outdoor photography

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Today I walked around a local lake and found about 5 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.  They were quite active, but on occasion they'd perch in a spot with a nice background, and I got to try my hand at shooting small, active birds with my new 50D.  Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are one of my favorite species of birds. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Red-tailed Hawk Yesterday I was at a retention pond in Lake Mary, FL.  It's surrounded on three sides by trees, and it's a nice place to look for birds and other wildlife.  As I walked around the far end of the pond, I heard the call of a Red-tailed Hawk just above my head.  I raised my camera and took a few pictures.  Then I realized it wasn't just flying by; it was circling me.  I looked around in the pine trees around me, and sure enough, there was a large nest near the top of one of the taller trees.  I walked away from the nesting site, and the hawk perched in a tree again, though its eyes followed me as I walked away. Red-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawks aggressively defend their nesting sites.  So if you see this kind of behavior, there's a good chance you need to back away from a nearby tree.  For the photographs, I was shooting straight up into the sky, so even though the bottom of the hawk's wings are lightly co...

Osprey This evening I went to another birding patch in Lake Mary, FL.  There wasn't much to see, but there was an Osprey that was flying in circles with a half-eaten fish.  A dragonfly, a Northern Cardinal, and a Northern Mockingbird also made an appearance.  There were several Wood Ducks there, and one of them flew close enough to me to be photographed. Northern Cardinal Wood Duck Dragonfly Northern Mockingbird