Ospreys, Barred Owls, and a Beaver

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

It has been a great couple of weeks and weekend. I have been doing a lot of photography some of which I will share in this article to include the images that I have taken recently. Because of all of my recent activity, I am behind in processing recent images and posting them to my blog. Regardless, I am about to celebrate a significant milestone–i.e., breaking 20,000 views on my blog. It will happen by the end of the day or tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have been following my blog and especially to the many who take the time to write comments. I am passionate about nature photography, and my blog has turned into an effective way for me to share that passion and my images.

Two weeks ago, as well as yesterday morning, I went to Leesylvania State Park and photographed the sunrise and a pair of Osprey that return each year to the same location to rebuild their nest and raise their young. While at Leesylvania, I photographed (opening image) a Great Blue Heron standing motionless on one leg on the fishing pier railing in the early morning light before the sun began to rise.

Above is an image looking down the Leesylvania fishing pier that I shot two weeks ago, and below is an image that I took yesterday morning as the sun was rising above the same pier. Normally, a cloudless sunrise is much less interesting than one with clouds, but as the sun rose above the pier, it made the otherwise less interesting sight very beautiful.

Below are several of the Osprey images. The Ospreys were rebuilding their nest, and in the below image, the male Osprey is returning to the nest with a small branch.

After depositing the branch, the Osprey took off for more nesting material. It was interesting watching them as they took turns searching for and returning with nesting material.

In between working the nest, they did a little mating, as you can see in the first below image. After mating, the couple relaxed together and enjoyed the warm sun, as seen in the second photo.

Below, the male Osprey took off for more nesting material.

After leaving the nest, the male Osprey landed on a nearby piling (below), and then called to his mate, as I zoomed in for a close up photo.

That same morning, as I was photographing the Ospreys, a Great Blue Heron was perched in a tree at the end of the pier (below) keeping an eye on the activity and basking in the morning sun.

On Thursday last week, I located the pair of Barred Owls again. This time, the trees were full of bright green, new leaves that provided a colorful background as I photographed the owls. They seem to be getting used to seeing me, and calmly perched in the nearby trees as I photographed them.

Below, the pair were together for the first time for me to photograph them on the same branch. Unfortunately, they were not both looking in my direction, but I included this image since they can be seen together.

While I was watching them, they mated. Apparently, the female has not laid eggs yet, but I was able to photograph her as she entered her nest (below). As you can see, the area is heavily wooded, which will make it difficult to capture images of the owlets in about a month or two.  Nevertheless, I am planning to try.

One more image of one of the owls with its wing outstretched. It is difficult to appreciate the size of Barred Owls from these images, but they average 20 inches in height and can have a wingspan of 48 inches. They are silent flyers, making no noise as they fly, which I have experienced a numbered of times as they swooped over me to another location.

While photographing the owls, I could not pass up a shot of a River Cooter (turtle) out of the water and up on a tree limb also enjoying the spring weather and sunshine.

I have more images to share to include those that I took yesterday afternoon while checking, as a volunteer, the Bluebird boxes at Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area. More than half of the 15 boxes had either eggs in them or hatchings. I will post those images in an article later this week. While at Merrimac, I photographed the below Black Racer that was enjoying the warm sun on top of an old, rusty furnace near an abandoned and dilapidated house at the farm. Black Racers are a very common snake in the mid-Atlantic and southeast United States. Fortunately, the Bluebird boxes are far away and have protective baffles, preventing snakes from entering the boxes.

I am concluding this article with an image of a beaver (below) that I photographed near our dock.

I was on my upper deck and looked down at my dock and noticed a beaver in the water alongside it. I quickly grabbed my camera and went down to the dock, and as I approached, I saw that the beaver had moved up onto the shoreline of the lake. Unfortunately, the beaver also saw me and quickly slid into the lake, but I was able get some photos of it as it swam away. The lake water, as you can see, was covered in pollen, small leaves and leaf blooms that had just blown out of the trees from a passing rain storm. The white swirls in the water are reflections from the clouds above.

I do not know about you, but I am having a fantastic spring enjoying and photographing all that Mother Nature has brought to us this year. I have many more images to share and am planning many more photography trips to include Florida in May and Honduras in early June.

All of the images in this article were taken with a Nikon D800 camera and various lenses to include a 600mm, 20-70mm, and 70-200mm.

Posted in Leesylvania State park, Nature, Spring Photographs, sunrise, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

More Barred Owl Images

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

Early last week, I located the pair of Barred Owls again that I had photographed two weeks earlier. Like the first time, they seemed as curious about me as I was of them. They stayed within a safe distance, yet close enough to enable me to once again photograph them. While photographing the pair of owls as they perched in nearby trees, one of them (I assume the female) flew to her nest on top of a large, old and very tall, dead tree. There were many trees in between me and the nest, making for a difficult shot. I got a little closer, but stayed far enough away not to startle or disrupt her. I was able to capture her tail hanging out of the nest before she nestled further into the nest and out of sight.

The first time I photographed the pair of Barred Owls, it was a cloudy overcast day. This time, the sky was cloudless and a beautiful, bright blue. There also were more leaves on the trees. Next time, it may be even more difficult to photograph the owls, because the trees will be fully leafed out. Nevertheless, I now know precisely where the nest is located, and I hope to be able to photograph their owlets in about a month.

