So this is my first ever blog. My goal with these are to share a more in depth overview of my photography as well as capturing details from trips that my wife and I go on. My overall goal is to try to do these at least once a week so that I can showcase my thoughts, as well as what goes into some of the photos (other than being lucky from time-to-time). I may start to throw in some tips and tricks, as well as different techniques as time goes on. So without further adieu…my first blog post:
With a busy week at work I knew that I wanted to get out and do some shooting over the weekend. So I figured why not take a quick drive up to one of the best locations in the West to see what birds were still there this late into summer. Having gone there in the spring and seeing dozens of different species of birds I figured it would be a worthwhile trip. I opted to just bring along the D7200 and Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 because my main purpose for this outing was birds, even though a wide angle may have worked well for some of the beautiful landscape shots that can be had.
I left first thing in the morning before the sunrise to try and get out there in golden hour with the perfect lighting from the rising sun. This payed off, as I was one of the only other people out there. Immediately after getting there it was clear that there were far fewer birds than what I had seen in the spring. The mosquitoes on the other hand were still out in full force, and if anyone ever decides to take a trip out there, long pants/shirts and bug spray would be a very wise choice. Even though it is a 12mi auto route through the refuge, there are many areas to pull over and get out to watch the birds.
Black Necked Stilt
After seeing about a dozen Ring-Necked Pheasants on the way in (didn’t get a chance to get any shots then) the first big sighting I had was a flock of American Avocet’s down on the mirror-like water. This was an excellent opportunity to get some unique shots of these birds, as well as a wonderful silhouette of a Black Necked Stilt while shooting back into the rising sun. As I was leaving this area I see a large bird flying toward me, couldn’t tell what it was at the time, but turns out it was a Sand Hill Crane (which I had no idea was in Utah). Turned out to be one of my favorite shots from the day with the Wasatch mountain range backdrop.
As I continued along the route, I came across a small group of White Faces Ibis’s fishing for their morning meals. The lighting was great for capturing their beautiful colors as they often just look like a long billed brown bird from a distance.
A few times while driving I would catch an American White Pelican fly by, and every time I was just a hair slow on getting the camera out to capture it. However, I did come across a small group of them swimming on the far end of the refuge. While I watched patiently for one to take flight (being eaten alive my mosquitoes the entire time), they slowly swam around the reeds and out of sight.
American White Pelican
I was hoping to see a Great Blue Heron, and hadn’t seen one even though I was already 3/4 of the way through, when I finally noticed one walking down the bank, for being such a large bird they do an extraordinary job of hiding and blending in with their surroundings.
Great Blue Heron
You know how I mentioned seeing all the pheasants in the beginning. Well, throughout the drive I happened to see numerous, but as soon as they saw me coming they would disappear into the brush. I finally managed to capture one that was walking along the road.
Ring Neck Pheasant
I finished the route and was heading back to the interstate to head over to the Huntsville area to see if you could find any hawks or kestrel which I have had luck with in the past (ended up being a bust, with none to be found). I had stopped to capture a GBH on a log overlooking the river when an older gentleman stopped and said that there was a pelican just further up to road. So I jumped in the truck and went down another 1/2 a mile an found this lone Brown Pelican. When I pulled up, it kept diving into the water, catching fish (of course it stopped when I got there). But, I was able to capture this great sequence of it taking flight, which will never cease to amaze me how these big animals can take to the air with such ease. And that was my weekend photo adventure. Thank you for taking the time to read and if you have any questions about anything feel free to comment and let me know.
