It’s Not Always About Birds – July 29, 2011

Posted on October 12, 2013 by birdquest2004

Usually unless a very rare bird shows up, July and August are a time to relax play golf, giving the birds a chance to take care of their young.  This meant that I had to hang up the camera, which for me was as hard as trying to lose weight (but I am trying).

It’s during that time of the year, I bought a macro lens, a Nikkor f2.8 AF-S VR lens and began to experiment with close-up photography.  I had seen setups with tripods and special flashes, which I tried to avoid by doing all my macro work, handheld.  It took a while, lots of experimenting but finally I started seeing results.

Keep in mind that this little spider, a Bronze Jumper,  is just a hair over 1/4 of an inch long.  I think he needs a shave….

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One of the problems I had was, how was I going to ID all these little critters.  I asked people for help with ID’ing but soon I had to buy a guide. I asked Jeff Skevington,  a friend, what book should I buy, as a  source for information.   He suggested Insects:  Their Natural History and Diversity by Stephen A. Marshall, a whopping 732 page book (not a pocket guide by any means), filled with images and text of Eastern North American Insects.   Don’t let anyone fool you, even with this book, it takes a while to find the names.   Another source is  BugGuide.net, an online site with thousands of images, these images are submitted by people like You and I looking, for answers .  Even with all these sources, given the number of insects out there, its very easy to get it wrong.  

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One day I saw my first Tiger Beetle image online, right away, I threw down the gauntlet.  I just had to get an image of one.   Luckily here in Ottawa we have a few types, 6-Spotted and Beach Dune that I’ve photographed.  When taking this image, I can just imagine what people watching were thinking, a fully dressed man crawling on a beach with a camera, surrounded by gulls.  Some came over and asked, then politely left shaking their heads but I did get the photo.   What a beauty!

I used my D70 with the 105 macro lens, settings were  ISO- 250, f9, 1/200, AF-S Dynamic, Spot-metering.

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Here’s a close-up look….Thank God their only 1/2 inch long.

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I must admit, insects are colorful, come in many varieties, and offer serious challenges when trying to photograph them.   Ciao for now…

Posted in Insects | 2 Comments

Glossy Ibis – July 26, 2011

Posted on October 12, 2013 by birdquest2004

Today, a friend and I, left early and drove down to Cornwall to find a reported Glossy Ibis.

We turned into Guindon Park across from Richmond Drive to get my bino’s and camera gear ready. Here we met Dawn, whose husband had found the Ibis. She was nice enough to take us in.  We drove north on Richmond Drive and parked near an old rail line on the left, just after a hill and before the train tracks (less than a kilometre).  She’d just been there but was unable to see the Ibis. As we walked the old rail line, we saw, Moorhens with young, Spotted Sandpipers, Kildeer, Night Herons and a Common Tern.

This was a new marsh,  a lovely place to watch birds, high, on the abandoned rail line, a great place for scoping and photographing.

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As we walked along, we hoped, the bird had returned to the area. We weren’t dissapointed, the Ibis was feeding about 200 yards out at edge of the marsh.

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As we were leaving a group of birders from Ottawa was just arriving…we spent the rest of our time driving and birding..I probably looked at a few hundred sparrows, mostly Savannah’s, Song, Vesper’s, Swamp’s.  Finding this Leconte’s was a big surprise.

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Thanks Bob for finding the Ibis.   Dawn, thank you, for your help…

Posted in Birds | 1 Comment