Busy Day

Great Egret prior to losing the fish

 

Monday was a very busy day. As in my previous blog, I started out at midnight photographing the nights sky for a few hours. Came home and downloaded the pictures and rested. Then I put together all the material for the talk that I was giving that evening for the photography group at the Newburyport Art Association. We traveled up earlier in the afternoon prior to the meeting and visited Parker River national wildlife refuge and photographed the birds. One of the most interesting events was watching a great egret fishing for food in the pannes. I saw a couple of events that I had not seen in previous observations of great egrets. The first event was the egret, after catching a fish, dropped it and lost it so it had to continue fishing. I have seen other wading birds spreading their wings as they finished, but not great egrets. In fact, this great Egret only spread one wing as it fished. Finally, the egret caught another fish and this time was able to eat it.

Great Egret with one wing spread fishing

Great Egret Fishing Sequence

Great Egret Fishing Sequence

Great Egret Fishing Sequence

Great Egret Fishing Sequence

 

What made the afternoon interesting that there was an intermittent very strong wind that at times would almost blow me off my feet, which meant definitely. I had to use my sturdiest tripod to keep the camera and lens steady.

After a supper at the Black Cow restaurant in Newburyport, which served an excellent meal, good portions and very tasty, I went and set up at the Newburyport Art Association and gave my talk about photographing coastal brown bears in Alaska. The talk was well received, I will be happy to present it for any local camera clubs.

After arriving at home, since my son was not able to join us photographing the night sky early in the morning, we all went out again so that he would have a chance to photograph the Milky Way. I had a chance to try out my new Rokinon 8 mm fisheye lens.

Night Sky Taken with a Fisheye Lens

 

Day after Christmas

Fishing boat leaving Rye Harbor

Saturday morning, the kids and I woke up at oh-dark-o'clock to travel up to Rye, New Hampshire.  Hopefully to photograph the snowy owl that has been present at Rye Harbor state Park.  When we arrived there were a number of cars in the parking lot with a lot of people looking for the snowy owl, however, no one had sighted the snowy owl.  We struck a conversation up with one fella who said that it looked like the snowy owl had not been present for a week.  Oh well, that is photographing the nature.

The large moon was slowly setting and I got a picture of it by a large conifer.

Setting Moon

The sun was rising and I got a silhouette of the Quadricentennial Monument, looking out to the isles of shoals.  The monument celebrates the 400 anniversary of Capt. John Smith reaching and naming the Isles of shoals after himself and the area that we know as New England.  "John Smith’s map and widely read book “A Description of New England” detailed the region’s teeming fishing banks, abundant game, clean rivers, vast forests and native people. The book had a major influence in the subsequent wave of English migration to these shores. The map guided the Pilgrims to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 and led John Winthrop to the Charles River and the founding of Boston in 1630."  

Silhouette of the 1614 Monument

With no snowy owl, we decided first to stop at Rye Harbor, which at times can be very good for photographing loons and seabirds as they fish near the docks.  Again, we were shut out.  On on the road again to Salisbury State Park, where at the boat launch ramp.  We met a number of photographers that I knew.  And again, everybody stated everything was quiet.

We ended up at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, the major sighting were a large number of ducks in the pannes, a song sparrow,  a Mockingbird and a  Harrier, gliding over the grasslands looking for prey.  Prior however to reaching Parker River, at the pink house on the plum island Parkway.  We photographed a hawk on the chimney.

Hawk on a Chimney

Northern Harrier Over the Marsh

Black Ducks

It was a comfortable, sunny day, and again, it was enjoyable just being out.

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Gadwal in the Pannes

On Tuesday morning, the family and I left early to beat the traffic through Boston on the way to visit Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.  Because of the breeding season for terns and piping plovers all the beach accesses in the refuge, were closed to traffic.  Not until we reached Sandy Point State Reservation were we able to walk out onto the beach.  We very slowly drove up the road from the entrance, stopping and photographing different birds, as we visualize them.  We walked the number of the trails enjoying the sights and the weather.  Mostly what we saw were the breeding birds.  Meeting a number of birders, they all remarked on the lack of migrants compared to a few days ago.  Apparently apparently the migrants continued on their northward journey.

