Tag: Birds

Posted on in Birding Trips, Birds, Hotspots

Birding the Sacramento Valley

SacramentoNWR-CA_LAH_2056Ducks a few feet from my lens. Snow Geese, Canada (and Cackling?) Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, all hanging out together. Beautiful weather. No crowds. And best of all, a new bird for my life list! The day I recently spent at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge complex was about as perfect as a bird photographer’s day can be.

The refuge complex has many locations along the Sacramento River and in the surrounding valley. I had time for two stops, at Colusa NWR and Sacramento NWR. (It took me a while to figure out that Sacramento NWR is part of the Sacramento NWR complex. Talk about confusing!)

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Posted on in Birds, Photography

Bird Photography: Balance & Color

Eastern Rosella Parrot_CheyenneMtnZoo-CO_LAH_4110As I mentioned last month, if we want our photography to look like art, we need to study art. I find that the more I learn about composition and design, the better my pictures turn out. Here are a few more things to consider when looking through your viewfinder.

Balance
Objects in a photograph have visual weight to them. Imagine that your photo is a seesaw, supported by a point in the middle. For example, a large, black crow to the right of the picture will tend to pull that side downward unless balanced by something else on the left side. Just as with actual weights, two or three smaller objects can balance one big one. Most pleasing pictures are visually balanced. Remember that a large open space can also have weight, so you don’t need clutter your composition. (more…)

Posted on in Birds, Conservation, Nature

Be a Citizen Scientist

AndromedaPerhaps you’re an avid birder, or maybe you want to do something about noxious weeds. You might have a telescope, and you spend your nights looking at the sky.  Or maybe you drove your parents crazy (as I did) bringing home bugs and rocks and frogs and snakes—and you still haven’t outgrown your fascination. Having a hobby is fun, but turning it into something more significant is even better. No matter what your interest, you can put your knowledge and skills to good use as a citizen scientist.

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Posted on in Birds, Media Reviews

Available Now: Aiken Audubon’s 2014 Calendar

Calender coverIn light of their successful 2013 calendar, Aiken Audubon is offering a “Birds of Colorado” calendar for 2014. They sell for a suggested donation of $12. Any profits over the cost of printing go toward the chapter’s education fund, used primarily to pay high-caliber speakers for their free monthly programs. It’s a great calendar for a good cause.

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Posted on in Birds, Nature

But What About Bambi?

Bambi fireIt’s hard to imagine 14,280 acres of burned forest, or 509 houses totally destroyed. While the human toll is devastating, I started wondering what happened to the wild animals that also called Black Forest home. Maybe that’s because I still have that scene from Bambi in my mind—the one where all the animals are fleeing the forest fire. Is it accurate? What do animals do in a fire? Do they survive? And if so, how?

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Posted on in Birds, Books, Humor

Little-Known and Seldom-Seen

little known 1Do you really need another field guide to North American birds? Yes, you do. In fact, you need two of them—the sooner, the better. How many of your current field guides have entries for the Yellow-bellied Prairie Chicken, the Blunt-billed Woodpecker, or the Split Rail? None of them, I bet.

Do your current field guides explain how to correctly assemble the parts of a bird? I’m sure they don’t. Do you own a book explaining what to say to other birders while on a field trip? No? Well then…

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Posted on in Birds, Nature, Photography

Fall Photo Fail

lion_zoo-idahofalls-id_lah_8928In an attempt to improve my skills, I’ve signed up for a Wildlife Photography class at our neighboring community college. I have starry-eyed visions of rutting elk, growing grizzlies and other impressively large mammals adorning the paneled walls of our family room, not to mention the pages of Outdoor Photographer or National Geographic.

Our first assignment is to take four photographs of wildlife (defined as including insects, but excluding naked party-goers). I spent all week on this. What have I got to show so far?

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Posted on in Birds, Gardening, Landscaping

Berries for the Birds

american-robin-in-russian-hawthorn_xg_20091215_lah_5562xHow would you like to have a flock of robins outside your window? How about other thrushes, waxwings, sparrows, towhees, or vireos? Want to add Western Tanager to your yard list?

Along with finches, grosbeaks, thrushes, some warblers, Northern Mockingbird, Townsend’s Solitaire, chickadees, nuthatches, swallows, woodpeckers, pigeons/doves, jays, and even hummingbirds (who drink the juice), all these birds eat berries at some point.*

Planting shrubs and trees that produce berries is a great way to attract more species of birds. Even better, plant several kinds of berries, since each bird species has its favorites.

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Posted on in Bird Profiles, Birding Trips, Birds, Hotspots

A Lewis and Clark Day

lewiss-woodpecker_turkeycreek-ftcarson-co_lah_0107For the first time in recent memory a flock of Lewis’s Woodpeckers has taken up residence near Colorado Springs.  Only 11 miles south of Colorado Springs, they are busy harvesting acorns in the picnic area at Fort Carson’s Turkey Creek Recreation Area. These uncommon (at least along the Front Range) woodpeckers are attracting every birder in town. A couple of friends and I made our migration at dawn two weeks ago, hauling binoculars, spotting scopes, and at least 50 pounds of camera gear. We weren’t disappointed.

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Posted on in Birding Tips, Birds, Photography

Family Photos

Canada Goose family, ColoradoJune isn’t a great time to go birding. In most parts of the country, territories are established, nests are built, eggs are laid, and the birds are either busy incubating those eggs or are run ragged trying to satisfy the insatiable appetites of their demanding offspring. Either way, the parents are being especially careful to hide the whereabouts of their progeny, making it very difficult for us birders.

However, June is a great time to take bird photographs. Family photos are so much more appealing than those of solitary portraits. If you can manage to locate a nest, grab your telephoto lens and settle in for a shoot.

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