Pic of the Day

   Ruddy Turnstone – Blind Pass; Captiva, Florida: On January 5^th I posted an image of a Snowy Egret that I took using a long lens mouned on a ball head attached to a Frisbee.  I mentioned in the post that I had gotten the idea from a recent book I had read, but could not remember which book at the time of the post.  The book was Captured:  Lessons from Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer, by Moose Peterson.  The book, by the way is well written and worth reading.

   Using the Frisbee mounted ball head I went to Blind Pass on Captiva Island to shoot shorebirds and terns.  The set-up worked well as I crawled across the beach.  The Frisbee allowed me to easily slide the camera forward and backwards as I move over the sand.  As I mentioned in the January 5^th post, the Frisbee is very flexible and has a tendency to cause the camera and lens to awkwardly tilt left, right and forward.  I have since mounted the ball head on a pie pan to see if it will work better than the Frisbee.  Once I have tried the new outfit, I’ll let you know how it works.

   This Ruddy Turnstone was taken with my lens mounted on the ball head/Frisbee combination.  Turnstones were numerous on the beach at Blind Pass and were feeding on Pen Shells that had washed ashore during a recent storm.  The lens mounted on the Frisbee/ball head combination made it easy to slide toward the turnstones as they ran up and down the beach, and backward as the bird ran toward me.  I often found myself backing up rather than moving toward the birds.  It appeared to me that by laying on the beach the turnstones did not see me as a threat, and pretty much ignored me.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, Digital Capture ISO 200, 1/1250^th second @ f10


Note:  To order Captured, by Moose Peterson go to:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321720598/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1579904823&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VG509Z91QAZBP5HT8WY

Pic of the Day

 White Ibis – A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway; Titusville, Florida:  This trip was certainly the year for photographing ibis.  Ibis seemed to be everywhere and were very photographable.  This ibis was photographed on the causeway that leads from Titusville to Cape Canaveral just before entering the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  I stopped along the causeway to photograph gulls, but the sky was overcast and the images looked very dull.  Soon, the sun began to break through the clouds and the birds on the causeway came alive.  All of a sudden, birds began to appear from all directions to feed in the shallows of the Indian River. 
   As I shot images of gulls, an ibis flew onto the scene and began searching for prey.  It was not long until it was pulling horseshoe crabs out of the water.  The antics of the ibis were most interesting. With each catch the ibis would toss the crab into the air, catch it with its beak, then crunch down breaking the crabs shell.   The tossing and crunching continued for about forty-five seconds per crab.  Once broken and cracked to the ibis’ satisfaction, the crab went down its gullet. The gulls that were ever present stayed close to the ibis and continually tried to snatch its catch…..to no avail.

Nikon D300, 500mm f4, Digital Capture ISO 200, 1/2500 sec. @ f6.3

Pic of the Day

Lightning – Fellsmere, Florida: Summertime in Florida means lighting. Rising heat from the day typically forms thunderheads by late evening and rain is usually eminent. I was driving the back roads near Fellsmere, Florida when I notice, in my rear view mirror, a storm approaching from the south. The distant storm seemed violent, clouds rolling forward, sheet lighting flashing, streak lighting arcing from cloud to cloud and bolt lightning blasting to the earth. How could I be so lucky!
I pulled off the road, set the camera on a tripod and watched the storm as it moved toward me. Lightning, lightning everywhere, the sky was ablaze as the clouds were illuminated by the sheet lightning and the streak lightning that electrified the ground.
I began to shoot using exposures that were about five seconds in duration. As I continued to make exposure after exposure in succession the storm moved ever closer and soon the lighting was striking all around me. Not satisfied with the shots I had taken I continued to take photos, being ever mindful that I was in an electrical storm and I was holding onto a metal tripod. I did feel a bit uneasy about the situation. It wasn’t long before I had a shot I liked and it was non-to soon. No sooner had I got the shot lighting stuck a tree less than fifteen hundred feet from were I stood and the bottom dropped out of the sky. I grabbed camera and tripod, ran for the van and jumped in the side door (which was open) and pulled the camera in behind me. Rain fell so hard I could barely see the road in front of me, and the lightning increased tremendously.
Violent rainstorms are common in central Florida and many residents take them with stride. This one got just a little to close for comfort. However, it is such storms that feed the many lakes and marshes that make central Florida a wetland paradise. The home to so many Florida birds that I love to photograph.
Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-85 zoom, Digital Capture, ISO 200