Easton Kingbird

Bobolink

Willet.  On the Top of a Tree

At Sandy Point, we saw a few shorebirds, including black-bellied plover, dunlin, and my first of the year piping plover.  There was an adult great black-backed gull feeding on a crab, the interesting part, the crab was still alive.

Piping Plover Feeding

Black-Bellied Plover

Great black-backed Gull With a Crab

We met a birder at Bill's Forward Blind, who told us about some other locations in the area that we did not know about, since we are mainly southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island people.  After leaving Parker River, we end up traveling down Rough Meadows Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary in Raleigh Massachusetts, which we explored for only a short time.  The reason was it was the middle of the day, there was a bright sun and we were hungry.  Looking at the sign of the sanctuary trails, there were a number of different ones to walk, plus if we go down the road further we end up on the backside of Parker River.

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Plum Island to Rye New Hampshire

Sunrise at Plum Island

This weekend I joined my friend John Slonina on his one day photo tour, where we started at sunrise at Plum Island and the day finished at sunset at Salisbury Beach. John knows the area very well and works with the photographers to get them thinking out of the box. He helps everybody with composition, settings, and given freely of his knowledge. I also will help them with the participants.

After sunrise, we traveled down through Parker River National Wildlife Sanctuary all the way to the very end, which is Sandy Point State Reservation. We stopped at different locations for landscape photography. We did see a Snowy Owl and Bald Eagles in flight.

Boardwalk at Parker River

Sand Abstracts on the Dunes

Landscape

Colored Rock at Sandy Point

Next stop was Salisbury Beach State Reservation, where we searched for birds and stopped and photographed at one location along the Merrimack River, which gave a number of subjects for close-ups and landscapes. Ice floating in the river had some interesting shapes.

Ice Flow

We continued into New Hampshire, where it was lunch time so we stopped at the Castaways and had a good lunch, plus a lot of interesting discussion about photography, equipment, settings and post processing.

Continuing along route 1A, we searched Hampton State Park, looking for snowy owls, but there were none so we continued up to Rye State Park. At Rye there was a snowy owl present on a log that was on the rocks and was very comfortable with people in front of it and behind it. After photographing it for around the half-hour or more, the snowy owl defecated and then flew off into the wind right at us, my problem was that I lost focus in the flight shots were blurry. Going back to the parking lot, the snowy owl was perched on an electric pole and allowed a lot more photography.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl Preparing to Fly

Snowy Owl on Electric Post

The group went back to Salisbury to photograph the sunset, however, I stayed and worked the snowy owl for a a while.

John has two more plum island-right New Hampshire tours scheduled for January 17 and January 31. You can contact John at http://www.sphotography.com/new-england-one-day-photo-tours-and-workshops/

Also, he has a number of other day trips scheduled plus a number of longer workshops, including one to Downeast Maine that I co-lead with John.

More Pictures from Plum Island

Today, I thought I would show you some additional pictures from Saturday. These pictures were all post-processed in Lightroom and Topaz Clarity. I used the Topaz clarity cause it gives me complete control over my image.

Here is another picture of the ducks taking off after a second year Bald Eagle circled overhead.There are black ducks and northern pintails in the photograph

Northern Mockingbird in the berries and eating berries.

Rough-legged Hawk above the tree line.

The Canada goose.

The Peregrine Falcon eating. Notice on its legs there bird bands and I have reported the sighting to USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/bblretrv/index.cfm   The Center will research the band and if they can identify it will send you a confirmation of where and when it was banded.

A full frame photo of the snowy owl in the marsh across from the boat ramp at Salisbury Beach State Park. All the photo shows is that a snowy owl was there.

