Black Skimmers in NY and NJ 2016.
I enjoy watching and shooting the Black Skimmers. They are usually a mix of adults and immature birds - when I see them both in New York and New Jersey.
They will let me get pretty close, but often will also seemingly fly off for no reason. But usually it is a jogger, a person with a dog, or a predator flying by (like a peregrine, which I have seen buzz them at Cape May).
Some times when they take off they will fly around and fly off and land a half mile or more down the beach. Other times they will land right near where they took off from. For this reason I usually give it a few minutes and stay where I was shooting from without moving or getting up. This has occasionally worked, and they have landed right back in front of me.
I find that cool. And even cooler is when the birds approach me. Sometimes this has been due to other people approaching them from another side/area, and it has also been when they have the water/surf on one side of them and me on the other. When they run away from the surf and towards me, to a safer location, I find that to be a sign that I am there and not bothering them and they are comfortable with me shooting them.
It is also interesting to see them as they move this way and that way, and how often there will be an immature bird that must be tired and it is either sleeping and not moving or it is just slower to respond and follow the movements of the flock.
The really do behave like one bird, all in sync, when it comes to responding to perceived danger. If they think there's something bad about to happen they will all fly off together in a moment. Only once or twice have I seen them leave a bird behind, and that bird has always been injured or weak. To survive they've got to be able to go with the flock when danger approaches...
D500 w/ 600mm f/11 1/1600th
Nickerson Beach, NY
D810 600mm f/5.6 1/500th
Cape May, NJ
D500 w/ 600mm f/5.6 1/800th
Cape May, NJ
Happy New Year.
-Jon
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Friday, December 30, 2016
Black Skimmers in NY and NJ - 2016
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Location, Location, Location - Osprey @ Belle Haven Marina
So much of what I see and photograph is made possible by location. This spot at the marina, brought to my attention by Kim, is a great example of location at work.
In the second half of the day, the sun gets lower and is to the west (duh) while the action is to the east. This creates a very predictable good setup for light.
Another thing the location has going for it is that the osprey nest is in a fairly high traffic part of the Potomac river. There's a boat launch, and docks right near the nest. This gets the birds more accustomed to people and tolerant of them. Another good example of this is with the Hawks I've photographed at the national zoo, as well as the Black-Crowned Night Herons there too.
From the animal's perspective in all those cases, they see tens or hundreds of people on a given day.
Comparing that to a animal or bird, that might see one or two people a day (or none) the odds of getting a good encounter are much much lower with the isolated subject.
Part of why I wrote the above was to encourage other people to keep venturing out to new and different locations in search of better encounters and photos. Flickr has a been a great resource for me when it comes to discovering locations, most places I go are a result of flickr searches, contacts, etc.
Above cropped for effect, I had the entire bird in frame, and select sharpening was used (ie only the bird part of the photo was sharpened, not the sky). Taken with D300 and 80-400mm VR f/4.5-6.5.
I've been happy with the 80-400mmVR lens, but I want more. Kim has gotten me jealous of her gear, but I don't think I will be happy with a huge lens that requires a tripod. So, I think I might be looking in to the 200-400mm f/4 Nikkor lens. The only person I know on flickr that uses this 200-400mm lens if Michel and his work is amazing, inspires me, etc. If you're not familiar with his photos, start by checking out his girl friend.
Here are some photos and videos from Belle Haven Marina.
-Jon
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Sunday, June 8, 2008
Take Your Photos When You Get The Chances
This Winter and Spring I've come to realize that certain encounters are extra special, and fleeting.
I never expected this Winter and Spring to be largely about Foxes for me. Bombay Hook and Blackwater Refuges made it possible, I got to see and photograph Red Foxes (adults and kits) on quite a few occasions.
Some regular spottings of adult foxes at Bombay Hook in January and February led to kits first at Blackwater NWR Maryland, and then kits in Delaware. While these were all new experiences for me, and some great chances to get some images like I'd never done before, the circumstances changed just as quickly. Within about a week of my personally finding out about the kits, they'd been moved (both sets). I fully suspect that the results of people finding them was the cause of the moving (kits to new den). At two dens this action took about 8 days to complete. From accounts I heard from a few fellow photographers at each location, the momma moved the kits over a couple or few days, i.e. not moving them all at once.
Blackwater
Bombay Hook
-Jon
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