Category Archives: Shorebirds

Forster’s Tern Juvenile

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Forster's Tern Juvenile

The picture of this juvenile Forster’s Tern was taken at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The Shore Bird migration is in full swing at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. I am looking forward to the annual Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Shorebird Festival August 14, 2010

The picture of this Forster’s Tern (juvenile) was taken with the CANON EOS7D with the CANON 100-400mm lens.
At the time, this appeared to be the only juvenile Forster’s Tern on the south side of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay. It looked very lost to me espeically among the flocks of sandpipers that were abundant that day.

Sandpipers in flight

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Sandpipers in flight

The picture of these Sandpipers in flight was taken at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. This picture was taken with the CANON EOS7D and CANON 200-400mm lens.

The Shore Bird Migration is in process at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. There were hundreds of Sandpipers at the East Pond getting sustenance for their flights south.

Least Tern harassing Oyster Catcher

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Least Tern and Oystercatcher

The picture of this Least Tern harassing an Oyster Catcher was taken at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, NY. Nickerson Beach is filled with bird adventures. Both the Least Tern and the Oyster Catcher nest on Nickerson Beach. It is the behavior of the Least Tern to protect its breeding territory by dive bombing all intruders.
It is really exciting photography to be able to go to a place such as this where there is so much bird behavior ready for the camera.

I used my CANONEOS7D with the CANONO 100-400mm lens to make this capture.

Black Skimmer in flight

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Black Skimmer in flight

The picture of this Black Skimmer in flight was taken at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, NY. I was at Nickerson Beach very early on an overcast morning. Black Skimmers, Oyster Catchers and Least Terns were abundant. This is a very pleasant way to be able to take pictures of birds in flight. The hardest part is choosing which ones to keep and which ones to delete because I had so many pictures to go through.

The Black Skimmer has very beautiful lines and of course the orange on the beak is a very beautiful addition. It is so hard not to marvel and be moved by these magnificent creatures of nature – birds. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph them and in turn share them with others.

American Oystercatcher

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American Oystercatcher

The picture of this American Oystercatcher was taken at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, NY. I used my CANON EOS7D with the CANON 100-400mm lens to take this capture. It was very early in the morning on a very overcast day. The bird was pretty shy and it was difficult to get very close. Also they breed at this beach and are very protective of their nesting area.

Herring Gull in flight (Juvenile)

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Herring Gull (juvenile) in flight

The picture of this Herring Gull in flight was taken at the Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I really enjoy taking pictures of birds in flight. This picture is very peaceful and gentle to me – like a mediation. I project to the sense of the overseer, the all-seeing, the lightness of being.
The jagged wing feather enhance the picture by adding more interest and detail than a “perfect” feather configuration.

Snowy Egret

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Snowy Egret

The picture of this Snowy Egret was taken at the Oceanside Nature Center. It is hard to go wrong with a capture of a Snowy Egret especially if you get them, while they are foraging in such a rich area as the Marine Study Center where this bird was out and about.
The coloring and lighting is a very good reflection of the actuall conditions that the picture was shot in. I am not sure that is the most interesting way to show such a magnificient bird. But so far, my intent is to present a bird withinin the enivironment as close to the natural colors and lighting as I can get in a digital world – “digital nature reality”.

Least Tern with eggs

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Least Tern with eggs

The picture of this Least Tern with eggs was taken at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, NY.
One of my most favorite wonders when taking digital pictures with my Canon 100-400 zoom lens is the ability to see so many of the details of the animals. When I took this picture of the Least Tern, I had no idea that the bird’s eggs were showing.
I am not sure which is more rewarding being out in the field taking the pictures or going through them on the computer and making wondrous discoveries such as this.

Least Tern in flight

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Least Tern in flight

The picture of this Least Tern in flight was taken at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, NY. I think I am starting to resolve some of the noise problems with the CANONEOS7D in the final picture. Most of the CANON EOS7D noise problems show up in the light areas of the pictures. It really helps to get the perfect settings during capture but with birds in flight, it is more difficult to be right on.
I use Noise Ninja when in Adobe Photoshop and then use the history brush to “bring back” the original sharpness of the subject. I found that when in Noise Ninja, using the history brush, I change the opacity of the brush many times in order to control the amount of noise or sharpness remaining in the final picture.
In this picture of the Least Tern, I left all of the Noise Ninja filtering in the white areas and was selective in the gray areas so that I could get the impact of the feather detail.

Great Egret in flight

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Great Egret in Flight

The picture of this Great Egret was taken at a Nature Conservancy in Southampton, NY June 5, 2010. I am really enjoying the effect of having the bird against a white sky and desaturating the “noise” to create a more “artistic” style. It is hard to go wrong with a good capture of a Great Egret in Flight.
Instead of fighting the noise from my CANON EOS7D with the 100-400mm lens, I am starting to really enjoy working with it – at least in this type of capture.
A couple of days this week I put the CANON 70-200mm lens on the CANON EOS7D and the results were so very different. I will include some of the pictures in some of the next posts.