Saturday, April 19, 2014 began as a most unlikely day for birding and photography.  The winds were relatively gusty (which usually makes the birds lay low and difficult to spot) and there was a heavy overcast with the threat of rain.

However, not to be discouraged, on the way back from breakfast I observed a couple of eagles soaring over the Cap Sante Overlook, gathered my camera and drove up the hill.  The eagles were too high so I wasted a little time photographing gulls that were taking advantage of the updrafts.  As I sat in my car looking out he window a male Anna’s hummingbird landed on a nearby blackberry blossom stalk left over from last year.  It was almost too close to photograph, but I managed several good photographs on several different trips to the overlook.

A little later I was down on lower Cap Sante talking with a neighbor when a bird flew onto the fence structure of his garden.  I recognized it almost immediately as a Townsend’s solitaire… not the first I’ve seen on Cap Sante but all the same a relative rarity, especially for the urban habitat.  I photographed the bird, then followed it down the street, photographing it as it flew from rock to rock.

At this point I’m going to digress slightly and show you a photo of an Orange-crowned warbler in our watercourse that I took yesterday.  This was only our second observed warbler visit of the year, both by Orange-crowned warblers.

And to round out this little show, my best photo of the day.  The same male Anna’s hummingbird as the one appearing in the photo earlier in this blog.

I had thought my Saturday photography was probably finished after the Orange-crowned warbler I had photographed earlier, but hoping for better warbler shots (with the sun on the water feature) I went back to the yard at 5pm.  (See prior post.)

I had no longer gotten settled in the yard when, through a small window in our fir trees, I spied a falcon headed my way.  In the fastest move I have ever made in this regard, I switched my focus to continuous and spun my shutter speed up.  (I didn’t have time to check it, but fortunately it had stopped on 1/1250/sec.)  I took about 8-10 photos while the falcon made a circle or two, then headed off with a crow in pursuit.  I’m assuming that this is a Merlin, but I’ll try to receive confirmation from a friend whose life work is Merlins.

I took my camera out in the yard slightly before 3pm on Saturday, April 12.  There were very few birds around and there was a little too much wind but the sun was out.  Unfortunately this was the slot in the afternoon when the sun doesn’t shine on the watercourse.

Right at 3pm I thought I saw a yellowish bird fly down to an unusual point, out of my view, on the water feature.  As I cautiously moved forward to investigate it flew, but after watching it for a few seconds I realized it was a warbler.  It returned to the watercourse and this time worked its way to where I could view it better.  I took about 15 photos, and as I photographed the bird it revealed its distinctive orange crown, which usually isn’t visible.  However when the bird bathes and gets its crown wet, it often shows… sometimes in a spectacular fashion.  The photo of the bird with it’s crown showing wasn’t of very good quality, but you can barely see it in the final of these three photos.

As most of you realize, I consider my photographic specialty that of photographing birds.  I consider myself only an average photographer and only an average birder.  It’s not until the two pursuits are combined that my skills become a little more unique.  

With regard to photography, most photographers get to either choose or manipulate most factors in the taking of their photographs.  They might choose the time of day, the angle of their shots, their exposure and shutter speed and in many situations they also manage to manipulate their subjects… framing the shot and background, posing subjects and adding light through various means.  Unfortunately, these are all techniques and tools that are usually beyond my reach. 

The birds that I photograph dictate the conditions under which I am able to photograph them.  I usually have to contend with many factors that are beyond my control…

·         Location or setting where I find/photograph the bird,

·         Time of day when I find the bird,

·         The available light (in the broadest sense)

·         The bird’s posture and/or activity,

·         Limited time for photographs due to the bird’s movement,

·         Increased shutter speed to eliminate blur,

·         Reduced aperture for correct exposure to offset increased shutter speed,

·         Intervening leaves, branches or twigs (which can make focusing a challenge),

·         Shadows cast on the bird by the aforementioned objects as well as shadows cast by the bird’s own anatomy (especially beaks). 

I can occasionally ameliorate, to some degree, some of these factors, especially when I perform photography in my own yard.  When I’m outside my yard my influence is reduced from a low level to an almost non-existent level. 

So all of this is an explanation as to why I’m not posting any first-class photos this week.  But here is what I managed to obtain…

A male Anna’s hummingbird, presumably the one that over-wintered with us this past season.  In this case he’s visiting our watercourse for a bath, an activity that apparently only takes place once or twice a day.  The bird is very elusive, visiting a feeder from time to time but never lingering and usually being chased off (intimidated) by Rufous hummingbirds which seem to not appreciate his presence at the feeders.  In the first photo I didn’t have good light and the contrast between the bird and background is rather low so that the bird doesn’t stand out.  I am having to take the photo at a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second, somewhat slower than I would like and still have to add considerable light through my processing with Adobe Lightroom.  It would be nice to see the birds gorgeous gorget at just the right angle for full display, but as I’ve already intimated, I don’t get to control that, so what we get is only a portion of it. 

Next up, a female Bushtit I found in a small wetland area on Cap Sante.  This was a female and her presumed mate was in the area.  Unfortunately I spent a long time stalking this bird and only obtained a very brief opportunity, under conditions that were unfavorable for many reasons, to take some quick photos.  The main problem in this case was lighting (the bird is side-lit) and I probably would have obtained a photo with more detail had I been able to use a higher shutter speed.  I have much better photos of Bushtits (see prior blog posts) but this photo represents some of the challenges I face. 

Finally, here is a photo of a Ruby-crowned kinglet photographed in low light conditions in the same area.  Like the Bushtit, I spent considerable time waiting for an unobscured opportunity to photograph this bird, and when I was able to obtain two photographs (which are virtually identical) it was in very low-light conditions.  I managed to capture some detail but had to rely on Lightroom to obtain anything like a usable photograph. 

I keep hoping for a spring migrant or two, but thus far it just isn’t happening. The one exception are the Rufous hummingbirds.  We have at least one male and probably 3-4 females.  And our male Anna’s hummingbird, presumably the one that overwintered with us, is still visiting the feeders but is difficult to photograph.  And he’s proven to be personal non grata to the Rufous hummingbirds.

So no other new arrivals, but several birds will be leaving the yard soon.  This Golden-crowned sparrow, along with a couple of associates who overwintered in the yard, will soon be leaving us for more northern breeding grounds.  As you can see from the bird’s crown, the plumage is in a transitional stage and we probably won’t get to see the bird in its full breeding plumage.

Yesterday I found 2-3 sub-adult Bald eagles soaring over the Cap Sante viewpoint.  They were circling in the wind currents making them easy to photograph.

And finally, this is probably the best photo of an Eastern Gray squirrel I’ve ever taken.  I would have taken more but I only rented the squirrel for an hour and had to get it back to the taxidermist!