“That thing called ‘nature study’, despite the shiver it brings to the spine of the elect, constitutes the first embryonic groping of the mass-mind toward perception.”
-Aldo Leopold-
“Tennessee Warbler – Autumn Migration 2012”
Month: December 2012
The Prairie Plants
“No living man will see again the long-grass prairie, where a sea of prairie flowers lapped at the stirrups of the pioneer. We shall do well to find a forty here and there on which the prairie plants can be kept alive as species. There were a hundred such plants, many of exceptional beauty. Most of them are quite unknown to those who have inherited their domain.”
-Aldo Leopold-
Please here my plea in considering using plant species that were/are native to your geographic area the next time you consider a landscaping project. I have gotten a lot of pleasure from the couple of native wildflower patches I put into my yard. If you are a nature photographer or an appreciator of Nature and all her diversity, this is an excellent way to continue these passions while contributing to the conservation ethic. You may even suggest this to the companies you work for and organizations in which you are involved.
“Autumn Explosion″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, ISO 160, f/16, 0.4 sec
Mondays Are For The Birds – Ruby-crowned Kinglet
“It is fortunate, perhaps, that no matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the woods and meadows, one can never learn all of the salient facts about any one of them.”
-Aldo Leopold-
“Ruby-crowned Kinglet”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/125 sec
Currently I Dream…
“The trophy-recreationist has peculiarities that contribute in subtle ways to his own undoing. To enjoy he must possess, invade, appropriate. Hence the wilderness that he cannot personally see has no value to him. Hence the universal assumption that an unused hinterland is rendering no purpose to society. To those devoid of imagination, a blank space on a map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part. (Is my share in Alaska worthless to me because I will never go there? Do I need a road to show me the arctic prairies, the goose pastures of the Yuckon, the Kodiak bear, the sheep meadows behind McKinley?)”
-Aldo Leopold-
“Currently I Dream…″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 165mm, ISO 100, f/13, 1.3 sec
Northern Invasion!
No, I’m not talking Yankees or those pesky French-Canadians. The invaders I’m speaking about are rare northern birds that are moving further south than usual, including the Ozarks. I’ve been having some fun trying to find these rarities, and some of these we can’t even call rare this winter. During the past month Missouri has had multiple reports of sightings of at least these birds: Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill and Northern Shrike. I have been able to photograph all these with the exception of the WWCB and CORE, but it looks as though I may have ample time to find these species yet.
In the five or six years I have been bird watching I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been able to see a Red-breasted Nuthatch. In the past month or two I’ve literally been able to spot more than 100 of these birds. It has been fun training my ear to discern the differences between the nasal call notes of the WBNH and the more nasal notes of the RBNH. From what I’ve heard and read the irruption southward of this species happens periodically every few years or so.
“Red-breasted Nuthatch”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF500mm f/4.5L USM lens, ISO 640, f/7.1, 1/200 sec
Pine Siskins can also be found over most of Missouri right now. Almost always found in flocks ranging from six to thirty or more birds, these guys typically prefer to forage at the top of branches of seed-bearing trees, like this hemlock. Similar to the RBNH, this species is well known to have irruption years where they plunge southward in great numbers.
“Pine Siskin”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF500mm f/4.5L USM lens, ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec
Not only was this the first photograph of a Red Crossbill I was able to get, but it was a lifer for me as well. This was definitely an unexpected and exciting development in the StL area this year. These guys are feeding mainly on Hemlocks and Sweetgums in selected parks where these trees are found around the metropolitan area. You can just make out the characteristic crossed-bills in this photo, apparent adaptations for better removing seeds from the cones of tree species like hemlocks. Like I mentioned earlier, I have yet to photograph the WWCR, but I did get to see one lone individual briefly.
“Red Crossbill”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF500mm f/4.5L USM lens, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/400 sec
The next and final bird in this post is one of those special and unusual species for my tenure as a birder. The Northern Shrike is apparently much more uncommon in Missouri than the Loggerhead Shrike. I believe this is the forth NOSH I have seen and I have yet to see a LOSH. It seems that the NOSH might find something it likes around the StL area, where they seem to have been spotted more frequently. For any “non-birder” reading this, if you do not know about the Shrikes, look them up now. These birds are too cool for school and I love watching them. Check out this interesting link for more information.
“Northern Shrike”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF500mm f/4.5L USM lens, ISO 640, f/6.3, 1/1000 sec
During my hunt through the fields of this nice little park, located in the western outskirts of the StL metro area, I was stoked to be able to find three short honey-locust trees that this bird was using as food caches. There are several reasons proposed for the uses of these caches, including use as a food reserve, territory marking and attracting mates. All three of these ideas sound like they could be plausible. These birds will use barbed-wire to do this as well, and sometimes small vertebrates such as lizards, small rodents and even smaller song birds can be found stuck on thornes. Not only was I pleased to find these cache’s, but I am really excited about bringing my love for all things Lionel Ritchie, by using this photo’s title… ;=)
“Stuck On You″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, ISO 250, f/11, 1/30 sec
“…Yes I’m on my way, I’m mighty glad you stayed…”
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Did you know…?
