Lessons on a Hot Sunny Day

Even when hot summer weather makes birding difficult, there are still opportunities to practice your technique and reinforce key concepts. For example, I was at Presqu’ile Provincial Park on the weekend, not expecting to see much. Those expectations were met! However, there was a larger than normal flock of caspian terns at Owen Point:

Caspian Terns, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/500s @ f/22, ISO 400

My initial tern photos were taken at f/8, but with that aperture only the front group of birds was in focus. I had to set a really small aperture of f/22 to get the back group somewhat in focus.

With other photogenic birds nowhere to be found (except for a pair of pileated woodpeckers at Calf Pasture Point), I focused my attention on butterflies. There was a black swallowtail:

Black Swallowtail, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/800s @ f/8, ISO 400

The black swallowtail was shot at f/8 and a shutter speed of 1/800s, but that shutter speed wasn’t fast enough to stop the motion of small cabbage white butterflies. They fly around like crazy! I would normally just step down (say to f/5.6) to get a faster shutter speed, but in this case I was pretty close so I wanted the depth of field to be at least f/8. The only other alternative was to crank up the ISO, so I set mine to ISO 1600. It seems odd to intentionally use such a large ISO on a perfectly sunny day, but it’s the only way to stop the motion of butterflies while also getting the depth of field you need:

Small Cabbage White Butterfly on Purple Loosestrife, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/3200s @ f/8, ISO 1600

The same settings worked for a Monarch Buttefly:

Monarch Butterfly, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/2500s @ f/8, ISO 1600

Charleston Lake: Photographic Bliss!

Charleston Lake, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 28mm, 1/250s, f/8, ISO 800

It never ceases to amaze me how many photographic opportunities there are at Charleston Lake Provincial Park. I was only there for about 48 hours this weekend, but I was able to get pictures of osprey, green and great blue herons, butterflies, and dragonflies.

There is a man-made osprey nest opposite the main beach and it’s low enough to the ground that I was able to get closer to osprey than ever before. There were two juveniles in the nest, but it looks like they are almost ready to leave. Here’s one perching just outside the nest:

Osprey, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 800

I like the photo above except for the obvious man-made structure. I was pleased to get some photos of an adult away from the nest. Any nature photo without man-made structures is better.

Osprey, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, 1/3200s, f/8, ISO 800

Note the difference in eye color; adult osprey have yellow eyes while juveniles have red eyes.

The marsh opposite the campground is a great place for herons. I was able to get pretty close to a great blue heron:

Great Blue Heron, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 800

Great Blue Heron, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 800

I also found a green heron in a tree and was able to capture my first ever images of that species:

Green Heron, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 800

I’m not really pleased with the sharpness of the heron photos, but maybe that’s all I can expect when hand-holding a 300mm lens while in a kayak!

The boardwalk at the start of the Quiddity and Tallow Rock Bay trails is a great place to see butterflies and dragonflies. I used a high ISO and fast shutter speed to freeze the action of a giant swallowtail:

Giant Swallowtail on Swamp Milkweed, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/5000s, f/8, ISO 1600

Photographing dragonflies is always a challenge. I find that they often go out and return to the same perch (like some birds), so I tried pre-focusing on a perch and waiting. In a few cases, it actually worked!

Twelve-Spotted Skimmer, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/4000s, f/8, ISO 800

Widow Skimmer, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 800

Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, 1/640s, f/13, ISO 800

Halloween Pennant, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Merlin

It was hot today, so it was nice to spend most of the afternoon in an air-conditioned vehicle driving around Prince Edward County with my parents. We weren't expecting to see much, but I was pleasantly surprised to get images of two birds I've never photographed before - a grasshopper sparrow and merlin. I was able to use my new Puffin Pad to take pictures from inside the car while using the door and Puffin Pad as support. It worked well. Before the birds, we saw lots of dragonflies and butterflies. The most common dragonfly were Halloween Pennants - they seemed to be everywhere at times!

Halloween Pennant, Canon 7D with Canon 500mm, 1/8000s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Halloween Pennant, Canon 7D with Canon 500mm, 1/500s, f/10, ISO 400

Grasshopper Sparrow, Canon 7D with Canon 500mm, 1/5000s, f/8, ISO 400

Merlin, Canon 7D with Canon 500mm, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 400

Savannah Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark

I returned to the site of the Upland Sandpipers tonight, this time with my 500mm lens. The sandpipers were present, but not in the numbers I saw on Monday. Alas, they were not as photographically cooperative either. I was only able to get a few shots of adults sneaking through the grass. Not once did they pose for me on a fence post (how dare they!). What a difference a few days makes!

The trip was still enjoyable. I got some images of a Savannah Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark and saw a milk snake and lots of rabbits and fireflies. It's nice to have seemingly wild spots so close to home.

Savannah Sparrow, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, f/8, 1/400s, ISO 400

Eastern Meadowlark, Canon 7D with Canon EF 500mm, f/8, 1/80s, ISO 400

Upland Sandpipers Galore!

Upland Sandpiper, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, f/8, 1/400s, ISO 400

My friend and I were out for a Canada Day drive when we lucked upon a great photographic surprise... a cooperative Upland Sandpiper. This species is known for perching on fence posts and this individual lived up to the billing. It stayed on its perch while we slowly approached in my car. Normally, I would have my 500mm lens with me while out driving, but on this day I packed lighter and opted for my 28-300mm instead. Not to worry though. 300mm was more than enough to capture nearly full-frame images. The lighting was perfect and things got even better when we noticed that there were more Upland Sandpipers in the area. We noticed a second adult, and then a third, and then some young ones, and then some more young ones... it was crazy! What a great Canada Day present!

Upland Sandpiper, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, f/8, 1/1000s, ISO 400

Upland Sandpiper, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, f/8, 1/500s, ISO 400

There were several opportunities to capture an image with the wings open, but this was the best I could manage. It's not quite as sharp as I'd like it to be.

Upland Sandpiper, Canon 7D with Canon EF 28-300mm @ 300mm, f/8, 1/400s, ISO 400