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A Double Great Day

Rough-legged Hawk

Saturday definitely was a double great day. It was that because my grandson and I first spent the the morning photographing that Parker Island National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island and then in the afternoon picked up my great-granddaughter and then we went to Salisbury Beach and finished off the afternoon back at Parker River.

Here is a synopsis of the day. Upon arriving at Parker River, we slowly drove down the road and stopped at the salt pannes, with close to the road there were mainly only black ducks and canada geese. One of the canada geese was preening, so we pulled over and using a Puffin Pad out my window, I photograph the goose and waited hopefully for it to give me a good wings spread, however, it only ruffled its wings.

Canada Goose ruffling its feathers

As we were riding down the road, we saw in the sky a hawk hovering. We pulled over, and again I used the puffin pad to steady my 500 mm lens and since it hovered and just moved around and state near the car I was able to photograph the Hawk would already difficulty. Identification showed it was a Rough-legged Hawk, a northern visitor from the Arctic.

Rough-leggedHawk diving for prey

Rough-legged Hawk back looking for prey since it did not catch any on its last dive

We stopped at the pullouts along the way and search for the snowy owls that had been reported at Parker River. At the Warden's, for the second year in a row I captured a Northern Mockingbird in the berries.

Northern Mockingbird taking off from the berries

At the Bill Forward Bird Blind, we searched the marsh hopefully for the snowy owl, no luck, but we got a great flight of the ducks that took off when an Eagle passed overhead.

Flight of ducks after being spooked by an Eagle

Our next stop was parking lot seven, where I met some friends from Massachusetts Camera Naturalists, who just came down from looking over the beach. We discussed what we had seen and they told me that there was nothing on the beach. However my grandson and I decided will just take a look. When we reached the platform at the top of the Boardwalk, there were a few people would spotted scopes looking down the beach and they told me there was a Peregrine Falcon feeding on the beach. Looking down the beach, there was a photographer taking pictures. We went down and walked close to the dunes slowly watching the Peregrine to make sure we would not annoy it. Took some ID pictures and slowly continue down toward the other photographer, because I did not want to shoot into the sun. The Peregrine was very cooperative and looked up every so often but mainly continued feeding. When we got to a good location, I took some more pictures, then lowered my tripod to the ground and I went down look also at slowly moved up toward the berm watching carefully the falcon to make sure I was not encroaching into its comfort area. It looked up and continue going back to eating animal out some great photographs. From looks of its prey it had captured a Yellowlegs. We spent over a half-hour photographing this great bird. We then backed away slowly and left because we had a go pick up my great-granddaughter.

Peregrine falcon on the beach, the blur near its feet is the sand blowing in the stiff wind

Peregrine Falcon feeding on a Yellowlegs

Peregrine Falcon

After we picked her up, we traveled to Salisbury Beach, where a snowy owl had been reported. We found the snowy owl across from the boat launch ramp way in the distance in the marsh. A couple was there with a spotting scope and let my great-granddaughter get a good look at the snowy owl. Then my grandson took his daughter for a walk along the beach, because that is something she likes to do. While I was continuing to watch to see what else was around a Merlin came flying into the area and I was hoping it was going to land in the tree that was close by, but however circled and continued back down along the campground. Another birder showed up, and we discussed the Snowy Owl and the Merlin. He told me that the Merlin likes to hang out on the dead tree near the bathhouse in the campground on row W. So when everybody was back in the car, we travel down and search the area, at first, no Merlin but on the second go around it was on the tree and allowed for some pictures. My first pictures of the Merlin. After that my great-granddaughter wanted to go play at the playground and I was the next thing we did.

Merlin

We finished off the day by going back to Parker River where we got great views of a Red-tailed Hawk, a Bald Eagle, Great Egret and many Great Blue Heron. So finished a double great day.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk on top of the visitors center at parking lot 1

Bald Eagle

Great Egret