AKA BIRD NERD

702
University of California Santa Cruz – Arboretum
April 3, 2008

The California Towhee is a very drab cousin of the Spotted Towhee. I see the spotted all the time in the back yard in Washington, but it was a treat to see a bird that I don’t see very often. The first time I saw this species was at Elkhorn Slough NWR the year before. This bird was found in the parking lot.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 500 mm. I was shooting ISO 400 as it was late in the day, tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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701
University of California Santa Cruz – Arboretum
April 3, 2008

This was our first time visiting this location, and our short time there definitely made a positive impression for a potential great birding sight. We saw a small covey of quail near where our car was parked, but they were fast. I barely got a couple shots off before the birds entered into the heavy bushes. If you don’t see a lot of birds here, which I doubt would happen, you can enjoy the many varieties of plants in the arboretum.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 500 mm

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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700
Elkhorn Slough National Wildlife Refuge – California
April 2, 2008

During my visits to this refuge (one of my favorite), I often see Western and Clark’s Grebe. Remember how to tell the difference? The Clark’s Grebe has its eye in the white of the head and the Western Grebe has its eye in the black coloring of the head. You often see these two species in the same location. This bird was quite close to me.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 350, 200 ISO, tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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699
Elkhorn Slough National Wildlife Refuge – California
April 2, 2008

This is not one of my better Snowy photos, but I think it gives you a good view of leg coloration.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 500mm, 200 ISO, tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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698
Elkhorn Slough National Wildlife Refuge – California
April 2, 2008

This blackbird was found on the trail that goes from the Great Blue Heron rookery to Hummingbird Island. There are a lot of these tall bushes on either side of the trail and I’ve seen RWBs in this area on more than one occasion.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 440 mm, tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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697
Santa Cruz, California
April 2, 2008

These baby doves were living underneath the neighbor’s house. They wandered out when a parent came with food. I’m amazed that a cat didn’t get them.

The last photo shows the birds at feeding time.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom and Manfrotto tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
November 21, 2008
Carmel, Maine

I realize that I post a lot of Blue Jays, but they strike such nice poses.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 185mm, 1/100sec, ISO 200, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
November 22, 2008
Carmel, Maine

One positive thing about the onset of winter is seeing these colorful little sparrows in my back yard. I didn’t notice this until after I started processing the photo, but this bird is missing its toes on the right foot! It makes me wonder what could have caused this. Frost bite, perhaps? Birth defect? A fighting injury?

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 300mm, 1/30sec, ISO 250, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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696
Elkhorn Slough National Wildlife Refuge, California
April 2, 2008

As we began our hike down the hill from the visitor’s center there are a lot of thicket bushes on the hillside. We heard this yellowthroat, but had a hard time getting a good view of it due to all the branches. This is a female and the best photos I was able to get of this pretty little girl.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom on a tripod

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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695
Moss Landing, California
March 31, 2008

Timing and luck mean a lot to a bird photographer. Both have not been kind to me when it comes to this particular species. I am usually down in California the first week of April and the breeding BBPs do not arrive in mass until after I head back to Washington. These birds also prefer to keep their distance. Therefore, the only photos I’ve gotten have been rather poor. This is probably the best one I’ve taken to date.

Nikon P4, Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED with 30x WA eyepiece

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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