I decided to shake things up a little for this blog post and share some shots I took last summer. I had skipped over these to get my blog caught up…and of course, now I’m behind again! Hopefully, these fair weather shots will help warm you up a little as we wait for the spring chilly weather to give way to warmer temperatures. Let’s get started!
These first four shots were taken on Aug. 8, 2012 at the refuge.
I believe this Great Horned Owl was one of the two owlets that were hatched in the wooded area of the auto tour route in spring 2012. I recall this one kept opening its mouth repeatedly as if it were yawning over and over. I thought it was strange behavior.
Near marker #3, this juvenile Virginia Rail was not bothered with me in the least. The sun wasn’t shining from the best direction for a shot but it was fun watching the little one scurrying around for morsels to eat. After a while, I heard a parent Rail call out from the brush nearby and this little one immediately darted into the brush toward the sound.
In the same area where the Virginia Rail youngster was spotted, and at the same time, this Wilson’s Snipe was also busy foraging for food.
Another look at the juvie Virginia Rail.
The remaining shots were taken on Aug. 22, 2012. The first Great Blue Heron is on the ground in some typical habitat. The second shot is a Great Blue Heron perched up in a tree.
A Greater Yellowlegs gives me some poses–the first three shots with cloud cover.
These next two images were taken when the sun popped out.
The bird landing here is a Yellowlegs but the other two birds I am not sure of. Possibly Sandpipers?
A heavy crop…
I could not identify this bird.
And, the Savannah Sparrow, a staple at the refuge during most of the year.
All the above shots were taken with the Canon 7D using the Canon 400mm f5.6L lens.
I’m looking forward to new firmware that is supposed to be released in April 2013, for the Canon 5D Mark III. One of the features of the firmware allows the camera to auto focus with my 1.4x converter attached to the Canon 400mm f5.6L lens (i.e., it will raise the max AF aperture from f5.6 to f8. This could open up more opportunities for me in good light. I’ll keep you posted on this.
Glad you stopped by for this quick look at summer on the refuge. Thanks much for visiting!
Hey, Papa! You sure got a lot of shorebirds that day! Wow! That was a beautiful set. 🙂
BTW, I was looking through my books and the unidentified bird you got looks identical to the image I found of a juvenile (or nonbreeding adult) Greater Yellowlegs. Of course, that could be wrong, but that’s what my best guess is. ~ Kimi
That would make a lot of sense, Kimi! Thanks for checking!