Recent Images of Birds in Virginia

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

If you have been following blog, my recent articles have contained images that I made while in Florida in December. Since returning to Virginia, I have been photographing some of our local birds. This article contains some of my favorite recent images of those birds.

The above image is obviously a male Cardinal. It was taken in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. I love the way the sun is illuminating the Cardinal’s head and how the Cardinal is contrasted against the dark blue background through the tree to the lake. The image was made with my Nikon D300 and 600mm lens at ISO 200, aperture at f/8.0, and shutter speed of 1/40 sec.

The below image is of one my favorite birds, a Carolina Wren. They are hyperactive birds that rarely sit still moving quickly through the trees and on the ground while flicking their short tails up and down. It had just stopped raining and was overcast. Therefore, the light was very subdued. I used my Nikon D700 because of its high ISO/low noise capability with my 600mm lens, and shot it at ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/250 sec. The high ISO setting enabled a faster shutter speed to capture the quick moving wren.

Below is another image of the Carolina Wren also shot as described above.

I recommend double clicking on the images to see the image details.

Above is another one of my favorite birds, a White Breasted Nuthatch. Nuthatches are also small, fast moving birds. They forage for insects on trunks and branches of trees and are interesting to watch because they hang upside down on branches and climb down the side of trees head-first. Because it was overcast and nuthatches are fast moving, I also shot this image with my Nikon D700 with the 600mm lens at ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/640 sec.

Above is a male House Finch. They too are small birds, but not as quick moving as the wren and nuthatch. They will perch on a branch for longer periods of time, as this one was doing while slightly puffed out. Only the male has bright red feathers. This image was made late in the afternoon with the sun shining on the finch lighting up his red feathers. Since it was a bright day, I used my Nikon D300 and 600mm lens and shot it at ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/400 sec.

Above is a female Downy Woodpecker. Females are distinguishable from males, because males have a small red patch of feathers on the back top of their heads. Downy Woodpeckers make lots of noise, both with their shrill whinny call and by drumming on trees. I photographed the Downy Woodpecker with my Nikon D300 and 600mm lens at f/7.1, 1/200, ISO 200.

Below is a male American Goldfinch in its winter plumage. During the summer after molting, the male’s feathers are a vibrant yellow. American Goldfinches are social birds and are seen in flocks of various numbers. I captured this image with my Nikon D300 and 600mm lens at f/8.0, 1/250 sec, ISO 200.

Above is a male Bluebird starring straight at me as I photograph him. He does not look like he is happy about being photographed. Females are not as brightly colored. Bluebirds are medium size birds that predominately eat insects. They are territorial, prefer open grassland with scattered trees, and are cavity nesters. I photographed the Bluebird with my Nikon D300 and 600mm lens at ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/30 sec.

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Wood Stork at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

While at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and photographing White Pelicans, a Wood Stork flew into the area and began feeding on the same pond. Although I was enjoying photographing the pelicans, I could not resist watching and photographing the Wood Stork.

Wood Storks are the only stock species in North America and are on the U.S. Endangered Species List. There are about 5,000 breeding pairs in the United States. They are large birds 40-44 inches in length with a wingspan of 5 feet. As you can see from the images, their feathers are predominantly white except for the edges of their wings, which are black, and their necks and heads are naked of any feathers. Males and females look alike, which is a good thing given how strange they look.

Clearly, they are not one of the prettiest bird species Mother Nature has created. However, they do not start out their lives looking so odd. Below is an image I photographed a couple years ago of a Wood Stock on its nest with two chicks. As you can see, the Wood Stork chicks start out fully feathered and are definitely more attractive than the adults. It appears the chick is hungry, begging to be fed, but being ignored by the parent stork.

A few more interesting facts, Wood Storks:

  • Mate for life and breed in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina usually returning to the same colony site year after year.
  • Are found predominantly in coastal areas, marshes, tidal waters, swamps, mangroves, and streams.
  • Feed during the day and night and eat small fish, frogs, snails, insects, snails, and aquatic invertebrates.
  • Nest in trees, as seen above, and lay 2 or 3 eggs with both parents taking turns incubating them. Chicks fledge in about two months.
  • Are excellent fliers soaring at times several thousand feet above the earth.
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Northern Shoveler

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

I was on the “hunt” for waterfowl at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in December–hunt to locate and photograph them, NOT to hunt them as hunters do. I was successful and hopefully the hunters were not. One of the types of waterfowl that I located and photographed was a small group of Northern Shovelers that were in the company of a very large group of Coots (well over a thousand).

