AKA BIRD NERD

Photos By Shawn Weigelt
December 22, 2009
Ediz Hook, Port Angeles, Washington

The large dark mantled Western Gull is one of my favorites.  Even in non-breeding plumage, their heads and necks are nearly clean white as compared to the heavy markings of their Glaucous-winged cousins with whom they frequently hybridize.  Though gulls are often treated with disgust and disdain by humans, I have a deep admiration for their, “survivability.”  They are intelligent and extremely adaptable birds, able to do what needs to be done to survive.

Nikon D80 70-300mm VR, ISO 250, hand held
1)  at 300mm, 1/400sec, f/5.6
2)  at 200mm, 1/640sec, f/5.3
3)  at 195mm, 1/640sec, f/5.3

Notice the Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrid in the background and the heavily marked neck and head…

This gull was very relaxed.  Here it’s standing on one foot and allowing its wing tips to droop.

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photos By Shawn Weigelt
December 22, 2009
Ediz Hook, Port Angeles, Washington

Sanderlings were the most prevalent, “peep,” on my first visit to Ediz Hook.  This handsome individual posed for me from a safe distance.

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

Tags: Bird Photo, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photos By Shawn Weigelt
October 3, 2009
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, New York

My father-in-law and I made sure to make this place one of our few birding stops on our long cross-country drive to Washington.  We did not regret it!  I saw more Canada Geese here than I had ever seen before in my life…thousands!

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is located on the northern end of the Finger Lakes Region of central New York State.  The marshy habitat of the refuge seemed an ideal resting place along this major migration highway!  We saw thousands of birds on the water with a seemingly unending stream of birds flying in overhead.  It was a truly magnificent sight!  Other species sighted included Northern Shoveler, American Coot, Northern Harrier, Pied-billed Grebe, and Great Egret.

There was a conveniently placed visitor/observation center near one of the entrances to the refuge that provided us with great views of the incoming geese.  It was fun watching them turn around in mid air and make a steep descent to the water with their, “flaps,” down and, “landing gear,” extended!

A flock on final approach…full flaps…gear down!

A new group arrives….

Low altitude flyby!

Tags: Field Trip, Weigelt Photos by Shawn Weigelt
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Photo By Shawn Weigelt
September 30, 2009
Cheshire, Massachusetts

I’m going over some older photos and looking for anything that I haven’t posted yet.  I found this young little House Sparrow that I photographed at a farm in Western Massachusetts back in late September!  Stay tuned and we’ll see what else I can dig up.

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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775
Rockland, Maine
July 17, 2008

I was so pleased to finally get a photo of this gull. We don’t have them in Puget Sound and I had made my lifer sighting of this species the winter of 2007. Just as Shawn pulled off the road near Bar Harbor, and I had my camera poised, the bird flew off. This particular bird was very cooperative. Shawn crept closer to get some shots with his camera. I took the first shot with my D80 and then switched to the P4 and Fieldscope setup.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 200mm, ISO 200, 1/1000, f/5.0, tripod

Digiscoped Shots

Nikon P4, Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED, 30x wide angle lens, tripod
ISO 100, 1/570 sec, f/7.6

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery, General by David Dilworth
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774
Camden, Maine
July 17, 2008

It was so long ago that I can’t remember where I took this photo. It may have been in Camden, but from Camden we traveled to some other coastal spots. Shawn would probably remember.

I’m sure most of you know this, but for those who don’t – the bird is drying his flight feathers because he does not have the same oil in this feathers that repels water that most water birds have. Since this is a diving bird, it gets quite wet and must dry off after being in or under the water.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 200mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, tripod

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery, General by David Dilworth
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773
Camden, Maine
July 17, 2008

On July 17th we were on the road again. The coastal villages of Maine are some of my favorite places to visit. These Mallards were found right in town where a freshwater stream flows into the bay.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 300mm, ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, tripod

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery, General by David Dilworth
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771
Baxter State Park, Maine
July 16, 2008

Shawn and Malia took us for a drive up to one of their favorite places. We hiked in to a lake to look for moose, but had no luck at this spot. We did find a moose at a different location on this trip, but I’ll be posting it later. My grand daughter enjoyed her first fishing experience – at least until she caught a fish and found it wiggly and stinky.

A doe with her two fawns surprised us along the trail and I just had a quick opportunity before they bolted into the brush. Here is one of the fawns.

772
Mount Katahdin, Maine
July 16, 2008

I couldn’t resist trying to photograph this beautiful damselfly. I’m not very experienced at close-up photography, but the shot didn’t come out too badly.

Tags: Gallery by David Dilworth
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770
Carmel, Maine
July 14, 2008

This is the last photo taken on July 14 at Shawn and Malia’s place. I believe this is a lifer sighting and photo for me. Part of the problem of taking so long to process photos is that I forget the situation, and my record keeping is not so great. I have some more photos coming up that were taken on a later date. Though this photo is not very good, it was fun to observe this bird.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 500mm, ISO 320, 1/200 sec, f/6.3, tripod

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery, General by David Dilworth
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769
Carmel, Maine
July 14, 2008

Here are a couple photos of the male of this species.

Nikon D80, Tamron 200-500 zoom at 500mm, ISO 320, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, tripod

Tags: Bird Photo, Gallery, General by David Dilworth
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