The YBSS can be identified from other woodpeckers by their drumming? Sapsuckers have a stuttering, Morse-code like cadence to their drumming. Listen for this the next time you are in the woods.
“Yellow-bellied Sapsucker”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/200 sec
Less Than an Inch of Depth of Field!?!?!?
So I recently acquired a new bird/wildlife lens. I came across an old Canon 500mm f 4.5, non-IS in unbelievable condition for its age and I had to make it mine. This should become my main bird lens, but I have kept the 400mm 5.6 as a backup as well as for use in specific scenarios. I have used the 400 for three or four years and I felt I was just beginning to become proficient with it, just getting to the point where it was comfortable, like an extension of my eye. I understood almost everything about the lens and the laws of optics shooting at this focal length on a 1.6X crop body.
I realized that switching to the 500mm would bring about a lot of change from what I was used to. I knew I would be outside my comfort zone for quite a while, perhaps I would not be able to tap into the full extent of what this new lens would bring for a year or more. I am prepared for this and have made sure my patience account is well funded (especially now since my monetary accounts are not) . So far, in taking the beast out for light duty, I have been relatively pleased by the results I have been able to make. I still have much to learn, however. What are some of the big differences between the 400 and the 500? First and most notably is size and weight. I went from the 400, which weighs about 2.5lbs to the 500 that tops in around 6.5lbs! This is not a negligible difference. The new lens is almost twice the length of the old as well. Also, in my opinion, the laws of optics seem to have changed more than the increase of a mere 20% the corresponding focal length.
Take this image, for example. One expected change with this lens I knew was coming would be for the demand of light. On this day and setting the light was quite lacking. So, I decided to open up the aperture to the full f/4.5. I had already determined that this lens is not like the 400 f/5.6. In the 400, there was no need to stop down to improve sharpness and image quality. I could shoot that forever at f/5.6 and be satisfied I would be getting top IQ. The 500mm is a bit of a different story. So far, it looks like stepping down the aperture will definitely increase sharpness, maxing out around 6.3-7.1. The photos taken below f/6.3 are definitely still usable, but it is not hard to see differences. So, the main point I am attempting to make is that what I did not realize until I got this photo on the computer is that although the bird’s head is reasonably in focus, its feet are not! I estimate that I was about 20″ from the bird. Looking up the DoF on an app, I discovered that the area in focus at this distance while shooting at f/4.5 was less than one inch! Using the 400 “wide open” at f/5.6 at that distance the range was about three inches, likely enough to get this whole subject in sharp focus.
It was never my intent to discuss gear in this blog, but I fealt this transition was something I’d like to record and share with other photographers that might be considering similar choices. This is but one of several examples of differences between these two lenses that I will need to adapt to in order to get the maximum out of each lens. Patience and practice will be needed in ample amounts, and I am definitely looking forward to the challenge. Happy shooting, birding, or whatever is your passion.
“Out of Focus Feet”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF500mm f/4.5L USM lens, ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/250 sec
Look for it…
“All this you surely will see, and much more, if you are prepared to see it, -if you look for it. Otherwise, regular and universal as this phenomenon is, whether you stand on the hill-top or in the hollow, you will think for threescore years and ten that all the wood is, at this season, sear and brown. Objects are concealed from our view, not so much because they are out of the course of our visual ray as because we do not bring our minds and eyes to bear on them; for there is no power to see in the eye itself, any more than in any other jelly. We do not realize how far and widely, or how near and narrowly, we are to look. The greater part of the phenomena of Nature are for this reason concealed from us all our lives.”
-Henry David Thoreau-
“More Painted Leaves″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 75mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/13 sec
Nashville Warbler
This little one was among the thousands of migrating songbirds to make a stop at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis this past autumn. An interesting fact about the Nashville Warbler pulled from iBird: This species sometimes used porcupine quills as nest material.
“Nashville Warbler”
Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/200 sec
Painted Leaves
“October is the month of painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes around the world. As fruit and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight.”
-Henry David Thoreau-
More and more I’m beginning to appreciate HDT’s recurring theme of matching the development and maturity of flowers, fruits and even leaves and shoots of plants together as analogous cycles in nature. This is an idea he writes about in several pieces. In the passage above, he takes it a step further and shows the similarities the course of seasons within the year has with the progression of a single day. Simple, but I like it. The colors and changes so dramatic in spring and fall are like those of sunrise/sunset. The high sun and heat of the day are so like a long, hot temperate summer, while winter is of course equated to night. Of course, this metaphor only makes sense in the temperate zones of our planet, but I like it.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 