One day, lots of species...

[Aloicious]

So I went on a bit of an adventure today visited a few different locations that I'm moderately familiar with, and I was surprised to get SO MANY different species in just a few hours time, this isn't even all that I saw, just the most workable images I was able to get.....

So rather than start a different thread for each species I'm going to just post them all here. I know it's alot of pics for one thread, but IMO its the better way to post all these rather than having a bunch of threads with 1-2 pics in each, I don't really expect C&C on every one or anything since there are a lot, but you're welcome to comment on any as you would like. some are technically better than others, I had to take what I could get, and had to 'salvage' process a couple that I really wanted to have something at least mediocre (re: mainly the curlew, only got a couple shots in before he left, and I've really been wanting to image one, I think they're neat)

anyways, here we go

Long Billed Curlew:

Chukar:

Black Bellied Plover:

GBH:

some kind of sandpiper?

the three stooges (black necked stilts):

Hawk (not sure what kind, yet again, I'm thinking juvenile coopers, but last time I said that I was wrong):

one angry looking Clark's Grebe:

American White Pelecan with harsh sidelighting:

Sandhill Crane:

White Faced Ibis:

 

[wackii]

Great set. All these in one day? Thanks for sharing. On #1 and #2, what cause the background like that? I'm just curious.

 

[Aloicious]

Great set. All these in one day? Thanks for sharing. On #1 and #2, what cause the background like that? I'm just curious.

Thanks, yeah, just a few hours actually, got to the first location at ~10am, second at 1pm left to go home at 3:30pm...#1 and #2 were the worst technical images of the bunch but I really wanted to salvage something with them since that is the only long billed curlew I've ever seen. the odd background is likely due to too much processing, I might have to give it another shot at a later date when I have some more time.

 

[Aloicious]

Other species that I saw but I either didn't get images of or haven't processed yet:

American Avocet,
A different kind of sandpiper,
Snowy Egret,
Cinnamon Teal,
Cormorant,
Canadian Goose,
an unidentified falcon,
mourning dove,
American Coot,
yellow headed blackbird,
and a few others

I was really floored to see such a variety out there today, its much more than I normally see at these spots.

 

[ryanparker]

Nice set, I like what you've done.

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice shots. Thanks for sharing.

WesternGuy

 

[jedirunner]

I like the set.

My daughter is gonna be in love with #3 ... she loves the fat fluffy birds Can't wait to show her these tonight.

Kevin

 

[Aloicious]

thanks everyone,

jedi - hah, yeah I call that one 'Chubby Chukar'...I think it just finished eating, #4 is what they normally look like. these were all at antelope island or bear river bird refuge, I ended up going to both places since they aren't too far from each other.

 

[Aloicious]

here's a re-edit of #2, I think its a little better, I masked the bokeh areas off so it doesn't make the background as bad, its also not cropped in quite as much, adjustments to the color slightly too...

re-edit:

original edit so you don't have to scroll up:

 

[coastalconn]

Wow, you have some really cool birds down there! Great job

 

[jedirunner]

thanks everyone,

jedi - hah, yeah I call that one 'Chubby Chukar'...I think it just finished eating, #4 is what they normally look like. these were all at antelope island or bear river bird refuge, I ended up going to both places since they aren't too far from each other.

Already making plans to get up north to both locations this summer. Thanks for the inspiration!

Kevin

 

[wackii]

Great set. All these in one day? Thanks for sharing. On #1 and #2, what cause the background like that? I'm just curious.

Thanks, yeah, just a few hours actually, got to the first location at ~10am, second at 1pm left to go home at 3:30pm...#1 and #2 were the worst technical images of the bunch but I really wanted to salvage something with them since that is the only long billed curlew I've ever seen. the odd background is likely due to too much processing, I might have to give it another shot at a later date when I have some more time.

Thanks for the info. Just a little side track, for some reason I keep finding myself wanting to shoot birds of prey more than those other birds... I keep on looking for Hawks, Osprey, etc... so far no luck... I just need more research of where they are and the area they are active in. Oh, and I'm jealous of your gears...

 

[Aloicious]

Thanks for the info. Just a little side track, for some reason I keep finding myself wanting to shoot birds of prey more than those other birds... I keep on looking for Hawks, Osprey, etc... so far no luck... I just need more research of where they are and the area they are active in. Oh, and I'm jealous of your gears...

yeah, raptors are my favorite as well...raptors and owls...but hey, I'll take what I can get, its all good practice I found a hawk nest just down the road from me that is new, so I'll have to scout out that area and see what goes on. we've also got a local bird festival coming up in a few weeks and I'm signed up for a all day event called 'raptors at the ranch' which we're supposed to go visit a osprey nest and a few other raptor hot spots, so that'll be fun, even if I don't get any good pics from it at least I'll know another good area for them.

the best advice I can give is to get used to looking up for them, and noticing them, chances are that you've been around them a lot, and just haven't noticed. they're usually perched on something that will give them a good view of the area to hunt from. Coastalconn once gave some good advice that helped me out when I first started to look for them, he basically said 'look for footballs where they don't belong', so if you're driving around and from a distance you see something the basic shape and size of a football standing on it's end on a telephone pole, or tree, or anywhere that makes you think 'why is a football there', chances are it's a raptor or owl, not too many other birds get to be that size, and the ones that do are far less common....also it helps to study them and their behavior, for example, don't look at them directly especially while you're still approaching them, it's something that they see as predatory behavior and will fly off before you get close.

 

[wackii]

Thanks for the info. Just a little side track, for some reason I keep finding myself wanting to shoot birds of prey more than those other birds... I keep on looking for Hawks, Osprey, etc... so far no luck... I just need more research of where they are and the area they are active in. Oh, and I'm jealous of your gears...

yeah, raptors are my favorite as well...raptors and owls...but hey, I'll take what I can get, its all good practice I found a hawk nest just down the road from me that is new, so I'll have to scout out that area and see what goes on. we've also got a local bird festival coming up in a few weeks and I'm signed up for a all day event called 'raptors at the ranch' which we're supposed to go visit a osprey nest and a few other raptor hot spots, so that'll be fun, even if I don't get any good pics from it at least I'll know another good area for them.

the best advice I can give is to get used to looking up for them, and noticing them, chances are that you've been around them a lot, and just haven't noticed. they're usually perched on something that will give them a good view of the area to hunt from. Coastalconn once gave some good advice that helped me out when I first started to look for them, he basically said 'look for footballs where they don't belong', so if you're driving around and from a distance you see something the basic shape and size of a football standing on it's end on a telephone pole, or tree, or anywhere that makes you think 'why is a football there', chances are it's a raptor or owl, not too many other birds get to be that size, and the ones that do are far less common....also it helps to study them and their behavior, for example, don't look at them directly especially while you're still approaching them, it's something that they see as predatory behavior and will fly off before you get close.

Thanks for the tips and have fun at the bird festival. I'm looking forward for more raptors shots... keep them coming...

 

[baturn]

Wow! What variety! Nicely done, and more to come. I believe that is my 1st look at a chukar, thanks. One aside it is a Canada goose, not Canadian. I look forward to seeing the rest.