Backyard shots

last week I was in the florida keys for vacation. It was a bird haven, I got 53 shots that are up to a good standard for me and will take a few posts. This post is a catch up from shots I got at my feeder a fews ago. I really like the sapsucker.

some new shots

We finally have off of school this week and I am taking advantage of it. I got lifer red header woodpecker this week, but no shot due to stupidity difficulties. I got my favorite duck in flight the other day. The common goldeneye is hands down one of my favorite ducks. They are so skittish and hard to photograph around here. The other day I was down at the river and I heard this noise looked up and a male and female came whizzing by. I thought i missed them, but they turned back!!! It was cloudy and I had my camera set to AV thinking the camera might be smart, no it shot at 1/4000 of a second. I dont understand why, but weirdly the shots came out alright. Also Im posting some kinfisher shots I got a week ago. They are another tricky bird to get a picture of. Yesterday I got one of my favorite shots I have ever taken. A sapsucker came to my feeder and landed on the tree to pose for me. I had been waiting on my porch for this, and got one shot. Thatll be next post :)

duckkkks

I have been enjoying shooting(photographing) ducks this winter. Bufflehead ducks are every where but I have yet to get a good picture, up to my standard. I found a redhead duck which is pretty rare around where I live. I really want to get a shot of a Pintail duck, which has been hanging around at the same park. Last weekend I went to point lookout in Long island and got lifer Harlequin and black scoters, great looking ducks. I want to go to Barnegat lighthouse, which is famous for its Harlequin ducks. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

400mm fun!!!

Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack in posting. School had been rediculously hard this year. I did get my 400mm though and use it as much as possible. The weather has been great the weekends when I have to to shoot but I have gotten some nice pictures. I got good pictures of red tail, red shoulder hawk, and redhead ducks. I guess its a red thing? Well I will start off with the red tail. Two days after i got my lens, I went to the local croton point park, where I had a close encounter with a red tail last year. Well Again I had a good encounter. I think he likes me :) I still wasnt used to the 400mm but I was getting better holding it, and focusing. well I got so close to this hawk which was sitting on a pole in the field. I litterally had to move back to get the whole hawk in the frame. Here are some shots!!! Can you see the difference in these pictures compared to my old ones, because of the new crazy expensive lens?

Countdown begins!!!!

This is probably the most exciting post I have made so far.In my recent posts I have talked a bunch about wanting a 400mm f5.6 canon lens. Well Bird-Boy has made a financial plan and is a week away from shootting with a 400mm lens. Hopefully my picture level will increase and I will get some awesome results. I will treat it like a baby.My friend let me use his 400mm f5.6 on my body and it worked awesome:pictures below.

Wish me Luck!

Long--Tailed Duck !!!!!!!!!

The feeling is great when you find a rare bird. I went to croton point park and got this magnificent duck. They are mainly found in salt water, but this guy prefers brackish water. Everything played out perfectly. Its a male which is a big plus, and it was close. Most ducks are boring but these and harlequin ducks are my favorite. It was fun watching my dive and swim under water. And again with a converter or 400mm i would have had this duck at the perfect distance.

here is the duck submerging

Here you can see him underwater...kinda :)

Green Heron

This summer I took a trip to ocean side marine park. It is pretty much a heron heaven. There are numerous black crowned night herons, green herons, and yellow crowned night herons. I got pictures of all three. The immature black crowned herons are ugly. I got some awesome flight shots of them but they are hideous haha. The green herons are good looking birds. I am thinking of upgrading my camera setup, to maybe a 400mm lens. These shots are taken with canon xsi and 300mm.