Before I continue with my images and description of the shovelers, I want to share a disturbing article I read this morning about Sandhill Crane hunting in Kentucky. Yes, Sandhill Crane hunting! Apparently, Kentucky is the only eastern state to allow the hunting of Sandhill Cranes. The article, which can be found at this link: http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/a-win-for-the-cranes/, explains how Kentucky issued 400 hunting permits this year for Sandhill Cranes. Fortunately, only 50 were killed during the 30 day hunting period. I find it appalling that anyone could shoot and kill such a magnificent, helpless bird, or for that matter any bird.

Speaking of Sandhill Cranes, it is somewhat coincidental that yesterday I read an article written by a free lance travel writer for the Florida Rambler blog and Florida newspapers and magazines, who found my images on the Internet and contacted me for permission to use them in an article about Sandhill Cranes at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Her article and my images can be seen at: http://floridarambler.com/florida-getaways/migrating-sandhill-cranes-central-florida/

Back to the Northern Shovelers, above is a male Northern Shoveler that had just raised its head from under the water. In the opening image, a male Northern Shoveler can be seen above several Blue Winged Teals in the foreground. In a subsequent blog post, I will provide images of the teals.

Northern Shovelers get their name because of their elongated spoon-shaped bills that are used to shovel through the mud and water for food. Their bills are highly evolved for this activity with comb-like projections along the edge of their bills to filter the food from the water. The males are beautiful ducks whose heads are a highly iridescent green, when the light strikes it at the right angle.

The female Northern Shovelers (below) are rather plain, as is the case for most female ducks. The female shoveler below had just popped up from the water and was shaking it off when I shot this image.

I am slowly working my way through my many images from Florida in December. Upcoming articles and images will be about Green Winged Teals, Blue Winged Teals, Wood Storks, Red-shouldered Hawks, Kingfishers, several types of herons and egrets, and alligators. Today, I would be out with my cameras, but it is overcast and lightly snowing, and so I am housebound. I am anxiously awaiting spring!

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Roseate Spoonbill at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

While exploring and photographing at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in December, I was fortunate to see and photograph a Roseate Spoonbill. Roseate Spoonbills are very unusual, large wading birds with pink plumage, red eyes and legs, and a distinctive spatulate bill. They usually are seen and travel in small flocks, but this one was alone and flew into the pond where I was photographing other wading birds.

Roseate Spoonbills were hunted to near extinction because their pink primary feathers were sought after by hunters for use in the construction of ladies’ fans in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By 1930, there were only 30-40 breeding pairs in Florida. Today, because they were banned from hunting, they have rebounded, and there are over 1,000 breeding pairs in Florida.

Roseate Spoonbills inhabit marshes, swamps, ponds and rivers, and feed in both freshwater and salt wetlands. They consume a varied diet of small fish, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, and some plant material. They feed in shallow water and are interesting to watch, because they walk through the water swinging their heads back and forth with their spoonbills in the water snapping shut when they feel prey in it.

My favorite image of this spoonbill is below with its feathers ruffled out. Double click on the image to see it in more detail.

For the photographers reading this article, all of the above images were taken with a Nikon D300 at 850mm, Aperture Priority at f8 with varying shutter speeds, and ISO 200).

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White Pelicans at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Stephen L Tabone

One of the refuges I visited in December, while in Florida, was Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge located on the east coast near Titusville. The refuge has over 140,000 acres and provides a wide variety of habitats:  coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks. I had a very exciting and productive day at Merritt Island having seen many types of waterfowl, wading birds, and a variety of other birds to include about a dozen American White Pelicans early in the morning–when the light is right for nature photography.

I was photographing a Blue Heron and a few Snowy Egrets when the pelicans flew into the area and landed on the pond. It was an amazing sight seeing the dozen large pelicans circle the pond and then land in the water right in front of me. They swam around the pond for about 30 minutes, and as quickly as they came, they took off and were gone, but not before I could photograph them.

Unlike the Brown Pelican, the American White Pelican does not dive for its food. Instead, it catches its prey while swimming. Several pelicans may fish cooperatively, moving into a circle to concentrate fish, and then dipping their heads under simultaneously to catch fish. Adult male pelicans can weigh as much as 30 pounds; however, they average 20 pounds. Apart from the difference in size, males and females look exactly alike. Their wingspan is between 95-120 inches.

I enjoyed watching and photographing them as they swam around the pond looking for fish. However, I do not think they located any fish, because I did not see them feeding, and that could be why they did not stay on the pond very long. Below is an image of one of the pelicans that came up empty handed, or would it be more appropriate to say empty billed.

I loved the way the morning light lit up and highlighted parts of the pelican’s body, face and bill (below), while the shadows defined its features.

The White Pelicans stayed on the pond long enough for me get a lot of images of them. If I did not shoot another bird or landscape that day, I would have left the refuge very pleased. However, that was not what happened. I will post more images from the refuge at a later time.

Click twice on the images to see them in  more detail.

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