I’m going to end my busy November 21st trip to Moss Landing with this loon and sea otter. I believe the loon is a Common Loon, but I’ve been wrong before. Camera data is the same for both shots.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach
November 21, 2011
Here is a second set of pelican photos. I was quite pleased with this first photo. I think it came out great. I was sitting on the rocks along the channel near the marina end. Be sure to click on the photos to get a much larger view. The last photo reminds me of the touch and go’s the planes did when I worked for the Air Force as a teacher in Japan.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011
I really got carried away practicing flight shots with my new camera. I probably should have bumped up the ISO from 200 to get a crisper freezing of the action, but I was having fun. Here are 3 flight photos with the sky as the background. Notice the blue sky? I wouldn’t be doing this up in Washington this time of year.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach California
November 21, 2011
It is always a challenge for me to take a photo of more than one bird when they aren’t the same distance from my camera. My understanding of depth of field borders on how well I speak Latin. I haven’t taken the time to experiment with the shutter speed and aperture opening to master the experience. This first photo I zeroed in on the Marbled Godwit and got a pretty crisp photo of it. However, the Willet in the background is out of focus.
On this second photo I tried to focus on the Willet, but neither bird is crisp. At least both birds in the second photo are somewhat in focus. If you click on the photos you will get a much larger view.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach
November 21, 2011
This set of photos was taken on the beach. I don’t go over to the beach that often, as I usually have plenty of action on the road side of the dunes. However, today was an exception because there was some good waves and I wanted to get some surfing photos for my Keep Santa Cruz Weird blog.
Oh, I was listening to the news a couple days ago and I heard that some state parks are going to be shut down due to budget tightening. I couldn’t believe Moss Landing was on the list. I’m so mad. This is my absolute favorite bird site. I wouldn’t think it cost that much to maintain this park – a portable toilet or two and removing sand from the dunes that encroaches on the roadway. I’m hoping I can somehow get into the area even when it closes, but parking along Highway 1 could be a bit dangerous.
Anyway, here are the other 3 photos.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach
Moss Landing, California
November 21, 2011
This Caspian Tern made a quick flyby and I was able to get one photo.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec
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Moss Landing State Beach, California
November 21, 2011
Wow! I just realized I hadn’t posted a bird photo on the blog since January 28. I guess I let life get in the way and have been concentrating on other projects and family issues. I’m back in California again for my spring 3 month stint, but I’m still posting photos from the fall. This photo was a little unusual for me. I had never seen a Western Meadowlark down on the lagoon/bay (whatever you call the inland body of saltwater at Moss Landing). I see them a lot up at Moonglow Dairy in the tall grass. This is not a great photo, but the bird posed for a moment and I got one photo.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500 sec