Author Archives: bobshank

You All Know These Love Birds

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

These are common birds that appear at our backyard feeder every day. They like to eat the birdseed that falls to the ground, but they also enjoy sitting on a perch and even sitting on top of the bird feeder! We were having a bit of a problem with them though and had to hire bird control services in AZ.

The Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, are present year-round in a majority of the continental United States. They are a medium-sized bird with mostly brown colors. The eyes are deep black with a blue/green circle around each eye. Females have a bit of iridescence on their neck, which can be seen in the bottom photo–the last photo of my blog entry today. Interestingly, the small black mark on the face of the Mourning Dove distinguished it from the Passenger Pigeon ,which is now extinct. Banding studies suggest that a pair of Mourning Doves will mate for life. The doves’ cooo-cooo-cooo call is unmistakable, as is their flush and wing-beat in the air. All this makes the Mourning Dove very easy to identify.

I enjoy photographing these birds, but their drab, brownish color makes photographing them difficult because they easily blend into their environment much of the time.

I see these birds nearly every single day and if they will let me, I will keep photographing them in an attempt to get some better quality photographs.

 

Downy Woodpecker

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

I believe this is a Downy Woodpecker. Here’s why. While the Downy and the Hairy are very similar, the Downy displays some of the white spots on its tail, while the Downy does not. Also, it’s bill is more conical and shorter than the Hairy’s.

I am by no means an expert birder, so my conclusions may not always be correct. I’ve studied the Audubon Guide, iBird Pro, and Peterson’s Guide to help me better determine which of the two similar woodpeckers this one is in these photos. They are almost identical and one of the guides states that the bill is the only reliable way to distinguish between the two.

Here are two more photos of this species.

Can You Identify This Bird?

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Okay, photographers and birders, can you identify this bird?

My friend, Bryan Hill, suggested that instead of identifying the birds I am posting here to allow the reader to try to id the bird first. I liked Bryan’s idea, so here goes!

Let me know what bird you think this is and tomorrow I will share more information that I found on this particular species.

Thanks! And here’s another photo of this bird.

Supermoon May 6, 2012

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

The full moon last night was gorgeous!

It required patience for me to even see the moon through all the clouds here in the Poconos of northeast Pennsylvania, but the wait was more than worth it! These two images were captured at 2:44am and 2:46am respectively. I was hoping and waiting all night for the moon to break through the clouds and I had almost given up completely. I was actually upstairs just about getting ready for bed when I thought, “Let me open the blinds and take another peek out the window.” Sure enough, I saw a break in the clouds. So I moved quickly downstairs, grabbed my tripod with camera already attached, and headed out the door. I had about 20 minutes to shoot before the cloud cover reappeared.

A supermoon is becoming a popular term now that describes the situation when the moon is closest to the earth in its oval orbit. Last night the moon was 221,802 miles from the earth and appeared brighter and bigger due to this closer proximity. According to LiveScience.com it was 14 percent bigger and 16 percent brighter than a typical full moon.

Which of these two photos do you think is better? There is a slight change in camera settings in my attempt to try to show as many moon features as possible. The first photo is brighter and helps depict the bright site in the sky last night, while the second photo is slightly darker to show more of the details on the moon’s surface.

And, yes, I will confess; this full moon made me feel like howling!

The Brown-Headed Cowbird

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

I observed another new bird at our backyard feeder today. I was photographing out of my blind again and this bird just came in and landed on the deck railing. It has a brown head with an all-black body. After clicking a few shots it flew down to the ground and started eating seed that had fallen from the feeder. Then a similar looking female joined in the action.

It turns out that this bird is called the Brown-Headed Cowbird. What a name! I love it!

This bird typically walks on the ground to find food and often holds its tail over its back while it is foraging. Diet consists of insects, fruits, grains, and seed. It is found in Pennsylvania throughout the year. The female does not sport the brown head but is all an off-gray color.

Two Eastern Towhees

By | | , , , , ,
1 Comment

Today I photographed two Eastern Towhees — a male and a female which came to our backyard!

I first spotted a male Towhee yesterday for the first time this year. I actually heard many of their unique calls over the past few weeks but didn’t see one until yesterday. Their call sounds like they are saying, “drink you tea.” I could mimmick the call with my own imitation whistle and repeatedly received a call back.

The Eastern Towhee is basically a large sparrow. The male is mostly black with rusty sides and a white underbelly. Another distinguishing feature is two white corners of its tail. I spotted the red eyes, just as the description states in my iBird app. This description also explains that the name “Towhee” is an imitation of this bird’s call and that a group of Towhees are called a “tangle” or a “teapot” of towhees. (iBird Pro, Eastern Towhee)

Not long after I captured one decent photo of the male Towhee, I saw a female come in to for lunch. It didn’t take long before it snagged a mealworm from a log, which it proudly displayed from it’s tightly clamped beak.

The Eastern Towhee is an active bird with a unique and inviting call. It’s red eye is unmistakable. Listen for its call and look for one the next time you are outdoors. The Towhee is a wonderful bird to watch and photograph!

Being Efficient When You are Busy, Busy, Busy!

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Just the other day I asked Siri, “Why am I so busy?” She quickly responded, “I don’t know. Frankly, I was wondering that myself!”

I am currently in the middle of a lot of photo shoots. Four days in a row with five photo shoots altogether! I’m not complaining; not in the least. I’m just busy, but good busy. During these stretches I sometimes find it hard to keep up with shooting, uploading the photos to my computer, editing them, creating galleries, charging batters, cleaning lenses, connecting with potential photo clients, and everything else. Busy, busy, busy!

Streamlining routine tasks is essential in busy times. I like to use the Energizer rechargeable NIMH batteries in the quick charger because they are charged in about 15 minutes or less! This saves a lot of time from the days when I had to charge batteries overnight. Now I can charge all 14 batteries while I am uploading photos from my compact flash cards to my Drobo.

Staying on top of these tasks is critical especially when photo shoots are so close together. Forget to empty a card and there will be no room for more photos during the next photo shoot that day. This is definitely not a time to be forgetful or fly by the seat of your pants! Good habits, predictable patterns, and a logical strategy all help to stay on top of everything in busy times.

Keywording is best done right away. Why wait to do it later when it might be forgotten? Some keywords can be entered automatically as we import them. Other more specific keywords have to be entered manually. Doing this right away makes it easier to remember the details of this shoot rather than relying on a spotty memory later on down the week or month. Stay on top of key wording and the rewards will be more than obvious down the road.

Editing photos is another key area in which to aim for efficiency. This, for me, includes locating the keepers, confirming or changing the proper white balance, and making any necessary minor edits to the photograph if needed or desired. The absolute best way to be efficient here is to get everything right in the camera. With some photo editors this is required, so it is a great goal to aim for from the beginning. It saves time, too.

What ways are you finding to be efficient in your photography?

My Favorite App

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

$14.99 for an app. My daughter thought I was nuts! But this powerful app has quickly become my favorite app so far!

Earlier this week I posted a blog entry revealing the difficulty I had in identifying a bird I photographed in my backyard. Now, I can sit in my blind, or later in my recliner, and punch a few search parameters into my iPhone and quickly id a bird. It is that easy!

iBird Pro has 924 different species in its database. The app is easy to use and very powerful. You can also add your own photos of each species to the database if you desire.

iBird Explorer Pro contains many features that will help me identify, study, track, and share my favorite birds. I love it!

Check it out at: http://ibird.com/

 

 

What Bird is This?

By | | , ,
2 Comments

I spent some time in my blind this evening watching and photographing a few birds and a chipmunk. I always enjoy this time spent outdoors and the blind really conceals me and most of my movements. Every once in a while, moving my camera into the right position scares a bird away, but overall it works very well to get some decent photos of these amazing birds.

For you birders out there, what species is this?

It looks like some variation of a sparrow to me, but I am not a birder. Any help you can offer in properly identifying this bird is much appreciated!

This Photo is in the Running for Photo of the Month

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

This photo is the running! Each month I select my best shot of the month and give it the honor of “Photo of the Month” on my all-sports website, Perfect Game Photos.

Last month was easy because I captured a bat breaking as it was swung at and hit a baseball. I always try to get the ball in the frame because it shows the intensity and action of the game. This photograph I captured today shows the second baseman’s eyes focusing on the baseball as he is tracking down the ball to catch in his glove. One of the player’s feet are in the air as he is running it down. I love the action of this shot!

I am picky though and there is one bad part to this image and that is the background. There was a house behind the field and it usually shows up at the exact wrong time in an otherwise great photograph. Still, this is a quality shot and is now in the running for the honored spot for the month of April.