AKA BIRD NERD

1003
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

I’m including four out of five photos that I took on this occasion. The fifth I will post separately, because I’m thinking it is a Clark’s Grebe or hybrid, though I read the species do not mix-breed a lot. Notice on these birds the eye is well into the black area of the head, the bill is yellowish-green, and there is substantial dark color on the side of the neck. I didn’t include the fifth photo because the bill is bright yellow, the eye is slightly below the black of the head, however, there is substantial dark color on the neck. The Clark’s Grebe has more white on the neck. Western Grebes during non-breeding season can resemble Clark’s as far as the eye/black color placement is concerned. Anyway, I’m going with the more yellow bill and eye placement to separate photo 5 as a Clarks. I will post it right after this one.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

1002
Moss Landing Beach Park
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

First off, let me assure you this otter is alive and well. He is preening his paws and napping. For those of you who have been to Moss Landing, you know there is a large population of Sea Otters that hang out in the marina area. You usually see them floating on their backs in a large community. I guess I shouldn’t have said well, because I have no idea if this otter is well or not well. I can say I’ve never seen one lying on the beach here. Before we left Moss Landing, this otter had gotten back in the water. That’s why I assume it was just sunning himself or herself.

Tags: Gallery, General // Add Comment »

1001
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

I believe this is an Eared Grebe rather than a Horned Grebe. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, heavy crop

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

1000
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

Again, a heavily cropped photo. This is a species I see very seldom. This bird was in the channel leading out to the ocean. I was sitting on the rocks taking flight photos of pelicans when this bird swam by. I thought it was a loon at first, but upon closer inspection realized it was a Common Murre – not very common for me.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/640 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

999
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

I took similar photos back in October, but these came out a bit better even though I shot at 300mm rather than 500mm. I had to do heavy cropping on these, so I didn’t save the image at 800 x 600. I went back to the old standard of 640 x 480 to try to preserve a little more crispness. I guess the extra megapixels of the new camera are helping out and allowing me more cropping flexibility.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

998
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

I haven’t seen a GL in awhile. This was the only bird of this species I saw during this trip. I like the bird’s reflection in the water.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300 mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, extensive cropping

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

997
Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

November 21 was a pretty good day for the new D7000 and I. I got a little better at finding settings good for bird photography, and there was a large variety of birds this day.  I try to shoot with as low an ISO as possible, but it certainly didn’t help me when the LBC took off. I wasn’t able to freeze the action of the flying bird. The bird is also flying away, but since this was the first photo I’ve ever gotten of a flying LBC that you can even tell what bird it is, I thought I’d post it anyway.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/640 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

996
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ruddy Duck here before. These two photos are heavily cropped because the duck wouldn’t get closer. Click on the photos to see a larger presentation.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/2500 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, General // Add Comment »

995
Corcoran Lagoon
Santa Cruz, California
November 21, 2011

Corcoran Lagoon lies between our cottage and the library. My wife is an avid reader, so we go to the library often. I always take my camera. There is quite a community of Mallards and Coots that beg for food from library patrons. Here is a couple of beggars, but they didn’t stay on land long when they realized I wasn’t going to feed them.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 70mm, ISO 500, f/4.0, 1/100 sec

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »

994
26th Ave
Santa Cruz, California
November 19, 2011

On the way home from our daily walk we ran into this treat just a block or so from our cottage. I haven’t had an opportunity to see this species very often, so I was determined to get a photo. It was after 3PM and the sun was low in the sky putting the tree in the shadows. I don’t think I would have gotten a photo with my D80, but I bumped up my D7000 to ISO 1600 and gave it a try. The photos are pretty soft and there is a bit of noise, but as far as a good documentation of the sighting I couldn’t ask for much more – well better lighting of course.

Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 240mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/320 sec.

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery // Add Comment »