Hi all! Today’s post will feature some of my shots taken on May 25. It’s a special day for me as this is the first time I’ve taken my new Canon 7D out for an actual wildlife shoot. You may recall that this camera was a prize for taking first place in the Adoramapix.com 1st Annual “Your Best Shot” Photo Contest. Here’s the shot that won. I sold my other 7D body to my daughter, who is fabulous at taking portraits of families, adults, and children. Please check out her work at KimberlyOrthPhotography.com. She’ll be using my ‘old’ 7D as a backup camera.
On to some of the shots I took at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Washington state. Five of these shots you may have already seen in a special blog post I did a few weeks ago but I’m including them again here to keep this posting intact. First up is an American Bittern catching a morning snack at a low-light time of the morning, requiring me to use full flash to catch the action. Another one of those, “flash shot is better than no shot at all,” images. (6:15 a.m.)
[Reminder: Please click on the thumbnails below for a more detailed, large view]
Still under fairly dark conditions, as the sun was beginning to peak up over the ridge, I spotted this Common Yellowthroat in some greenery around post #4. (6:22)
Around to between posts #11 & 12, this lone male Yellow-headed Blackbird has no problem posing. On a trip I made subsequent to this (in July), I spotted at least two juvenile Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the same area. So this fellow is a proud dad now! I never did see the female bird in the area. (6:57)
Located in the canal between posts #12 & 13, is a common bird for Ridgefield, a Cinnamon Teal. I might not have even stopped to take this shot except that the green reflection on the water really made this duck pop. (7:02)
Here’s a video of this Teal paddling over to be with his girl.
Here are another couple of shots of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. When a bird lets me get so close, I just have to shoot more shots. Very hard to pass up opportunities like this.
A shot of the back tail and back feathers fluffed up by the wind. (8:11)
I’m between posts #6 & 7 now and there’s a Great Blue Heron hunting in the shallow water off to my left. I didn’t get him capturing any treats but he did lift his right leg to scratch his head. (9:25)
I named this one, “Waving Goodbye.”
And this one, “This is Where I Put My Foot Down!”
I drive over to the Ash tree forest between posts #9&10, and spot, across the water, what is most likely the father of the two new fledged Great Horned Owlets. (9:43)
And speaking of the fledged Great Horned Owlets, here is one of them. (9:55)
I have three short videos of the fledged Great Horned Owlets below. A couple of real cuties!
At the south end of Rest Lake between posts #11&12, I spot a lone Ring-necked Duck in a tricky light situation. He’s got his eye on me! (10:09)
And lastly, I stop to view the Bald Eagles’ nest and take a few long range (over 400 feet away) documentary (i.e., ‘lousy’) shots showing one of the eaglets. (12:21 p.m.)
It had just finished stretching his/her massive wings right before this shot.
Here he/she is calling out for mom to bring some grub.
That about does it for today’s shots. My next post will have some shots from a stroll through the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge in Sherwood, Oregon. Until then, take care!
Well, I’d say the new 7D is working great for you, Papa! I know your “old” one is sure working for me! Used it a few times already! 😉 You got some really cool shots on this day…love the new yellowthroat pics! It’s also cool to see the yellow-headed blackbirds again too! BTW, thank you for the nice compliment and website plug too…I really appreciate it! <3