Great White Shark Found at Horseneck :)

Ha!  H! A Great White Shark

Yes, a smile for the great white shark that I found at Horseneck.  Walking along, I thought I saw a fish in the wrack.  Also, a ring-billed gull also saw it and started walking toward it.  On closer inspection it was a great white shark toy that some child lost.  The gull looked at it with disgust  and walked away.

We visited Horseneck, hopefully, to count shorebirds for World Shorebird Day and all we saw was probably 15 sandelings.  We spent most of the time at Horseneck photographing gulls in various stages of plumage and action.  A great black-backed gull caught a crab and was chased by another gull wanting to steal it but the great black-backed gull was smart.  It flew away.  Landed and ran as fast as it could to get away from the other gulls.  Seeing this happen a pair of Herring gulls screamed at the great black-backed gull.

Great Black-Back Gull with the Crab Being Chased

Great Black-Back Gull with Lady Crab

Vocalizing

As the sanderlings were running around feeding, ring-billed gulls stayed close to them, hoping to steal a mole crab. However, the sanderling that caught a mole crab flew away faster than the gull.

Sanderling

Ring-Billed Gull among Sanderlings Feeding

We were lucky in that an Osprey was searching for fish near the shore hovered then dove, and we were able to catch it coming up with a large fish.  We have photographed Osprey in the past, diving, but never catching them right after they caught a fish.  First coming out of the water, the Osprey had one claw in the fish and then as it was starting to fly off, it grabbed a the fish with the second claw, and off it flew.

Osprey Catching a Fish

Osprey Catching a Fish

Walking back to the car, we found morning around in the sand juvenile ghost crabs.  They are very fast-moving but one stayed still long enough for us to be able to take pictures, looking at its front and also looking at its back.

Ghost Crab

Ghost Crab

Still hoping to find more shorebirds, we traveled to Gooseberry where all we found was three semipalmated plovers and one spotted sandpiper.

Semipalmated Plover

Although, we did not find many different species of shorebirds.  It still was a great day being out photographing.

Weather Changes

Sanderling

Left the house yesterday morning to travel out to Horseneck Beach and Gooseberry, at which time the sun was shining.  Arriving out at Horseneck, it was partly overcast, in the distance haze could be seen.  Walking down to the beach, we observed goals and shorebirds running all over the place.  There were small waves coming in and the tide was outgoing.  We picked an area close to the waters edge and sat down and waited for the birds to come to us, rather than trying to chase them.  After a period of time we did move laterally on the beach and and picked a new area to photograph.  As we were sitting there fog started to roll in and was decreasing visibility to at one point we were less than a 10th of a mile visibility and looking across the water.  We could not even see Gooseberry Neck.  The birds.  However did not pay any attention to the fog and kept moving up and down the beach, feeding and at times, chasing one another trying to maintain their own territory.  Normally, sanderlings follow the tide coming in and out running away as its incoming and following it out as it is outgoing.  However, when one of the shorebirds decide to take a bath.  They do not seem to care about the waves, and I am more interested in cleaning themselves..  Gulls flying through the fog give you a mystical appearance like that of a ghost, white on white.

Sanderling Chase Mode

Sanderling Feeding

Sanderling Bathing

Sanderling Bathing Partly on the Water

Herring Gull in the Fog White on White

Sanderling, Looking for Food

Sanderling Bathing, before Is in the Fog and after Is from Post Processing

As the fog grew thicker, we decided to travel over to Gooseberry to observe how everything looked from that vantage point.  By the time we got to Gooseberry, the fog had completely dissipated.  And we had bright sun shining.  On one of the seaweed covered rocks that was completely exposed due to the low tide was a few ducks.  The one I wanted a photograph of was a male American Scoter (Black Scoter).  The other ducks were young eiders.  We slowly moved down to the waters edge, the eiders left the rock and swam away, but the American Scoter continue to lay on the rock and just observe us.  The orange on its beak glowed in the sun.  After changing positions to get different views of the scoter, I turned to move again and hit a wet, slippery rock and fell backwards, happily keeping my camera and lens up so it did not hit the rock, or ground.  I did get a skinned elbow.  Handing my camera to my companion, and then fell completely over got up and since I really was not injured and I did not injured my camera set.  Oh well, took some more pictures and then went to the car to brush all the sand off of me.

American (Black) Scoter

My lens hood protected the front element of my lens from getting damaged and also because of the fog.  I treated my lens with fog eliminator which is distributed by Nikon.  It helps keep condensation from forming on the lens. It is not expensive and avaiable from Amazon http://amzn.to/1Ik0enV



Remember ReMask 5 will be on sale ($20 off) from August 25th – September 18th.  The coupon code "GetReMask5" use can take advantage of the discounted price of $49.99 (regularly $69.99).

