Blog Archives
Cedar in a Cedar
Friends, this cedar waxwing was posing from a dead cedar tree in the badlands of North Dakota. This spring, we found a dead tree with 25 cedar waxwings perched from top to bottom. I had never seen these birds in the badlands, but my mother who lived there in her younger years said that they were often present and were not a rare sighting. til Tomorrow MJ
A Blue Bird in the Badlands
Friends, not sure of the id of this bird, but loved the blue feathers on his back and tail, since it rained much of the time that we were in the badlands this summer, i took a lot of birdie pictures. Some are immature birds and some are females and all are birds that i don’t normally see in Wisconsin. til Tomorrow MJ
Red Necked Grebe
Friends, having a ball working with my new lens, sharper and faster focusing than my old lens, not to mention more magnification (600mm). This lens for the money is a real bargain, so far the only defect is my shooting technique, but i am practicing for that once in a lifetime shot. This red-necked grebe is shy and for two summers has eluded me, but i spied him thru the dense blue stem grasses along phantom lake and was able to photograph without a distracting background. I love the color of the lake when it is slightly choppy as in this image. til Tomorrow MJ
Adult Harrier
Friends, this Northern Harrier is probably an adult male and was hunting on an open field. You can see the blurred background as i panned with the bird in flight. This image was taken with my old 100-400mm lens, looking forward to working a similar image with my new 150-600mm lens. til Tomorrow MJ
Lens Test 150-600 mm
Friends, these are not spectacular decisive moments in nature, but rather a test of my new lens. Tamron 150-600 zoom lens. Years ago in the age of film, i had a 300 mm Tamron f2.8 and it was super sharp. I am not disappointed by this lens so far, a sunny day and was able to shoot at 1/1000 of a second or faster so handholding the lens was pretty doable. More testing is needed til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Bluebird
Friends, this wet bluebird is in some stage of molting, not sure if he is juvenile or adult bird but something is going on with his chest feathers. I love the pink and blue together and his hunched up posture. The rain had stopped momentarily and he was hanging out on a branch to dry. til Tomorrow MJ
Summer Wood Duck
Friends, this is two views of the same male wood duck molting into eclipse plumage. I included two images to show why i am a big proponent of continuous shooting mode. The top image shows the bird at a rest position, and the second while he is paddling and peeking. Sometimes when ducks are paddling, their backs look extended and elongated, while the top image shows a quiet duck. Which one do you like best?? til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Spotted Towhee
Friends, this spotted towhee was caught out in the rain hence his ruffled feathers. In the North Dakota Badlands, rain is not expected in the month of August, but it rained the whole week we were there. The rain was great for the plants and animals but not so good for photographers who wished to do some hiking. I am not afraid of a few drops on my head, but the slick gumbo under my feet is heavy to haul around, kind of like mud snowshoes. And did I mention that it is slippery, my camera has chunks of muck on it from the last spill I took trying to chase down a pincushion cactus. So this was taken from the safety of a pickup blind, and i learned that these birds like to perch on dead sagebrush rather than high in a tree. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Harrier
Friends, had to take some time away from this blog to visit the North Dakota badlands. Twice in one year is an unusual event, but also attended my 50th high school reunion then it is only another 150 miles to the badlands. This is a Northern Harrier gliding over a hilltop and i was able to grab four focused images, i combined them for this composite image. I would never been able to identify this bird without my experiences on Hawk Ridge last fall. His brownish feathers say he is an immature bird and f you look closely you can see his owl face. til Tomorrow MJ
Storm on the Horizon
Friends,his storm was photographed in May when the girls and i visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We are heading there again on Sunday to sit among the hoodoos and maybe a hike into the petrified forest. Hot weather is predicted so maybe we will have a rest and relaxation with photo runs at sunrise and sunset. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 