The first three below images are sequential, and show one of the owls as it leaped off a tree limb and flew in my direction.

Below are two more images of the Barred Owls. In the first, the owl was looking me over as I photographed it, and the second image is a closeup profile shot.

Below is the female in the nest with her feathers perturbing out from the hollow of the tree.

While out photographing the owls, I noticed a Canada Goose on her nest (below). She also was keeping a close eye on me.

If you read my last article, you know that I was exhibiting my photography on Sunday at the annual Bluebell Festival held at Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area. Given the limited attendance, because the bluebells bloomed very early this year, I had a very successful day and enjoyed sharing my photography with the attendees.

My next article, which I will post in a couple of days, will be of a pair of Ospreys that I photographed last week at Leesylvania State Park building a nest and mating.

Posted in Bird Photographs, Nature, Spring Photographs, Wildlife | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Annual Bluebell Festival Is Today, April 15

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

Today, April 15, is the annual Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area located near Nokesville, Virginia. The festival is open to the public from 10:00 to 4:00 and includes a number of nature related activities and a nature art show featuring local photographers and artists.

I will be exhibiting and selling 50 prints, all matted and some framed, including framed prints of the above Barred Owl and below bluebells. The weather today is going to be perfect for this outdoor, nature event. Hope to see you at the festival.

A brief article in the WoodbridgePatch about the Bluebell Festival can read at: http://woodbridge-va.patch.com/events/bluebell-festival-at-merrimac-farm

The schedule of festival events can seen below or at: http://www.pwconserve.org/merrimacfarm/bluebellfestival/

Besides preparing for the festival, last week I was out shooting more photographs of the Barred Owls, and a pair of nesting Ospreys and spring blooms at Leesylvania State Park, and I also made a day trip to Shenandoah National Park to photograph the spring growth and views from Skyline Drive. I will be posting a new articles this week (after I get my tax return finished).

Posted in Merrimac Farm Wildlife management Area | 1 Comment

Full Moon Photographed with Nikon D800

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

Who has not been captivated by a full moon?  It is a powerful force of nature, and when there is a full moon, it has an impact on the earth in many ways. People since the beginning of time have been captivated by it. In fact, the moon has been a central part of many myths and legends across different cultures precisely because of how powerful it is.

On Thursday last week, did you see the full moon?

I first saw the full moon as it was shining brightly through trees on the horizon (above). It looked magical and amazing. It was a cold evening here in northern Virginia. The air was clear and brisk, and there were absolutely no clouds. It was a perfect evening to photograph the full moon.

As the moon rose above the trees, I photographed it with my Nikon D800 and 600mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter. The results were spectacular. If you click on the above image, the craters and other features of the moon are very clearly visible.

This weekend, I photographed the pair of Barred Owls again and captured the female sitting on her nest. I will post those images later in the week. Yesterday, I photographed a pair of Ospreys building their nest at Leesylvania State Park. Spring is definitely here, and I am enjoying it, along with the birds.

Posted in Nature | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Barred Owls

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

Last weekend was a very special weekend for me. Special, because I was able to see, hear and photograph a pair of Barred Owls, and Owls are my favorite bird species. Throughout history and across many cultures, people have regarded Owls with fascination and awe. Few other creatures have so many different and contradictory beliefs about them. Owls have been both feared and venerated, despised and admired, considered wise and foolish, and associated with witchcraft and medicine, the weather, birth and death. So, I am not alone in my fascination with Owls.

For me, the problem with Owls has been finding and photographing them in the wild, that was until this weekend.  However, I have previously photographed a Great Horned Owl and a Galapagos Barn Owl. Owls can be difficult to photograph because they are mostly nocturnal. That was different for me this weekend, when I found a pair of Barred Owls in the late afternoon. What also made it very special was that they were not afraid of me, and I was able to get several very good photographs of them.

The opening image was taken during one of the many times the Owls flew directly and closely over me. The area where they were located was heavily wooded, a perfect environment for the Owls, but difficult for me to get a clear shot at them most of the time. While I was photographing them, they put on quite a show flying all around me, landing in various trees and hooting loudly.

Barred Owls do not migrate and typically live in wet woods and swampy forests, which is where I found this pair. They are about 20 inches in length, and from my images you can see that they are large, stocky and dark-eyed.  They nest quietly during the day, and emerge at night to hunt rodents, birds, frogs and other small animals or sometimes fish.

I believe I also found their nest, which is a large cavity in a big old tree. The female will most likely be laying 2-4 eggs that will hatch in about 4 weeks. During that time, the male will do all the hunting and return with food for the female, and eventually for the owlets. The owlets will fledge in about 4-5 weeks. I hope to be able to photograph them as they raise their young. If I am successful, I will be posting the images on this blog.

By the way, this was also the first real test for my new Nikon D800 camera body, and I am very pleased with its performance. Unfortunately, it was late afternoon on a very overcast day (poor light), and I traveled light, not knowing what to expect, bringing only my versitle 28-300mm lens. Next time, I will be better prepared and hopefully will have better light. But even if I do not ever see that pair of Barred Owls again, I am very thankful for that opportunity and still excited from the experience.

Posted in Bird Photographs, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged , , | 13 Comments