Big Birds at Lake Wilhelm, near Greenville, PA

No matter where you go on this lake, you see big birds - Heron, Osprey, Eagles.  I had a guide today, and our group got some really incredible shots.

Theres some Bald Eagles.....  Was never able to get them in flight like this, even though they were a bit far, I was able to crop and still get decent detail.

A few Osprey.

I'll finish off today with a couple of heron.  These were a good distance, so not a lot of fine detail, but theyre so cool looking in flight....

Blue Heron

I imaged a Blue Heron today at the Mill Creek Park Lily Pond.  Was with a group of other photographers imaging wildlife when one of them spotted this heron.  I have photographed heron before at this location, but I haven't seen one there in awhile.  Here are the pictures.

Heron Close Up

I was probably 10 feet away from the heron when I took this picture.  This fellow sure wasn't shy.

Landing on a Turtle Covered Log

He kicked the turtles off the log....

On the Floating Log

He flew out to this log in the center of the pond after being chased off the shore by some overzealous photographer.  (I wont mention WHO that photographer was).....

Wildflowers

Imaged some spring wildflowers today.  I should actually start a separate blog just on wildflowers.  They're fun to take pictures of, as many are quite small.  Because of that, and the fact that I'm out of practice taking macro shots, some are better than others.  I'm going to post an image of each variety that I imaged today....This is going to be a long post.

Halbred Leaf Violet

Harbinger of Spring

Marsh Marigold

Periwinkle

Round Lobed Hepatica

Spring Beauty

Trout Lily

Virginia Bluebells

So I imaged eight varieties of wildflower today.  These are quite remarkable.  Most are quite small, and are easily missed by most when they walk in the woods, but if one were to examine them closer, you will see that there is some real beauty on the forest floor.

Hairy Woodpecker

At first I thought this was a Downy Woodpecker, but according to the Audobon Society, this fellow is larger.  The Downy Woodpecker is "sparrow sized", whereas this fellow is "Robin sized".  This is definitely the larger variety.  Photos include 2 birds, a male and a female.  The male has the red splotch on its head, the female does not.

Oh Deer!

I know, I havent posted in a long time.  I hope to change that as I've been shooting some pictures down at the park lately.  Being the middle of winter, the birds are relatively few, but there is other wildlife worthy of good photography.

Take these deer for example.

Redbank Creek, New Bethlehem PA panarama

My first successful panaramic image.  Total of 5 pictures stitched together.

Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is the most common visitor to my feeder, there are times that a dozen will congregate in the area.  The biggest difference between this sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow  is the top of its head is brown. 

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

This is one of 2 sparrow species that live near my feeder.  The birds almost look the same as a Song Sparrow, which I will post next.  The body shape and coloring are almost the same, and the most visible difference between the two is the reddish patch on top of its head.

Chipping Sparrow

This is the Chipping Sparrow perched on a small branch in a tree that is right next to the feeder.

Chipping Sparrow feeding

 From this angle, it is very difficult to tell this bird apart from a Song Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse

A frequent visitor to my backyard feeder is the Tufted Titmouse.  A small bird, 5 inches long, and rather attracted bird.  I have a number of pictures, but I'll post this one here, and will most likely post more of this bird as time goes on.

Tufted Titmouse

Red Headed Woodpecker

This one almost got away.  Everytime I would try to approach, even from a distance of about 100 feet, it would fly away.  Finally captured it, but the pictures are not real good.  I spotted this while leaving the park at the end of my session.

Red Headed Woodpecker

Red Headed Woodpecker

I'm sure I'll be able to get better pictures of this bird this summer.  I had a good day overall, imaging 3 species of bird and one butterfly at the park.

Variegated Fritillary (Butterfly)

My first post that is not a bird!  This butterfly was found fluttering around the grass near the Lake Newport wetlands.  I imaged this butterfly just after the Tree Swallow.

Variegated Fritillary

Apparently this is a relatively common butterfly in this part of the country.  The wingspan is just under 2 inches.

Tree Swallow

Fast moving, small birds are always a challenge to photograph.  Such is the Tree Swallow.  These birds are only about 6 inches long and are very quick to maneuver.  I have 4 decent pictures - all are with the birds in flight.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow.  Colors are slightly more visible in this image.

Tree Swallow.  Dark back, white belly.

These pictures were taken at the Lake Newport Wetlands in Mill Creek Park.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Went to Mill Creek Park again today in search of some new birds.  We had a very productive day.  When it was in the tree, I thought it was some variety of woodpecker (which I suppose technically, it is), but when I enlarged and processed the pictures, I discovered it was a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.  This is a male specimen.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Sapsucker looking straight at the camera

I find that the woodpecker family to be a very attractive bird.  Unfortunately, this is the only angle that I could shoot of this bird, the tail is hidden by the tree.  I found this bird along the road near the "Lily Pond".

Blue Heron

While I was taking pictures of the Bald Eagle (see link up top), there was a Blue Heron circling the Eagle's nest.  The first photo is that Heron.

Blue Heron in flight

It eventually left the area, and it did not bother the Eagles.

Last summer, I also took a couple of pictures of a Blue Heron in Mill Creek Park, one of my favorite places to go to take pictures of various waterfowl and wildlife.  This bird just caught lunch.

Blue Heron with a fish

Turkey Vulture

Went to Beaver Creek State Park yesterday afternoon.  This is a large park in Columbiana County, Ohio, just north of East Liverpool.  It is supposed to be a good birding park, but the weather was heavily overcast and besides a couple of robins and Canada geese, I didnt see much.  It does look like a good place to take a camera this summer.

There were a few turkey buzzards circling overhead, and I was able to capture one.  I did some processing on this picture - I used levels and curves on the bird to brighten it up somewhat, as it was just a black silhouette against the plain white sky.  Also dropped the brightness of the sky to get some detail on the cloud cover.

American Robin

I'm sure everyone has seen the common variety American Robin.

American Robin

These are everywhere, in the United States, for the most part.  Not really exciting, except I was able to capture one in full flight.  I was actually unable to identify this bird right away.  I had to get help from the local Audubon Society, believe it or not, because it is not a common pose for a Robin.

American Robin in Full Flight

I was at a city park when I took this image.  I am learning the art of "panning", as I am still new at this.  However, this was a really lucky shot.  This bird was MOVING!  Being it was a robin, it was quite close, and I'm surprised the bird is not blurred.

The sound this bird makes is here.

Northern Cardinal

The Cardinal.  Quite common bird, and is in fact Ohio's state bird.  I have 2 families of Cardinals that live in a couple of pine trees in my backyard and are frequent visitors to the feeder.

The male is colorful.  The female less so, and is a brownish color.  The beaks are roughly the same color and so is their general body shape.

They are quite squeamish, so I had to be careful when I photographed these as they would tend to fly off with the slightest movement.

The sound this bird makes is here.