Razorbill Antics

Razorbills On the Rocks at Machias Seal Island

Besides all the Atlantic puffins that are on Machias seal island.  There is also a large colony of razorbills probably numbering up to 4000.  A number of the razorbills were putting on a show or either talking to one another or squabbling.  Since I can't speak razorbill I do not know what they were saying.

I captured two photographs of one pair of razorbills yakking with another razorbill on the side of them.  The first picture, I like how this third razorbill was looking at the other two razorbills with its mouth open, possibly saying stop it or whatever.  The second picture had the third razorbill, looking away from the other two razorbills, but, the two other razorbills to me had a better pose.

Razorbills, picture number one, I like the way the third bird is looking at the other two birds and has its mouth open

Razorbills, picture number two I like the way the two birds have their mouth open, but don't like the third birds, looking away

So what to do?  I decided to use Photoshop to see if I could combine both of the pictures into one which expresses my feelings on the scene.  Here's how I did it, I I took the first picture and edited in Lightroom to give me the look I wanted.  Next I utilized Topaz clarity and detail to enhance the picture.  After this, I took the first picture without the Topaz enhancements and in Lightroom synchronized the second picture, then I took the second picture and enhance it also with Topaz clarity and detail settings.  Now the fun begins.  I opened the two images in Photoshop, created a new image with the same dimensions as the original two images.  Under the Windows Menu> Arrange> Float All in Windows.  Then I selected the first of the two images and dragged it onto the new image file, repeated the same action again with the second image.  The layer panel now will contain two new layers, one for each of the original pictures.  Now you select both of the layers and in the Edit Menu , choose Auto-Align Layers and check Reposition Only then click OK.  Click on the top layer and in the layers panel Choose Layer> Layer Mask> Reveal All and add a layer mask to the chosen layer.  Using a black brush.  I painted to reveal the image that I wanted.  When I had the image looking like the way I wanted it to.  I flatten the image and saved it.  Here is the result.

Razorbills, the composite picture, I like this picture because all the birds have their mouth open.

Using the coupon code mborn you will receive a 15% discount on any or all of the Topaz plug-ins.



Help Support my blog by purchasing from Amazon. Clicking on this link and utilizing the link does not cost you anything.
BUY FROM AMAZON

Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia)

Thick-billed Murre

It was Thursday again, and I was off again with Doug birding. We decide to start the day at Provincetown Harbor. The weather was sunny, low 40s, but with a stiff wind blowing. In the harbor, there were a number of birds and gulls, but the best finding was a Thick-build Murre. Doug first sighted it out in the harbor closer toward the breakwater. As we were observing the Murre, it swam toward us and down alongside the pier which allowed for good observation and some decent photographs.

The Thick-billed Murre is distributed around the polar and sub-polar regions of the northern hemisphere. They will spend all of their lives out on the waters except during the breeding season when they form colonies on cliffs. The Thick-billed Murre produce only one egg per year. An interesting fact, is when the young leave the nest, they jump into the sea where the male murre stays with the young and feeds it for approximately 8 weeks.

During the winter they will move southward, staying in cold ice-free waters.

They utilize their wings to swim under the water and they can dive up to 150 m and stay on the water for up to four minutes.

Thick-billed Murre

Thick-billed Murre

Thick-billed Murre

Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle)

Black Guillemot

Late fall into winter is a great time to observe birds that are not commonly in the local area.  Many of the Alcids will travel down into the Massachusetts area for the winter in my birding so far this fall, have observed, Razorbills, Dovekie's and the Black Guillemot.  I am sorry to say of those three the only species that I have been able to photograph so far is the Black Guillemot.

Black Guillemots in breeding plumage are a medium-size alcid, who are completely black, except for a snowy white oval upper wing patch.  When they fly the under surface of their wings is white.  In the winter.  Their appearance completely changes and are predominantly white with black markings.  They have red legs and feet.  They breed on rocky shores, cliffs and islands on the north Atlantic Coast as far south as Maine and in Europe as far south as Ireland.

One has been present near the boat launching ramp at Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Salisbury, Massachusetts.  This is the one that I have photographed.

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot