AKA BIRD NERD

Photos By Shawn Weigelt
December 29, 2008
Acadia National Park

These are my first photographic records of this species and are marginal at best.  The lighting was poor and the birds were skittish.  Still, we were extremely happy to see them as they foraged from spruce to spruce after cone seeds.  We saw several dozen throughout the afternoon along the Park Loop Rd.  Please excuse my rather average photos, but I just wanted to post them for identification purposes and as proof of the sighting.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR
1)  at 300mm, 1/500sec, ISO 400, f/5.6
2)  at 300mm, 1/40sec, ISO 320, f/5.6
3)  at 300mm, 1/200sec, ISO 250, f/5.6
4)  at 300mm, 1/200sec, ISO 250, f/5.6

A female pausing to take a drink

Some males with their rosy red plumage

They were very acrobatic and fun to watch

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
December 29, 2008
Acadia National Park

This Herring Gull was enjoying its spot in the sun not far from Thunder Hole and allowed me to approach rather closely.  This continues our little birding jaunt with the bird nerd and company.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 220mm, 1/640sec, ISO 160, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
December 29, 2008
Bar Harbor, Maine

This is the same individual as in my last posting.  Here it’s having a drink of water.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 180mm, 1/1000sec, ISO 160, f/5.3, hand held.

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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
December 29, 2008
Bar Harbor, Maine

This representative of the world’s largest species of gull was found at the Bar Harbor marina.  The bird nerd and Mrs. bird nerd are here visiting for Christmas and New Year’s and today we made a road trip to the coast to look for birds.  Look for more pictures from the trip coming soon.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 250mm, 1/1000sec, ISO 160, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photos By Shawn Weigelt
December 21, 2008
Bangor, Maine

Ahh…’tis the season to find Pine Grosbeaks in berry trees here in Maine.  I took this series last weekend not fifty feet away from the Ruffed Grouse I posted earlier.  This bird is a female, identified by the greenish yellow coloration on the head and rump.  The males are, not surprisingly, more brightly colored than the females, with a rosy red wash on most of the body.  Unfortunately, there was not a male to be found on this day.  Hopefully you’ll see a male Pine Grosbeak posting from me before the winter is over.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR:
1, 2)  at 180mm, 1/200sec, ISO 200, f/5.3, hand held
3)  at 165mm, 1/320sec, ISO 200, f/5.0, hand held

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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724
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
May 16, 2008

This heron was doing what they do best – fishing. I found the bird along the boardwalk trail in a swampy area.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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723
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
May 16, 2008

Here is a pretty good view of a robin shot from below so you can see the markings of the underside of this bird. Usually you just get to see the top of the breast and sides as they hop around the grass looking for worms.

The second photo shows a nest of baby robins. I like the little guy on the left. This is how you can visualize me the first few weeks of retirement!

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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722
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
May 16, 2008

Here are a couple of frogs that begged to have their photos taken.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
December 21, 2008
Bangor, Maine

You can imagine my surprise at seeing this Ruffed Grouse eating berries in Bangor’s shopping area.  I was driving around looking for waxwing’s and grosbeaks while Malia was in the mall.  Good thing I have a vibration reduction lens because I was shaking I was so excited!  This was the best I could do as it didn’t let me get very close.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 300mm, 1/320sec, ISO 200, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
December 20, 2008
Carmel, Maine

I was very happy to see this female Pine Grosbeak on the shepherd’s hook of one of my feeders the other day.  Unfortunately I had run out of seed so she didn’t stick around.  This was the best photo I was able to get.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR at 300mm, 1/80sec, ISO 200, f/5.6, hand held.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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