Posts Tagged ‘RRS tripod’

February Images, Back to Landscapes

February Images, Back to Landscapes

Most of February was spent visiting Death Valley National Park and then Lone Pine, one of our favourite towns just outside of the Park. Here are a few images from the month.  Click HERE to visit the whole collection from February’s processing. Click on an individual image to go to acquire one of these images. Gear: Nikon […]


Things To Do On The Beach – 05

Things To Do On The Beach - 05

Plan A Royal Wedding …. These two love birds were parading around completely oblivious to what was going on around them.  However, it was “Not tonight Josephine”! Gear: Nikon D4S, Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII, Nikkor TC-17 EII, RRS Tripod, RRS Gimbal Head, Lexar Digital Film


Things To Do On The Beach – 04

Things To Do On The Beach - 04

When you wake up…… Preen A Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) preening


Things To Do On The Beach – 02

Things To Do On The Beach - 02

Take A Bath Gear: Nikon D4s, Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII, Nikkor TC-17 EII, Lexar Digital Film.  For the close-ups mounted on Skimmer Ground Pod II with RRS Ball-head, for the others mounted on RRS Tripod and RRS Gimbal Head


Things To Do On The Beach – 01

Things To Do On The Beach - 01

If you have an itch scratch it!! Gear: Nikon D4s, Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII, Nikkor TC-17 EII, Lexar Digital Film.  For the close-ups mounted on Skimmer Ground Pod II with RRS Ball-head, for the others mounted on RRS Tripod and RRS Gimbal Head


From The “Frozen North” in Search Of The Bubo scandiacus

From The "Frozen North" in Search Of The Bubo scandiacus

Well, actually it is not that far North, Southern Ontario, but it is January, it has snowed, it is -16C with a 40 kph wind blowing – it certainly feels like the frozen North. I am on a workshop to shoot Snowy Owls.  This winter there is a very large over-population of Snowy Owls and […]


Why Did I Go to the Tundra to Shoot Shorebirds?

Why Did I Go to the Tundra to Shoot Shorebirds?

As you may recall from earlier posts, it was quite a journey to get to Churchill, Manitoba,  just below the Arctic Circle.  It took two days to fly there, one day to Winnipeg (Manitoba’s Capital) and another day to Churchill (the train from Winnipeg takes 2 days!) and the same to return.  When I got […]


“Merlin” – My 40′ Motor Home

"Merlin" - My 40' Motor Home

As many of you may remember Louise and I recently purchased a 2007 Monaco Camelot 40′ diesel pusher.  We call it Merlin as we thought it the most appropriate of all of the names from Arthurian Legend. I am frequently asked “when can I/we see your motor home”?  Some folks think we brought it back […]


What causes the Flush?

What causes the Flush?

A group of Stilt Sandpipers at dusk in the Tundra Marshes of Churchill, Manitoba on the Hudson Bay.  They are happily milling around, preening but not looking for food – it is the end of the day, time for bed … I am stealthily taking their photographs, because as a photographer while I am edging […]


Follow The Herd?

Follow The Herd?

An image of a group of birds all heading in the same direction – hunting for sustenance in the Far North during their breeding season.  But, can you spot the “odd man out”?  I am not sure why, but I am always thrilled when I can get a shot with more than one species together […]


A Way to Attract the Girls

A Way to Attract the Girls

The Short-billed Dowitcher (Linodromus griseus) has a way with the girls during breeding season.  He flies thousands of miles north, to the Tundra and puts on his breeding plumage.  The plumage is highlighted by a bright orange (rufous) foreneck and breast.  This is irresistible to the females – the purpose of the exercise. Then after […]


Ablutions in the Tundra Marshes

Ablutions in the Tundra Marshes

It is past 9:00 pm, there is no hint of sunset, but we are into the sweet light of the day, referred to by most as “golden hour”.  I have been out since 6:00 am, just after sunrise, as there isn’t much night this far North – just south of the Arctic Circle – in […]


