** Weekly X-Series Photo-Sharing Thread 19 MAR – 25 MAR **

An American Oystercatcher approaches me at Nickerson Beach. Eventually it was too close to focus and we watched each other and the activity of the other Oystercatchers and the waves.

Comments and suggestions welcome,

Morris

Morris0 wrote:

An American Oystercatcher approaches me at Nickerson Beach. Eventually it was too close to focus and we watched each other and the activity of the other Oystercatchers and the waves.

Comments and suggestions welcome,

Morris

Looks like it's telling you to get off it's beach.  Not politely

Lovely shot

FujiJon wrote:

Morris0 wrote:

An American Oystercatcher approaches me at Nickerson Beach. Eventually it was too close to focus and we watched each other and the activity of the other Oystercatchers and the waves.

Comments and suggestions welcome,

Morris

Looks like it's telling you to get off it's beach. Not politely

Lovely shot

Thank you,

It's singing it's mating song.  When one couple breaks out in song, all the other oystercatchers on the beach join in.  The sound coming from every direction is amazing.

Morris

I took this shot a few days ago at my local river in Durham, NC. It was a bit challenging because the camera was pointed right into the reflection of the setting sun, creating a great deal of contrast with extreme highlights on the water.

I took exposure bracketed shots, but the HDR merge created some odd artifacts in the water. This photo was edited from a single RAW file in Capture One.

The tall trees on the left are River Birch. Hope you enjoy.

Bend in the Eno River near the old Durham Pump Station

Subtle and beautiful!

Greg

Wonderful set!!  I especially like the Christmas "singing".

The one thing I'll bet you don't have is a two-headed dog (in the motorhome in Montana):

Greg

Morris,

Great detail: you can read the ankle bands and see the grains of sand being kicked up by the bird's feet. Also like the color contrast of  the black, white and orange.

Thanks again for your telephoto recommendations. After reading them, I'm inclined to get the 100-400 and avoid the TC. If I get to where I'm doing a lot of bird photography, then I'll consider a longer lens and a gimbal.

Greg

I'm thinking it might be a little dark. Hmm ...

Birddogman wrote:

Wonderful set!! I especially like the Christmas "singing".

The one thing I'll bet you don't have is a two-headed dog (in the motorhome in Montana):

Greg

Best I can do is this hybrid.

DarnGoodPhotos wrote:

Birddogman wrote:

Wonderful set!! I especially like the Christmas "singing".

The one thing I'll bet you don't have is a two-headed dog (in the motorhome in Montana):

Greg

Best I can do is this hybrid.

Ha!  Great!

Greg in Durham NC wrote:

Morris,

Great detail: you can read the ankle bands and see the grains of sand being kicked up by the bird's feet. Also like the color contrast of the black, white and orange.

Thanks again for your telephoto recommendations. After reading them, I'm inclined to get the 100-400 and avoid the TC. If I get to where I'm doing a lot of bird photography, then I'll consider a longer lens and a gimbal.

Greg

Thank you Greg,

That's a fine choice.  A 100-400 on an APS-C is a very common starting point

Morris

A change from the oystercatchers walking on the sand, here is one in the air flying along the shore line of Nickerson Beach, Long Island, NY.

Comments and suggestions welcome,

Morris

Awww... what a cutie! What's her name? Will she hunt? May you and she enjoy many years together!

This was Joy (now nearly 9) arriving in the truck at her new home in Pennsylvania after a trip from Wyoming, where she was born to horse field trial stock. She is with Chase who was about 10 in this pic:

Joy up in our woods as an 8 week old puppy:

Bliss (now almost 4) with big half-sister Joy, on her first night in her new home after the same cross-country trip from her breeder in Wyoming:

Biss stalking robins on her first run in our woods (no one can see her ):

Joy and Bliss, as trained, full-fledged working dogs, pointing a covey of sharptail grouse in a wild and remote area of Montana:

Joy and Bliss "helping" my partner, Nancy enjoy a TV dinner the other night. They do their jobs as pets as well as huntin' dawgs.

Greg

I was out walking in the woods near my house yesterday when I spotted some small birds flitting in and out of the trees. I could tell they were sparrows, but they were far enough away and slightly obscured by the tree branches that I couldn't make out the variety. I snapped some photos with my 55-200mm.

After loading the photos onto my computer and cropping in, I could tell they were white throated sparrows. They were eating the flower clusters of American hornbeam, fattening up for their pending migration north. They are primarily fall and winter visitors here in North Carolina.

I know this isn't an award winning photo by any means. But I am often satisfied by what I learn looking carefully at my photos. They reveal details that I might otherwise miss.

I like the shot of the dogs in the field in Montana. The wide angle gives a feel of the expanse of the wilds.

Sometimes puppies are glamorous and cute…sometimes they are dumb.

Greg in Durham NC wrote:

I like the shot of the dogs in the field in Montana. The wide angle gives a feel of the expanse of the wilds.

I agree. Gun-dogs being gun-dogs.

I like the space you gave it on the right, to where the bird is looking and flying.