Out and about at Burriston Ponds

jedirunner

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Out early this morning to shoot birds with the daughter at a new spot -- Burriston Ponds. She shot today with the SX50, and I am very impressed with the range and what she did with it. I was using the 5D3 with 70-300L.

We got there early, well before the sun was up, due to there being a tall mountain directly east of the ponds. But it gave us a chance to be there before any of the campers around the ponds were awake or up (and it was 30 degrees to start, so nice and cool). We scared up a Great Blue Heron and a few other birds. Pelican and others came back and settle down, but the GBH never did... so I'm still searching for one of those when I actually have light to shoot it. (I did get off a few shots as he flew away, but it was noisy high ISO and the sun wasn't up yet). Oh well, that quest continues.

Today's sightings include:
  • Great Blue Heron (won't post pics as they're pretty bad -- won't delete them from my collection though, until I can replace with something better.)
  • American White Pelican (one that kept coming and going)
  • Bullock's Oriole (lots)
  • Yellow-Headed Blackbird (lots)
  • Red-Winged Blackbird (lots)
  • Cassin's Kingbird (several)
  • Osprey (from a distance)
  • Unidentified BoP (see below)
  • A few ducks that were too far away and in shadows for decent pics

We were walking around and not sitting/watching. We *did* need to explore the area, after all! All the walking around kept the birds at a distance, but was nice to get to know the area.

Here are the pics.
  • C&C welcome
  • Bird identification confirmation and/or correction *greatly* appreciated

1. Bullock's Oriole:
p1578405356-5.jpg


2. Cassin's Kingbird
p1578405406-5.jpg


3. Red-winged Blackbird
p1578404716-5.jpg


4. Yellow-headed Blackbird
p1578404956-5.jpg


5. Osprey (unfortunately, like the GBH, I never seem to get close enough to these to get a *good* pic)
p1578403590-5.jpg


6. Is this a Golden Eagle?
p1578405470-5.jpg


7. ???? (what bird is this one?) 2 pics of it in case it helps...
p1578405328-5.jpg
p1578405342-5.jpg


8. Where we were shooting (Burriston's Pond)
p1578404528-5.jpg


9. The pond as we arrived
p1578402998-5.jpg


10. Just found this interesting to shoot
p1578404844-5.jpg


Sorry for so many pictures, but it was a lovely morning! I took 335 snaps, limited it to 38 to post process (de-duping, removing blurry ones, etc.), and just posted 11, so ... um ... I *did* limit myself! ;-)

Kevin
 
what a rich spot, you got amazing diversity there... all in one day?
Very nice shots too
1 is my favorite but I really like 8 too.
 
what a rich spot, you got amazing diversity there... all in one day?

Yep, it was a great spot :) We spent just under 90 minutes there, actually.

Very nice shots too

Thanks!

1 is my favorite but I really like 8 too.

Yeah, I was happy to see those birds. Their color is great, and being very new (and highly addicted now, I might add!) to birding, it was a fun new discovery for me.

Thanks,

Kevin
 
Hello! Very nice shots! If I may ask, did you 'develop' your pictures? In other words, did you edit the pictures in any programs such as Lightroom or Photoshop?

Thanks! Yes, I did tons of cropping, and some post processing on them. (noise reduction, sharpening, contrast, etc.). I'm not that good at post processing yet, but am working on it. And since I don't have a lens with good reach, and was walking around scaring the birds ... it causes me to have to shoot from a distance and really crop in on them.

Kevin
 
Hello! Very nice shots! If I may ask, did you 'develop' your pictures? In other words, did you edit the pictures in any programs such as Lightroom or Photoshop?

Thanks! Yes, I did tons of cropping, and some post processing on them. (noise reduction, sharpening, contrast, etc.). I'm not that good at post processing yet, but am working on it. And since I don't have a lens with good reach, and was walking around scaring the birds ... it causes me to have to shoot from a distance and really crop in on them.

Kevin

They look really great! The reason I asked, with the colors on the birds, if you edited some of the colors, adjusted your exposure, and took your contrast up a bit, those birds would jump right out of the picture! Do you mind if I show you what I mean with one of your pictures?
 
Hello! Very nice shots! If I may ask, did you 'develop' your pictures? In other words, did you edit the pictures in any programs such as Lightroom or Photoshop?

Thanks! Yes, I did tons of cropping, and some post processing on them. (noise reduction, sharpening, contrast, etc.). I'm not that good at post processing yet, but am working on it. And since I don't have a lens with good reach, and was walking around scaring the birds ... it causes me to have to shoot from a distance and really crop in on them.

Kevin

They look really great! The reason I asked, with the colors on the birds, if you edited some of the colors, adjusted your exposure, and took your contrast up a bit, those birds would jump right out of the picture! Do you mind if I show you what I mean with one of your pictures?

Go for it. :) I've got the "My photos are OK to edit" turned on, and if you want to do an edit and show me, I'd love to see it (especially if you tell me what settings you used, so I learn how to achieve various results).

Thanks,

Kevin
 
nice! great captures! I don't think that's a golden eagle though, its hard to tell from that angle, but to me it looks like a swainson's hawk, I'm definitely not a pro at raptor identification though.
 
Nice series and its great you got to take your daughter out! #6 is not an eagle. I would say hawk of some type hard to tell from the back. #7 is actually a Female Red winged blackbird. I was really confused the first time I saw one..
 
Wow! You had a productive outing! Looks like you had a lot of fun.
I agree with Coastalconn that 6 is some sort of hawk. It would be nice if you had a front shot or description of the front of the bird as well as the size.
As for number 7 I would be more prone to call that a female yellow-headed blackbird. The coloring seems to match up better for that as opposed to the female red-winged blackbird. IMHO.
 
nice! great captures! I don't think that's a golden eagle though, its hard to tell from that angle, but to me it looks like a swainson's hawk, I'm definitely not a pro at raptor identification though.

Nice series and its great you got to take your daughter out! #6 is not an eagle. I would say hawk of some type hard to tell from the back. #7 is actually a Female Red winged blackbird. I was really confused the first time I saw one..

Wow! You had a productive outing! Looks like you had a lot of fun.
I agree with Coastalconn that 6 is some sort of hawk. It would be nice if you had a front shot or description of the front of the bird as well as the size.
As for number 7 I would be more prone to call that a female yellow-headed blackbird. The coloring seems to match up better for that as opposed to the female red-winged blackbird. IMHO.

Thanks guys. I do wish I had a better picture (both closer and from the front). But this was the best we got of that raptor as he decided my daughter was just too threatening and he flew off. :( (oh wait ... it was me that got out of the car to get closer).

As for the smaller bird, I think you're right that it may be a female yellow-headed blackbird. I looked up some photos of that, and a description, and it seems to match pretty well. I'm going to go with that. :)

Thanks!

Kevin
 

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