Bird Photography Weekly #122

Merlin - Falco columbarius

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!



And to see some great bird photos from around the world, check out:

Bird Photography Weekly #121

Black Guillemot- Cepphus grylle

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!


And to see some great bird photos from around the world, check out:

Bird Photography Weekly #120

Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!

Where's that saddle?

The reason being, I really need to get back in the saddle of writing.  I actually feel a little bit guilty that I've not been writing much on the blog - or even just posting photos - for several months now.  It's not that I haven't had anything to share, just that I think the blogging muse has left for greener pastures, leaving me on my own with little inspiration to sit down and write.

I do plan to soon start actually writing a bit about our recent trip to Ecuador, but it won't be nearly as expansive as my Costa Rica report (I hear some of you breathing a sigh of relief) as I really didn't keep notes as well on this trip as I had before.  There were some real definite highlights on this trip - seeing 30 species of hummingbirds, finally getting good looks at Rufous Motmot, a number of woodpeckers (of course),  Giant Antpittas, Cocks-of the-Rock, and both Pamela and I passed the 1000 species mark while on the trip.  (A little more about those later when I talk more about the trip.)  Oh, and the photos - I took lots and lots of photos! In fact, the shutter on my camera clicked OVER 6600 times!  Of course, I cam home with less than half that, and in the last few weeks since we got home, I've been spending almost all my computer time sortng through those, deleting duplicates, ones that are slightly out-of-focus, and post-processing the ones that I think are the best (or maybe the best that I got of a species that I'll want to share). 

And just as a bit of bait to tempt you back (and for those of you who might not know what one is), here is one of my Giant Antpitta photos...

Gone birding!

Yep - we are packed and pretty much ready to go on our latest trip.  We are joining Tropical Birding for an Andes Introtour on the northwest slope of said mountain range in Ecuador.  We'll be staying at the 'built, owned and run by birders' Tandayapa Bird Lodge and visiting some amazing locations like Yanacocha, the Mindo Cloudfores Preserve in Milpe, Rio Salanche, and Refugio Paz de Aves - home of Maria the Giant Antpitta who (often) responds to the sound of Angel Paz calling her by name and feeding her worms (as well as other antpittas and a Cock-of-the-Rock lek.)  I love the tropics and cannot begin to relate how excited I am for this trip.

All I can say is, be ready for a lot of posts and photos when I return!

Bird Photography Weekly #113

Northern Saw-whet Owl - Aegolius acadicus

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!



To see some great bird photos from around the world, check out:

Bird Photography Weekly #112

Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!



To see some great bird photos from around the world, check out:

Catching up...

Oh, hey there - how've you been?  Long time, no see! Me? Oh, you know, now that things are cooling off a bit, I'm actually starting to get out and do a little more birding again.  Also trying to get out with camera in-hand now that I got this DSLR.  Yeah - birding and photography, that's what I love.  What I really need to do now is start to spend a little more time relating these things to my friends - you know, so they don't think I've dropped off the face of the earth.   I mean, there have been some pretty exciting things to talk about in the birding world - from the common, like a few weeks ago when a Red-tailed Hawk was perched for a little while on the handrail in front of my building at work...

Of course, by the time I got outside with the camera, it had flown off, but landed on the lower branch of a nearby tree so I still managed a few pics...


And maybe if you live in Michigan or in New Mexico or Arizona, where you get thousands of Sandhill Cranes, they might be a little less impressive, but by dint of their being more uncommon, a few cranes showing up in a harvested autumn cornfield here or there in New England is pretty exciting to me.

Of course, some of the bigger news-making sightings consist of autumnal shorebirds.  If you remember a recent post, I mentioned I am not a really big fan of shorebirds.  Well, especially combing through flocks of peeps trying to find a Stint or Curlew Sandpiper.  Well, thankfully there are some really good birders out there, because one of them did exactly that - that is, they found a Curlew Sandpiper!  On Plum Island of all places too (a favorite haunt) which is pretty accessible.  It was first reported on Friday evening, and we headed out Saturday morning to look for it.  Unfortunately, while we were there we saw a lot of shorebirds, including plenty of similar shaped Dunlin, and dowitchers, and Black-bellied Plovers, and peeps of all varieties, we didn't stumble across the Curlew Sandpiper.  Hope remained though, as others found it later in the day during high tide, and on Sunday I had the good fortune to make it back at the right time and get pretty good looks for lifer #897.  And although I got pretty good looks, I didn't get anything like a good photo.  (In fact, I barely got a bad photo.)

But I had good reason - I only had a short amount of time as I was on a quick break from doing a Big Sit up the road with my friends Josh Rose and Jason Forbes.  We didn't do too badly either - 68 species for the day.  (Too bad we couldn't get the Curlew Sandpiper to fly by us on the tower where we were counting.)

There's lots of other news going on out there in the birding world too.  If you are a birder, you have likely already heard that the ABA has elected a new president, namely the well know and eminently well-liked Jeff Gordon.  He's got the support of the membership (including a lot of new members who joined just because he was selected for the position) so I think we can expect some really exciting things to come from the mothership.

For my woodpecker-loving brethren, there is a new blog that has been started by Gerard Gorman of the "Woodpeckers of Europe" blog - along the same lines but taking it worldwide: 
Woodpeckers of the World.
Check it out if you get a chance.  (I've also added the link to my woodpecker links in the right side of the page, so it's easy to find and check on in the future)

So, there are definitely things I could be blogging about - just need to wake up that muse, and get clacking away on the keyboard a little more often.  And did I mention that Pamela and I will be heading to Ecuador next month?  That means that I'll have plenty to blog about (I mean, honestly, have you read any of my other writing from when we travel?  I certainly seem to have the gift of gab when reporting about our birding trips!)


