Post by Gord on Apr 14, 2008 22:14:48 GMT -8
Spent a brief but enjoyable 45 minutes in the backyard with the kids. I had the camera handy and it got plenty of use.
First though, on the way home just down the road a field was getting plowed. There were a couple thousand Mew Gulls and a few California, Ring-billed and Glaucous-winged Gulls chasing after the tractor and eating the worms it uncovered. I scanned the flock quickly for something neat, like a Franklin's Gull but no luck.
Among the huge flock I found what looks like that same Mew Gull I saw last month and could be the same one Stan saw earlier in the winter in Abbotsford. Amazing to find the same bird (if it is indeed the same!)
A Red-tailed Hawk, hovering over a field, got me excited thinking it was a Rough-legged Hawk. Nope, just a Red-tail doing something Rough-leggeds are more known for.
As I pulled into the driveway a male Yellow-rumped Warbler, perched on the edge of the roof, greeted me. I was slow with the camera and missed a shot. However, I went around the side to find four other Yellow-rumped Warblers, all males, feeding in the walnut tree. One was cooperative for some photos in the brief bit of sun before it went behind a cloud.
On my way to the house I finally saw the hummingbird at the feeder. Later that evening while we were having supper we would see a male at the feeder too.
One of the many herons that fly over came by. They're back and forth all day long and are always seen in the surrounding fields.
Then, when the farmer stopped plowing, the gulls started to move from the previous field they were feeding in past and over the house. I enjoyed snapping away at them as they went over. When the sun went behind clouds, I played with some silhouette shots but didnt get too much that I liked from that experiment.
Also, a California Gull went over, enjoying my airspace (the easiest habitat to maintain!) ;D for a new yard species to join the Yellow-rumps earlier.
The moon was up and of course I tried to bring it into a photo. One gull flew by but I missed on the focus.
Then, I heard Yellow-rumps flying in towards the yard again. I followed one and when I took a photo, miraculously, the moon was in the frame! Sadly, both moon and bird were out of focus. I dont think I could have had enough depth of field to bring a tiny warbler 100 feet away AND a moon, quite a bit further away, into focus. I think the subject has to be much larger and further away for that to work (such as swans 500 metres away). Would have been a neat photo if it worked! Im going to share it as out of focus or not, Im willing to submit it's not something Im going to see everyday!
Soon after, it was supper time. Birds we recorded at the yard were:
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk (flew by too quickly)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Great Blue Heron
Common Raven
Northwestern Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
American Pipit (two flying over)
First though, on the way home just down the road a field was getting plowed. There were a couple thousand Mew Gulls and a few California, Ring-billed and Glaucous-winged Gulls chasing after the tractor and eating the worms it uncovered. I scanned the flock quickly for something neat, like a Franklin's Gull but no luck.
Among the huge flock I found what looks like that same Mew Gull I saw last month and could be the same one Stan saw earlier in the winter in Abbotsford. Amazing to find the same bird (if it is indeed the same!)
A Red-tailed Hawk, hovering over a field, got me excited thinking it was a Rough-legged Hawk. Nope, just a Red-tail doing something Rough-leggeds are more known for.
As I pulled into the driveway a male Yellow-rumped Warbler, perched on the edge of the roof, greeted me. I was slow with the camera and missed a shot. However, I went around the side to find four other Yellow-rumped Warblers, all males, feeding in the walnut tree. One was cooperative for some photos in the brief bit of sun before it went behind a cloud.
On my way to the house I finally saw the hummingbird at the feeder. Later that evening while we were having supper we would see a male at the feeder too.
One of the many herons that fly over came by. They're back and forth all day long and are always seen in the surrounding fields.
Then, when the farmer stopped plowing, the gulls started to move from the previous field they were feeding in past and over the house. I enjoyed snapping away at them as they went over. When the sun went behind clouds, I played with some silhouette shots but didnt get too much that I liked from that experiment.
Also, a California Gull went over, enjoying my airspace (the easiest habitat to maintain!) ;D for a new yard species to join the Yellow-rumps earlier.
The moon was up and of course I tried to bring it into a photo. One gull flew by but I missed on the focus.
Then, I heard Yellow-rumps flying in towards the yard again. I followed one and when I took a photo, miraculously, the moon was in the frame! Sadly, both moon and bird were out of focus. I dont think I could have had enough depth of field to bring a tiny warbler 100 feet away AND a moon, quite a bit further away, into focus. I think the subject has to be much larger and further away for that to work (such as swans 500 metres away). Would have been a neat photo if it worked! Im going to share it as out of focus or not, Im willing to submit it's not something Im going to see everyday!
Soon after, it was supper time. Birds we recorded at the yard were:
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk (flew by too quickly)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Great Blue Heron
Common Raven
Northwestern Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
American Pipit (two flying over)