"On The Waterfront" - Part 2

ooo, i want a yellow birdie like that.

Beautiful shots of the Orioles and Warbler Linth!

Wonderful pictures!

Thank you ....... here's a few 'Great Egret' in-flight photos taken in a local wetlands.

Another Great Egret flight photo .........

And another ........

So graceful .......

Last 'Great Egret' photo for now ........

Beautiful shots Linth!

Well, I was going to allow this thread to disappear into the Dave's Garden archives but will resurrect it one more time. I've got a couple of recent Osprey flight shots to share with you. We have lots of Osprey in the area.

Osprey #2 .....

Sorry for the duplication ......

Osprey #3 .....

Osprey #4 .......

Osprey #5 .......

A Black-crowned Night Heron ..........

A 'Glossy Ibis' ...........

Here's 2 Adult Little Blue Herons, 1 juvenile Little Blue Heron (far right), a Snowy Egret and a large turtle. There was actually another juvenile Little Blue Heron sitting on the far left post.

Linth, all the birds are wonderful, but the Osprey shots are absolutely fantastic. What distance were you from them and what lens did you use?

Hi Margaret, these were taken at 500mm. I had a 1.4x teleconverter on which gave me 700mm but I was too close for that focal length. I had difficulty getting the full Osprey in the photo so I took the teleconverter off. I'm going to guess that the distance was 100 to 150 feet (30 to 45 meters). They were rather easy shots but I am still learning the use of exposure compensation in certain circumstances especially shooting into the sky. These photos were all taken within 30 minutes of each other but the sky can change dramatically in that time frame.

quite incredible, they look like they are on top of you.

Thanks, Linth. They really are something else. (Green with envy)

Wow every photo good enough to frame , linthicum your photo's are fantastic, thankyou for sharing!

Excellent shots Linth!

Wonderful photos! Thanks for resurrecting the thread!!!

I am glad you resurrected this thread and added these fabulous shots! They are just beautiful and the Osprey are fabulous...I have talent envy!!

After a short hiatus, I thought I would revive this thread once again. Last weekend, I went to Bombay Hook to look for the American Avocet and to watch the Greater Snow Geese. The weather was not very good. Earlier in the year, I found myself fascinated with searching for tagged Snow Geese among the thousands around me and then research where they were tagged. It seems that most of them come from the same general area north of Quebec, Canada.

The masses haven't arrived yet. The Greater Snow Goose population has grown considerably and efforts are underway to reduce the overall population. Looking through my photos from last Sunday, I only found one goose with a neck collar - RM59.

I reported the sighting and immediately found out that it was an adult female that was tagged on Bylot Island in August, 2009. Bylot Island lies off the northern end of Baffin Island in Nunavut Territory, Canada, about 2,300 miles from where I sighted it. Bylot Island is one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world but serves as a breeding grounds for up to 80,000 Snow Geese.

Here is an in-flight, not so good, photo of RM59.

And, here is the American Avocet in non-breeding plumage. I was hoping for a little more color (breeding plumage) but it was not meant to be. There was a flock of about 40 foraging for food.

A few of the recent Snow Goose arrivals ....

Here is a Great Blue Heron poking his head above the water plants.

Beautiful photos Linth. That tagged goose is sure easy to spot. That Avocet is really interesting too. Nice shot of the flying flock of geese and the heron.

Here is another photo of RM59.

This is a link to the website where I report them and simultaneously get feedback on the respective Snow Goose.

http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/gon-gsg/en_description.htm

Nice! I would love to see both of those.

Thanks duc and pelle.

pelle, the distance to Bombay Hook is about the same as it is for you to go to Cape May. You should definitely make a trip down there sometime this Fall or Winter. The reason I went there last Sunday, as I mentioned, was for the American Avocet. I had read somewhere that October was the best month to see them. Of course, the Snow Geese will be there from now until late February, early March. There were quite a few ducks there also but were out of my camera range. Do you have a spotting scope ? They have a number of trails but I primarily just drive the wildlife loop.

The following link provides some of the most recent sightings ....

http://www.friendsofbombayhook.org/birding.html

Here is a photo of a Northern Harrier taken at Bombay Hook. I sure wish the sun had been out last Sunday because the sun would have been shining right on him. Their owl-looking face fascinates me.

This is what they really look like. I took this photo about two years ago at Blackwater NWR, at 700mm.

Linth, I'm so happy that you've revived it. Wonderful new photos. I've gone through the entire thread again and enjoyed them just as much as the first time.

Thanks, Margaret.

You all call it !!! Heads or Tails ???

A Double-crested Cormorant flipping an eel into the air to get a better grasp. The Eel would wrap himself around the Cormorant's beak which made it difficult for the Cormorant to swallow it. What I found interesting was that the Cormorant would sometimes go under water with the eel. Certainly he couldn't drown it. I assume there was less resistance from the eel when they were under water.

A Great Blue Heron .........

Another Double-crested Cormorant ...... this time with a fish, attempting to get away from another Cormorant.