The Solitary Sandpiper

The Solitary Sandpiper

At first I easily mistook this bird for another Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa malanoleuca), as there head been several around.  However, this bird was working the marsh for food by itself.  A quick consultation with Sibley’s pointed me to the Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitarius).  Apparently it is often mistaken for a Greater Yellowlegs but is described […]


Stalking the Jaegers

Stalking the Jaegers

Week 1 in Churchill, Manitoba we had seen a pair of Parasitic Jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus), on one of the areas of Tundra marsh from a distance, while driving by looking for suitable bird shoots.  Week 2 and one of the objectives I set myself, was to get some good shots of these birds.  So with […]


Migrating Shorebirds fly to the Tundra

Yes a great deal of the shorebirds that we see during our summer vacations and all winter long fly thousands of miles to the tundra in order to mate and breed.  Part of this process is the courtship of the males and females to choose their partners and then nest and mate. One of my […]


A day in the Tundra Marsh

A day in the Tundra Marsh

Yes, I am still here in Churchill, Manitoba.  Although the workshop concluded on Sunday morning I am here putting my lessons into practice. One of the pre-requisites for the workshop was a pair of “Hip-Boots”.  Something I had never heard of, but a quick search on the internet showed me what I had to get […]


Nature’s Sentry

Nature's Sentry

The change in plumage of the shorebirds and the distance they migrate in order to mate is mind-blowing.  Most of them gather here in Churchill in the very north of Manitoba, Canada which is sited on the Hudson Bay. The plumage change is most significant in the male birds as it is their way of […]


Birding in the Tundra

Birding in the Tundra

I am on a Moose Peterson workshop in Churchill, Manitoba to photograph the nesting migrating birds.  Why?  Because most of the shorebirds display dramatically different plumage when mating and these images can only be caught here!  So we are on our second day and I wanted to share with you come of the images from […]


Who would have thought – An Owl that Lives Below Ground?

Who would have thought - An Owl that Lives Below Ground?

Yes indeed the Burrowing Owl digs its own burrow in which to lay and hatch its young! In Cape Coral, Florida you are told to look for vacant building lots to search for Burrowing Owls (Athene Caunicularia).  This proves the Owls are a wise as legend has, because in Cape Coral their habitats are protected […]


How do you feed your children?

How do you feed your children?

Spending hours at The Venice Rookery on my new project, bird photography, I get the chance just to watch and observe different behaviours.  One that started to get my attention was the different way some of the nesting birds fed their young. A Great Blue Heron with one chick arrives on the tops of the […]


Juveniles ONLY – NO ADULTS !

Juveniles ONLY - NO ADULTS !

I made a return visit to Pinecraft Park in Sarasota to show Louise the Barred Owls and the Pileated Woodpeckers.  However, on this visit I could only shoot the juveniles.  We did see an adult Barred Owl, but it was right against the trunk of a tree and completely obscured by branches and leaves.  But […]


For Someone who has just started their bird photography – it can’t get any better than today!

For Someone who has just started their bird photography - it can't get any better than today!

Recently, was it really only yesterday, I had my first encounter with a Pileated Woodpecker and that was fantastic. Today I was heading for The Celery Fields near Saratoga (well in the last ten days I had been to two different Lettuce Lakes – perhaps there is a salad theme here?) having had the best […]


This Morning at The Venice Rookery

This Morning at The Venice Rookery

I always rise early so that I can shoot in the sweet light of the morning.  At The Rookery the sun rises behind you as you are lining up on the wildlife which is just perfect.  Today was a GREAT day for me – I saw (and shot) my first Pileated Woodpecker. What a treat, […]


Great Egret Chicks – how cute

Great Egret Chicks - how cute

Visiting The Rookery at Venice again there is this Great Egret nest on the edge of the “island” in full view.  For the first time I saw Great Egret chicks – how startlingly strange they look with their green skin an white “punk” plumage around their head and necks.  And those big eyes, which when […]