And just because I want to share a few other photos I've taken (and this is my blog, so why not, right?)
Northern Flicker:

Common Grackle:

European Starling:

Black-bellied Plover:

American Pipit:

Double-crested Cormorant:

Wordless Wednesday 9/29/10

Pensive Sanderling

Get Wordless over at Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday 9/21/10

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

Get Wordless over at Wordless Wednesday

What happened to Picus Blog?

I know, I know - it has been a really long time since I posted anything to this blog.  There are any of a number of excuses I could rattle off: work, Facebook sucking up lots of my "on-line" time, reading, researching and learning more about the world of digital photography now that I have a DSLR, health issue, the heat of summer sapping strength for birding - not to mention that in late-July until September is not my favorite time of year to go birding, etc. etc. etc.  Oh, I am fully aware that period this is full-on shorebird migration season, transitioning into fall warbler time.   I know this, and yet I still don't like it.  You see, I have come to the decision that I am a BAD BIRDWATCHER.  Yep - not too proud of it, but there you are.  Why am I a bad birdwatcher?  Well, I've given this some thought over the last several weeks while not posted anything to this blog.  Part of it is that there are birds I simply do not care too much about. (Gasp!)  For instance, as I have said in the past, I am not a big fan of "confusing fall warblers" - I enjoy seeing them in their bright alternate (breeding) plumage, singing and courting, but when they are dull colored and skulking, I'm not too enthusiastic.  (And sure they are difficult and challenging, and many enjoy the challenge - but I'm certainly not in that mindset at this stage of my birding life)  I am also not a big fan of shorebirds.  Actually, there is a caveat or two to that statement - I do like the bigger 'showier' birds, Godwits and Whimbrels, Oystercatchers and Turnstones, etc.  But, I don't enjoy scanning through huge flocks of 'peeps' trying to tease something special out of a group of very similar looking birds.  I know - this is what you need to do if you are going to find a Little or Red-necked Stint, or a Curlew Sandpiper in New England, but I guess I don't feel the need to be the one to find a rarity like that - I will be more than happy to see and watch it though.  Now if there aren't a lot of birds, and they are relatively easy to see (and photograph), then I'm good.  For instance, last weekend, we headed out to a place called Sterling  Peat about an hour west of where we live where there were a half dozen Stilt Sandpipers, as well as a few incredibly confiding Buff-breasted Sandpipers, that should one have patience and give it time, and remain quiet and non-threatening, would wander within a few feet of you.

See, I can exhibit patience when birding, and especially if I think I can get a good photograph by being so.
Which brings me to another point - perhaps I am getting lazy, but I get no pleasure from long distance/bad looks at birds.  If you've been birding for any period of time, you know what I mean - scope set up at full magnification with heat shimmer or the wind blowing, and to trying and ID a 4-6" bird at hundreds of yards away.  Will I do it for a life bird?  Yes.  Will I do it if competing with a few buddies in a competition like the Superbowl of Birding? Hell yes.Will I be satisfied with it.  Nope! Will I bother to do it for a bird I've seen in the past?  Probably not.  When I am out birding, I am looking for at least "satisfactory views" which means in a lot of cases - birds that are close enough to id with binoculars without being intrusive on the bird.  I would never give up my scope, because there are many many species that I am comfortable at identifying from a good distance, then I'd want the scope for better views.  (Think Snowy Owl, or ducks on the far side of a pond)
So there I am - a very demanding birder and photographer, wanting good looks at the birds - not fleeting or distant looks. I am addicted to those amazing experiences that you can have in nature if you only get outside with regularity - from a dragonfly landing on your shoulder and checking you out, to seeing thousands of swallows gathering at a staging spot before migrating south, as there were doing a few weeks ago on Plum Island.

It seems to me that I could be opening myself up to a few labels here that people seem to throw around with a very pejorative sense to them... things like "lister" indicating that I only care about a "tick" on my list.  It's really not the case.  True, I do keep a ABA and a Life list (actually as long as I am good about entering my sightings into Avisys, which I sometimes am not, I can keep track of just about any kind of list you can think of - hence that "lists" box in the upper right side of the page) and I am always happy to add a bird to those lists.  But honestly, I really prefer to spend time with birds and watch behavior.  Well, birds that interest me at least.  Another label that I've heard birders use in a rather negative sense is simply "photographer" indicating that all one cares about is getting a good pic, and not about the health or welfare of the bird (or even able to id the subject).  It is true that I aspire to be a good photographer - I have always had a love of photography - but that does not make me any less of a birder.  I am first and foremost interested in seeing and ID'ing the birds, then in capturing the image so that I can share this with family and friends.

So, am I really a bad birder?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will I go trucking out into the sweltering heat for birds I have seen well before, just because they are out there?  Maybe, if there is promising opportunity for seeing a bird better than I have before or watching interesting behavior.  Otherwise, I'd rather save my strength and gas.

All that being said, things are starting to cool down a bit here in New England, and I am looking forward to being able to get out comfortably and go birding.  Which also means that hopefully you will start to see some more regular posts from me.

Bird Photography Weekly #101

Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus

PS - as always click on the photos to see larger versions!



To see some great bird photos from around the world, check out: