Multi-shot extravaganza

We had numerous opportunities to photograph birds in flight at Alan Murphy’s Bird photography workshop outside of Green Valley, Arizona this past week. There were so many good opportunities that I wanted to capture their flight in just one composited image. In case you’re not familiar with this technique, I overlaid successive images taken of their flight onto the image of the right-most bird in the photo — in this case using the double exposure tool in SnapSeed.

A Gila Woodpecker in action — their normal flight is flap, glide like a bullet in a sleek aerodynamic shape, but this particular take-off featured a nice banked wing spread.

Alan has perfected the set-up for capturing birds in flight by placing entry points to feeding sites, so that birds fly directly across in front of us from one perch to another on the same focal plane. With cameras set at 1/1000-1/2000 second with a capture rate of 20-24 frames per second, we can capture 6-10 decent images of flight.

A male Pyrrhuloxia (desert Cardinal), whose color, shape, and vocalizations resemble those of the Northern Cardinal, on the move from one perch to another. You rarely get to see the beautiful colors in this bird’s wings unless you capture them in flight.

And just for fun, I tried my luck capturing the take-off of the golden paper wasp from the small pond in front of our blind…and luck it really was because I only managed to do it once.

Golden paper wasps came to the pond for an afternoon drink. Their long legs resting on the water don’t break the surface tension of the water, allowing them to just rest on it while imbibing. Usually a photographer gets no signal that the wasp is about to take off, but Alan said they usually drink for 23 seconds, so I counted to 22 and started shooting.

the beauties of 2017

The backyard is quiet again, as the snow falls, temperatures drop, and the wildlife roam less far and wide (meaning, less likely to be seen in my backyard at least).  So, I’ve dug through the collection of “best birds of 2017” to bring you my 12 favorites from our treks around the U.S. this year.

Texas (near Brownsville)

Adult Crested Caracara, Alamo TX

Adult Harris Hawk diving down to get its piece of frozen chicken-Alamo, Texas

Great Kiskadee, Alamo TX-

Male Red-winged Blackbirds behaving badly, Alamo, TX

Tri-colored Heron, Padre Island, TX

Long-billed Dowitchers, Laguna Vista, TX

South-eastern Arizona (Tucson and Portal areas)

Painted Redstart (or Whitestart), Portal AZ

Phainopepla-Tucson, AZ

Vermillion Flycatcher-Tucson AZ

Magnificent Hummingbird-Santa Rita Lodge, AZ. The light was just off to the side so his brilliant iridescence is dulled.

Cactus wren-Tucson, AZ, in its elements of thorns and spiny plants

Gila Woodpeckers at their nest, Tucson, AZ

You don’t really have to go too far to see some special birds, not found in your own backyard.  The trick is not just finding them, but getting them to cooperate for a photograph!

Guardians of the desert

South of Tucson, Arizona, Saguaro cactus dominate the landscape with their giant trunks and arms reaching up, like those wacky, inflatable tube men you see along the highways, advertising a big sale of some sort.

Giant stems of Saguaro rise way above the rest of the vegetation, like giant sentinels.

Life stages of the Saguaro shown here–from an early (25 yr old) barrel shaped youngster, to 75 year old cactus just growing its first arm, to a mature many-armed giant 200 or more years old, to the woody remains of a dead Saguaro.

Saguaro are not only a dominant plant form in the Sonoran desert, but an integral part of the life cycle of this community.  It’s flowers provide nectar and pollen to insects, birds, and mammals, and its fruits are sought after by humans as well as many other desert animals.

Flowers appear on the tops of the cacti in April, remain open for less than 24 hours, but provide huge amounts of nectar and pollen to attract pollinators.

The Saguaro flowers are loaded with pollen from the hundreds of stamen projecting out the floral tube. Bats and birds reach the nectaries at the base of the flower with their long tongues.

After Gila Woodpeckers have drilled out nest cavities in the dense wood of the Saguaro, a variety of other bird species may use the nest holes as protection from the sun’s heat and for their own nests.

A pair of Gila Woodpeckers nesting in Saguaro. Cactus Wrens and  Elf Owls might get a chance to use this nest hole once the Woodpeckers are finished with it.

And of course, they make wonderful subjects for aspiring photographers…