You can link directly to the ReMask product page with this URL: http://www.topazlabs.com/aff/idevaffiliate.php?id=850&url=http://www.topazlabs.com/remask

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




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Laughing Gull and Whimbril-How I Made a Composite Picture

Composite Picture Laughing Gull and Whimbril

As I was reviewing my pictures from Horseneck beach that I took the other day, I notice two pictures with a juvenile laughing gull and a whimbril.  In one of the pictures, the whimbril was in focus and in the other picture, the gull was in focus.  

Original Picture. One

Original Picture Two

I thought it would be nice to have a picture with both birds in focus.  As an artist, I decided to create a composite picture that had both birds in focus.  First, in Lightroom, I made sure that the develop settings for both pictures with the same.  Next in the library module, in good view, I highlighted the two pictures and exported them into Photoshop.  Here is how I did it

If you need additional help, please email me and I will get back to you.

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.
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Shorebird Migration

Sanderling

Definitely there is an increase in shorebird migration, including the ones we saw previously at Nelson Beach as reported in the last blog, Horseneck Beach and Gooseberry in Westport are showing an increasing number of shorebirds.  At Horseneck we were able to see around six whimbrels and obtained some great photographs.  There were three plovers, black-bellied, semipalmated, and a piping..  Large number of sanderlings were running along the beach.

Sanderling

Whimbrel Preparing to Take off

Whimbrel in Flight

Gooseberry, besides the normal semipalmated plovers and semipalmated sandpipers, there were at least a dozen ruddy turnstones.  At the tip of Gooseberry, we met up with Bob Stymeist and Henry Zimberlin and as we were walking around to the west side, we came across a large sandpiper, first thinking it was a spotted but, on further observation, it turned out to be a rarity for the area: Upland Sandpiper.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstones

Upland Sandpiper

At the tip of Gooseberry. There were a large number of terns including common, foresters, roseate's and way out in the distance black terns.

Common Terns

Forester

Least Tern at Horseneck

One occurrence that made the day, was the weather.  It was overcast and though there was rain around us.  In the distance.  We did not have any and this help decrease the number of people on the beaches.  So if you have a chance to get out along the shore, there should be many opportunities for watching the migration of shorebirds and hopefully to photograph different species.

Comet Lovejoy and Other Space Objects

Pleiades, Comet Lovejoy, meteor and the Triangulam Galaxy

The Comet Lovejoy is still visible, but growing dimmer as it progresses through the sky.  The other night I went to the parking lot at Horseneck beach and was able to photograph the Comet just to the right of the Pleiades and also captured the Triangulum Galaxy which is also known as M33 plus a meteor.  If we still have some clear nights it's getting to be one of your last chances to see of photograph the Comet Lovejoy

information

Path of the Comet from Sky and Telescope

Skimmer Ground Pod a Review

One of the best ways to obtain pictures of shorebirds, plus many other creatures is to get down to their level, rather than photographing them from above.  I have mainly utilize my tripods to do this, but, depending on which model I would use because some of them have center posts I could not get completely flat.  I noticed other photographers, utilizing the skimmer ground pod and photographers could be laying flat on the ground.  I decided to purchase one and see how it worked out.

The skimmer ground pod is approximately 10" in diameter and 1.5" high, the Skimmer's flat bottom allows it to slide and pan easily along the beach or mud without scooping up earth, protecting equipment from grit and moisture. The sides are turned out slightly to push sand and mud out and away, helping to keep debris from coming over the top. A protected area inside the plate can even be used to store teleconverters, extension tubes, and other incidentals for quick access while shooting.  The Skimmer was designed by photographers for photographers to meet our rigorous demands in the field.

The skimmer is made with heavy duty reinforced crush-proof molded plastic, weighs on the 15 ounces with an integrated raised mounting platform and a standard 3/8 -16 captive stainless steel bolt.  The bolt will accommodate a quick release clamp, a ball-head or a gimbal head, depending on what your preference is.  I utilized a gimbal head, which for me is me more freedom of movement.  The skimmer also has a reinforced attachment point to which you can add a clip or a lanyard to attach it to your belt or your camera bag.  Because the skimmer is plastic.  It is easy to clean and you can remove the stainless steel bolt with the hex wrench which is supplied.

The skimmer pod is available from Hunts Photo, and because you are a reader of my blog by clicking this URL you'll be able to purchase the skimmer at a 10% discount which is good until December 31, 2014.  You also can also call our store at (800) 221-1830 and use promos code: VaBit to purchase over the phone

The photographs of me were taken by my grandson Kyle.