Continuing now with some more wildlife shots taken at Ridgefield on Sep. 9, 2013. Had a decent day as far as variety goes but no lifers. I took some shots with the 500 alone and some shots coupled with the 1.4x III extender.
Let’s start off with a Great Egret that just seemed to appear up over my vehicle. I grabbed the camera, pointed out the window and fired away. Canon 5DM3, 1/1000, f4, ISO 2000, 500mm. (8:19 a.m.)
[Please click once on the thumbnails to view a more detailed image of these shots].
About 5 minutes later I came across 3 Northern Harriers in the air. I was hoping they would come closer but no luck. This is a lovely bird but not as crisp as I would like. Canon 5DM3, 1/1000, f4, ISO 2000, 500mm. (8:24)
After circling the 4-mile loop once, I decided to stop for a few minutes at marker #2 near the area where many snags come up from the water. There were a couple of Great Egrets waaayyy out there wading in the water and hunting. Suddenly, a couple of them decided to fly in closer to the road. Here are some egret shots as they arrived. Canon 5DM3, 1/1600, f4, ISO 1600, 500mm. (8:49)
On this shot, I used about 10 different filters in Nik Color Efex Pro 4 in an attempt to give the shot a swamp feel. Canon 5DM3, 1/1600, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm. (8:58)
Here’s a Pied-billed Grebe also near the marker #2 area. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1200, 500mm. (9:00)
I spotted this frog jump up onto this log. I waited to see if he would jump again–would have loved to have gotten him ‘in flight!’ A pretty heavy crop here.. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm. (9:02)
I head on down the road and get to marker #4 at the corner. I start rounding the corner and notice 3 Black-tailed Deer just at the side of the road. The doe was a few feet into the long grass on the left but the fawns were right at the road’s edge. I got my camera and started shooting away at the fawns. As the camera clicked, they moved closer to me in what seemed to be a curious nature. They got to within about 15 feet when their mom gave them the danger sign and they took off toward her. Here are some shots of the fawns. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm. (9:07)
I made it around to marker #11 again, and just past the marker I see a lone Greater Yellowlegs out in the shallow water. Here are a couple of shots. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1000, 500mm. (9:39)
As I drove by the photo blind parking lot there’s an American Goldfinch perched nicely. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1000, 500mm. (10:23)
And only a few hundred feet down the road from there was a European Starling near some berries. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1000, 500mm. (10:25)
And across the road to my left, a Song Sparrow was sitting on the gate. Canon 5DM3, 1/1250, f4, ISO 1000, 500mm. (10:27)
The weather began to brighten up a bit so I decided to put on the 1.4x, giving me 700mm. Between markers #2 and 3, the slough on the right was the location of a few River Otters. They were fast movers and the tall grass near the road’s edge seemed to block my every attempt at a shot. Here’s the only shot worth sharing. This otter got him/herself frog soup for brunch. Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 1000, 700mm. (11:07)
This next shot was kind of a test shot to see how the 500 + the 1.4x could do on a stationary subject. I think I still have room to improve my technique with the 500 but the details aren’t bad in this image at 700mm. Canon 5DM3, 1/1600, f7.1, ISO 800, 700mm. (12:15 p.m.)
The Greater Yellowlegs is still foraging around past marker #11 on the left, but now there is some blue sky which can give a better look to water shots. Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 800, 700mm. (1:19)
And a close up of this bird. Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 800, 700mm. (1:20)
All the way across the water, I spotted a raccoon at water’s edge. When it spotted me and saw I was stopping, it started walking into the tall grass and away from me down the shoreline. Pretty soon it poked its head out and I got this shot. Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 800, 700mm. (1:29)
When the ‘coon started walking again, I noticed that its tail had been clipped. Here’s a shot as it is walking and keeping a close eye on me. I thought I’d change it up a little on this one and process it in b&w.
Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 800, 700mm. (1:33)
So I’m heading back to the parking lot to pack it in for the day when a Great Blue Heron makes a close fly-by just out the window of my truck. I got only 3 frames off–this shot being the best. The image originally had the toes clipped off at the right so I added (in Photoshop) some blue sky canvas there and copied a toe onto this image from one of the other shots. Canon 5DM3, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 800, 700mm. (1:45)
That’ll about do it for this episode of The Blog. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my images. Take care!