Start Them off Early

For all you parents, grandparents, with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  The earlier you start them enjoying the outdoors, the better it is.  Take them hiking, teach them birding and photography so that they enjoy the natural world around us.  Put away the cell phones during this time, except if you need an app to help find a location or some settings.

I have gotten my kids, grandkids and my great-granddaughter interested in photography and birding.  Although my great-granddaughter is under 10 years old.  She has learned how to use back button focusing on the camera.  Yes, either her father or I do set the settings and we will soon start teaching or how to use those settings herself.

Grandson and great-granddaughter photographing and viewing a red-tailed hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

When we do beach rambles.  I find that the children with their sharper eye find more objects to discuss and are very interested in learning.

Holding seaweed Dead Mans Fingers

Watching a diamondback terrapin returning to the wild

So, get the youngsters away from cell phones, television, and computer games and out into the world.

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



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Piping Plover Family 2014 and More

Today was another beautiful morning, cool with the sun shining.  So comfortable, I returned to Allens Pond again, and to photograph the Piping Plovers, since, my big gun was returned from the shop where it was repaired.  My big gun is my Nikon 500 mm F/4 and I attached a 1.4 X tele-converter to where and utilized my full frame camera  Nikon D3s to photograph today's action.  If you have been reading my blogs, you know, I have a special interest in this family of piping plovers because I have been photographing them continuously for the last 5+ years.

Arriving at the sanctuary's parking lot, there were two killdeer looking for food, plus the usual willits.  A number of cottontail rabbits were feeding on the grass and were very obliging to have their picture taken.

Eastern cottontail

I walked down to the beginning of the beach loop, passed the culvert and on arriving on the beach, I searched for the plovers.  I found one adult and one chick behind the barrier and I was able to photograph them.  Searching I did not see any other plovers until the adult and the chick traveled down the beach to my right.  Suddenly, two more chicks appeared down near the water, along with another adult.  The nice part about the chicks that were near the water is that when was always facing to the right and the other was always facing to the left.  This way when I looked at my pictures, I could tell them apart.

Piping plover chick number one

Piping plover chick number one

Piping Plover Adult Male

Piping plover chick number two

Piping plover chick number two

Piping Plover Adult Female

Piping plover chick number three

As always, I was sitting down or laying in the the sand and allowed the plovers to come to me.  One of the chicks approach to within 10 feet, which was good because if it came too much closer to would of been out of the focal range of my lens.

On the way back, I found the bobolink on the stone wall in between the two fields, and it flew onto a bush, which gave a great picture.

Bobolink

Finally, one of the willits posed on the fence again for me.

Willet with its wings up

So the piping plover chicks are running around, so if you go down to view them, be careful, watch your step and do not chase them.

The Piping Plover Collage is available for you to buy.  A limited edition 8.5" x 11" print is $25 (only 25 printed) .  The price includes shipping and handling.  If interested send me your telephone number and I will contact you for payment information.  Never send credit card information by email.




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



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A Day at Gooseberry with My Great-Granddaughter

Standing on the causeway looking for birds

The first weekend of the month I great-granddaughter comes visiting and on Sunday, we took a route to gooseberry hoping to see snowy owls since she does like the larger birds. The causeway was still closed to cars, so we walked out to the island stopping to visualize some of the birds that were in the water. There was still some waves hitting the rock and splashing onto the causeway and I bet it was really great during the storm.

Female common goldeneye

Common loon

The family looking and photographing

We walked up the west side of the beach toward the towers. My great-granddaughter found a crab claw and remembered what it was called from a beach ramble we had taken her on during the summer. Abby is a water bug and had to stand in the surf and then after that decided she needed a play in the sand and the snow.

Abby playing in the snow and dirt

Abby checking out the surf

Abby on the beach

We reached the beach below the towers and still no signs of a snowy owl. The rocks were covered with sea ice in the waves was still splashing above them.

Waves crashing on the rocks

Sea ice on the rocks

Walking up to the towers, we decided to photograph to the graffiti.

Graffiti on the tower

Graffiti on the tower

Graffiti on the tower

Then my great-granddaughter photographed her father sitting on the steps. She even without asking posed her father and told him what she wanted him to do. She then took pictures, utilizing good technique and rear button focusing.

Abby posing her father

Abby photographing her father

Abby photographing her father

Abby's picture of her father

Abby's picture of her father

Add captionAbby's picture of her father

As it was starting to drizzle we then called it quits and slowly walked back down the island and across the causeway, with everybody having a good time. Taking children out to enjoy and learn about the natural world around us is better for them than sitting in front of the television or playing video games.

Thistle in the snow

Snow, rocks, with patterns

Snow and ice

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Sunrise over Buzzards Bay With the Family

Grandson enjoying the sunrise

Today was the last day that my son and grandson from England would be with me before they left to spend the rest of their vacation here in the states with their mother/grandmother.  We woke up early to travel out to Gooseberry Neck in Westport to enjoy the sunrise over Buzzards Bay.  Those of you have that have been following my blog know that I love photographing the sunrises at Buzzards Bay, but, I really have not photographed many sunrises this summer, basically because the sunrise was extremely early.  I know good photographer should get up the matter what time it is, however, I felt that I would leave the sunrises to the late summer and into winter.
We had a really great sunrise, the colors were spectacular and there was just enough clouds to make it extremely interesting and beautiful.  The family enjoyed it and they even obtained excellent photographs.

For more intimate views of the sunrise, I utilize my Tamron 180 mm macro lens on my crop frame camera.

The rest of the photographs were obtained when a Tamron 28-75 mm f/2.8 lens.  I underexpose the photos in order to increase the saturation of the color.  There was minimal post processing performed.