Hooded Warbler, two species from the genus Parula, and everything that used to be in the genus Dendroica. So, if you want to be current, get our new guides which you can pre-order here.

Northern Shoveler, Isn't She Lovely?

Northern Shoveler, female, photographed at Bailey Tract, Sanibel, FL.

Isn't she lovely? Somehow that song plays in my mind when I look at her and think, from the perspective of a Northern Shoveler, male, it's true.

Here she is with a Blue-winged Teal, male. Two different types of bill, each adapted for a specific type of feeding. Photos taken with the Canon SX 50 HS point and shoot super-zoom camera. Nature is wonderful.

Sora, Bailey Tract, Sanibel, FL. and Canon SX 50 HS.

Sora, Bailey Tract, Sanibel, Florida. I had fun at this location photographing this rail and other birds yesterday with my Canon SX 50 HS point and shoot super-zoom camera.

Soras are usually secretive birds that stay in the shadows, but this one came out into the sun and the open at the end of the day, hunting for food before the cold (for here) night set in.

Soras are beautifully colored and I love their tail. It reminds me of a White-tailed Deer's tail.

The Sora was on the first water area on the right on the main trail. Here's a long view with an immature White Ibis for scale.

There were many ducks there. I will post more about them tomorrow. Here's a female Mottled Duck, resting in the grasses, but still alert. One of the things I like about the Canon SX 50 HS camera is the fact that it zoom out to 1200mm (and beyond in the digital range, up to 4800mm) which allows you to get close photos of birds without disturbing them. This is a big plus in bird photography.

An immature Osprey sat on a dead tree, surveying the scene, eyes alert. I always am paying attention to the way the light falls on the bird and what subtle and unique photos it makes. One does not always have to have a perfectly front lit bird for an interesting photo.

Here it is showing the whole body.

This immature Tri-colored Heron still has rust colors in its plumage and was dramatically posed in the late sunlight against the dark water.

Photography is so much fun. I enjoy playing with the effects of light and shadow and capturing intimate glimpses of birds.

J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Stokes Photo Tour

As a fundraiser for the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, on Sanibel, FL, Don and I led a birding and photography tour through the refuge yesterday. This was a special treat for all as the refuge is closed to the public on Fridays. Ding is one of the crown jewels of the National Wildlife Refuge system, has incredible opportunities for birding and photography and is a safe haven for the birds.

Participants were first treated to a yummy breakfast buffet in the beautiful refuge headquarters.

Then we headed out in to look for some of the fabulous birds Ding has to offer, such as this Reddish Egret.

Our trams were provided by Tarpon Bay Explorers, who offer their own excellent tours. My tram was for the photography participants. My challenge was to teach photography to participants who hand many different levels of skill and kinds of cameras, some of them DSLRs, some point-and-shoots. I was helping people learn about the tools of photography like exposure compensation, Aperture Priority, ISO, etc. I also took photos myself with my Canon SX 50 HS, which is the new point and shoot super-zoom that can reach 24-1200mm in the digital range and up to 4800mm in the optical range. All the photos here were taken with that camera. 

Photographing white birds in bright light is tricky as it is easy to overexpose the photo. Participants learned about using exposure compensation settings on their camera which can help avoid this.

There were opportunities for flight photography. This Magnificent Frigatebird, 3rd-4th yr., soared overhead at a distance. I zoomed in on it and used the SX 50's "Sports Mode" to capture these photos.

This is hardly cropped, that's how close the zoom got.

Don led the tram and taught bird identification. We made frequent stops to look for birds and photo ops.

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron was hunting for crabs and fish in one of the ditches. Even though birds in Ding Darling are very used to humans and allow close approach (unlike most birds in other places), we cautiously approached this bird. The American Birding Association has an excellent written code of ethics to help birders and photographers know how to treat birds.

Since the camera I was using has a powerful telephoto lens, I was able to get eyeball shots, while staying a distance. A big benefit of telephoto lenses is that you can keep a good distance and not disturb a bird, yet photograph it. The Canon SX 50 HS is also lightweight at 1.31 pounds.

This bird hunted slowly then exploded into action, catching this unlucky crab!

At the tower pond, many shorebirds were resting on the sand bar. Willets, a common shorebird with black and white patterns on their wings, kept flying in. I like this photo where it looks like angel's wings. Drama in the midst of dullness.

White Pelicans are some of the stars at Ding. Many of these beautiful, big birds winter there then return to their western breeding areas. This one was preening. Photo shot at 195x. For more on the SX 50 HS go here. Have fun with photography and continue to learn more and experiment with your cameras.

We are thinking of all of you in New England, our home, please stay safe in the blizzard!!

Green Heron Up Close and Personal

Green Herons are not your flamboyant sort. They prefer to skulk in cover then extend their long neck quickly to strike a fish. So when they decide to stand right out in the open in front of birders and photographers on wildlife drive in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel, FL, I consider it my  lucky day. 

Photos taken with the Canon SX 50 HS point and shoot super-zoom. Last photo is not cropped, it's zoomed in at 200x. 

The second photo is cropped, but untouched as to any kind of processing or sharpening, the rest of the photos have minimal done.