The Buzzards are Watching - May 19 2012

On May 19th, the Bullfrogs rule the wetlands.

A Great Blue Heron glides through the air looking for a fishing spot far from my lens.

Shoots and Leaves have appeared everywhere.

Yellow spring flowers have opened.

The Red winged Blackbirds are calling potential mates.

Several Turkey Vultures watch me as I stand very still and photograph the wetlands.  I try to look very healthy and alive.   I wish that they would look somewhere else.

The Raccoons are Back . May 10 2012

I've seen evidence of raccoons on my previous visits this year.  Today I photographed the real thing.  This raccoon was up in a Mulberry tree feasting on berries. 

When he noticed me, he hid behind some branches to take a better look.  He didn't like what he saw so he immediately climbed down the back side of the tree and disappeared into the woods.

This Cat bird is enjoying mulberries as well.

A tiny butterfly flies among the tiny white flowers.

A male Orchard Oriole is looking for a lady.

The Best Lens for the Job

This afternoon,I borrowed my wife's Mothers Day orchids for a quick available light photo session.  To make things more interesting, I decided to use several different focal lengths and then compare the results.

I started out with a 135mm lens.

 My second lens was a 200mm.

Finally I moved to a 400mm lens. 

 

 

While each lens performed well, I found that the 400mm produced results I liked the best.  It wasn't the easiest to use - I had to move to the other side of the room to focus and the angle of my shots was more limited.

New Faces in the Fontenelle Forest Wetlands May 8 2012

I visited the Fontenelle Forest wetlands late this afternoon.  As they recover from the flood and food becomes available, the mammals are slowly returning.  I saw a large racoons and a deer, neither stayed around for a photograph.

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This Baltimore Oriole was attracted the the water.  He has been trying to get his feathers back in place but isn't quite there yet.

The birds were attracted to ripe mulberries.  The mulberry trees had plenty of leaves and branches.  This Red-breasted Grosbeak was the best I could do under those conditions.

This Scarlet Tanager will never win any photo contest but it is the first one I've photographed in hundreds of visits.

I finally found a warbler - this Common Yellow-throat.  I heard others. 

This Northern Water-thrush flew into the trees when I approached.

The Lesser Yellow-legs continues to hunt for  bugs.

The Cedar Waxwings flocked in, ate mulberries and flocked out.

A Perfect Spring Morning

I spent several wonderful hours in the Fontenelle Forest wetlands on the morning of May 5th.  The temperature was perfect.  The mosquitoes were manageable.  It had rained recently but the trails were not too muddy.  Best of all, I nearly had the place to myself for several hours.

My strategy is to try to spot wildlife before it notices me as I walk the trail.  Nearby areas are hunted nearly year round so many species have a reason to remain wary.  I'm interested in shots that show how wildlife interacts with each other and their environment  I could rush down the trails.  I would see many more species that way.  I would also miss many changes to make quality  photographs.

This Song Sparrow posed for a couple of seconds.

Catbirds have returned.

A solitary Great Egret surveyed the pond.

The Great Egret decided it was safe enough to fish nearby.  It is extremely difficult to get this close to an Egret in Nebraska.  I knew my time with it was limited.  The next person walking down the trail would only see it's tail as it flew off.

Fishing was good today.

A Little Blue Heron noticed the Great Egret and decided this was a safe place to fish.  This is the first Little Blue Heron I've ever seen in the ten years I have been photographing the Fontenelle Forest wetlands.  I've mentioned Nature Search before - It is an extremely useful site that shows every type of plant and animal ever photographed in Fontenelle Forest.  This Little Blue Heron will be added to the site. 

I saw quite a few Baltimore Orioles.  Except for this female, they were too interested in attracting the opposite sex to than to pose for a photograph.  

Bullfrogs  lined the stream.  I expected this guy to make a snack out of the water strider.  He didn't.  My depth of field wasn't sufficient to focus on the frog and insect at the same time.  I quickly made one shot and then refocused for the next.  The two images were merged in Photo Shop.

A Lesser Yellowlegs strolled along the side of the stream eating insects.  

A couple of painted turtles sunned themselves.

The Curse of the Super Moon

Today was the day of the "Super Moon".  It is blamed for higher tides, earthquakes and other disasters.

I don't believe in the curse of the Super Moon.

The Moon's distance varies each monh between approximately 357,000 kilometers (222,000 mi) and 406,000 km (252,000 mi) due to its elliptical orbit.


The size and brightness of an object follows an inverse-square law, which means that a full moon at perigee is 12% larger and brighter than an average full moon. However, because the offset of the moon's orbit versus its phases is only two days, this change in appearance is gradual from month to month and therefore is not usually noticeable to a casual observer.

The full moon is actually difficult to photograph well.  At other times, the sunlight hits the moon at an angle and the craters make sharp shadows.  Without the shadows, the moon lacks depth and detail.

I took photos with a 1.4x extender and a 2x extender.  There was enough haze in the air that the extra magnification didn't increase the resolution.  

Shortly after this photo was taken, we enjoyed a severe thunderstorm.  We lost power for several hours.  My son's girlfriend was struck by a hit and run driver.  A racoon destroyed my hummingbird feeder. Perhaps the super moon does come with a bit of a curse after all.

In Search of Warblers

Warblers are especially difficult to photograph well.  They are tiny so a powerful lens is required.  They usually are in constant motion.  By the time I find them and begin to focus, they have moved to another location.  Many varieties spend a couple of days in Fontenelle Forest before moving north. The sounds of spring filled the wetlands.  I expected a chance to photograph warblers but I struck out.  I did hear warblers behind some of the thick leaves.  

Warblers aside, it was a great day for nature photography!

Dozens of Great American Bullfrogs sat in shallow water.

A Great Egret patiently fished.

A Brown Thrasher searched for insects among the leaves and mud.

Fungi growing in the moist soil.

An Eastern Phoebe rested on a twig.