by Gregg Obst on January 17, 2009
in Photos
This is a Blue-Bellied Roller from my Saturday 1-17-2009 trip to the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA. They are named for the blue colored feathers as well as the “rolling” behavior in their courtship ritual while flying. They are native to woodlands and savannas areas in Senegal, Sierra Leone to Central Africa Republic. Their diet consist of Grasshoppers, ants, lizards and beetles.
At the Aviary, you can find this bird in the Tropical Forest free-flight area. I spotted this little guy over by the fountains.
For more information on the National Aviary and how you can help support this great oasis for birds please visit www.aviary.org
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National-Aviary,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 16, 2009
in Photos
Scarlet Ibis at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA. These beautiful birds inhabit tropical regions, rain forests, shorelines and shallow bays in Central America, northern South America, Trinidad and Tobago. They feed on Insects, Fish, Crustaceans, Frogs, Seeds and Fruit.
For more information on the National Aviary and how you can help support this great oasis for birds please visit www.aviary.org
Taken on Monday, 11-24-2008.
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National-Aviary,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 16, 2009
in Photos
The Philadelphia zoo has four Amur Tigers including Kira the Mother pictured here and her cubs Changbai, Koosaka and Terney who were born at the zoo on May 24th, 2007. Kira sat by herself while two of the cubs roughhoused in the background.
The Amur Tiger is the largest of the world’s big cats. The tigers’ famous stripes help them camouflage themselves from their prey while hunting. No two tigers have the same stripe pattern. Amur tigers are better known as Siberian tigers, but their native range has shrunk so much due to habitat loss, they are now known for the Amur River. The species is listed as “critically endangered”.
I’d like the thank the staff and volunteers at the Philadelphia Zoo for the time each took with me explaining behaviors and characteristics of each of the animals. Everyone there was very pleasant and seemed to genuinely care about the animals they were caretakers of. It was uplifting to experience a zoo so well run. Like so many other zoos, they are hurting for funds and would appreciate your help. You can find out how you can help support the Philadelphia Zoo by visiting their web site at http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org.
I shot this back on 12-20-2008.
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Philly-Zoo,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 15, 2009
in Photos
They say when you try something new in photography you only get good at it by making 10,000 mistakes first. Here is my mistake # 1. I’ve never tried to set anything up in a pseduo-studio setting before so I “built” a mini studio setup and mounted a suitable background on a wall, purchased a flower from the local supermarket on the way home from work and tried to take my first flower macro shot. I bought a Canon 500D 77mm closeup diopter filter that screws to the front of my Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 AFS-VRG lens and effectively turns it into a cheap macro alternative lens setup and that’s what I used on this one.
As the weather gets colder and my photography yearnings tend to be for indoor projects, I’m going to try and improve my mini-studio setup and purchase a softbox and some other goodies and try to get this looking a little better with each shot.
Tagged as:
Flora,
Macro,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 14, 2009
in Photos
It’s with a sad heart that I dedicate this photo to Jean Keene, better known as “The Eagle Lady” who passed away this week.
Jean was a very special woman who resided in a small house in a campground area in Homer Alaska. For years she hand fed the Bald Eagles in the Homer area and she invited many wildlife photographers with open arms to come and take closeup photos of these magnificent creatures. I never got a chance to go to Alaska to meet Jean but I know several people who have and they will tell you that she was a real character and a fantastic human being who truly cared for the Eagles. The Eagles would congregate on her lawn and around her deck area like pigeons might in the city or robins around a farm porch.
You can see some fantastic examples of shots taken at the Eagle Lady’s house on WoodysEagles.com. The next time you see an Eagle you can thank people like Jean for helping them live free and thrive after nearly being driven to extinction. She now flies amongst the heavens with so many of the Eagles she helped throughout the years. We will all miss you and your impact on the Eagles Jean.
You can see an amazing video of the Eagles at the Jean’s house here
Photo taken on 11-22-2008 over the Susquehanna River in Maryland.
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Eagles,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 12, 2009
in Photos
This is "Stanley", an African Penguin from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA. This is from the daily 11:30 Penguin talk at the Aviary. The handlers usually give the talk but the Penguins sometimes chime in. These little guys are just too cute to describe. They are native to warm coastal areas in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa and eat Fish, Crustaceans and Squid.
The Aviary has five African Penguins including Stanley, Elvis, Patrick, Simon and Sidney. They are not on exhibit except for talks, presentations and special programs. A new habitat is being built for them as a permanent display. I’ve seen drawings of the habitat and it will be very cool and feature a tunnel that kids can crawl through where they can view the penguins underwater. I
For more information on the National Aviary and how you can help support this great oasis for birds please visit <a href=”http://www.aviary.org”>www.aviary.org</a>
Taken on 11-24-2008..
Here’s Stanley moseying on down the hallway on his way to the talk…
Tagged as:
National-Aviary,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 11, 2009
in Photos
They have some pretty neat Jellyfish habitats at the Adventure Aquarium. This particular enclosure allowed the Jellyfish to travel vertically up and down about fourteen feet, over and over again, doing this little dance of sorts.
Taken on 12-28-2008.
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Adventure-Aquarium,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 11, 2009
in Photos
his fellow walked up to me at the fence line, checked me out, decided he wanted to play and walked all the way back to his housing area to retrieve a toy. He then walked back to the fence and offered the toy to me, tempting me to play a game of sorts. He looked lonely and just wanted someone to play with. With the 21 degree temperatures on the day I took this, the zoo was pretty empty so these Hornbills weren’t getting much attention.
The Southern Ground Hornbill is the largest and the heaviest of all the Hornbill species. They can grow to 35-40 inches tall and weigh an average of 10.5 lb for males and 7.5 lb for females. They are native to the southern African continent and feed on both plants and animals. In the wild these birds consume a variety of prey including small snakes, lizards and mice as well as a variety of fruit.
I’d like the thank the staff and volunteers at the Philadelphia Zoo for the time each took with me explaining behaviors and characteristics of each of the animals. Everyone there was very pleasant and seemed to genuinely care about the animals they were caretakers of. It was uplifting to experience a zoo so well run. Like so many other zoos, they are hurting for funds and would appreciate your help. You can find out how you can help support the Philadelphia Zoo by visiting their web site at http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org.
Taken on 12-20-2008. Shot through a chain link fence…ah the magic of the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 :–)
Tagged as:
Philly-Zoo,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 10, 2009
in Photos
Two Mallard Hens fly into the Fleetwood Park during a lull in the snowfall on Saturday, 1-10-2009.
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Fleetwood-Park,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 9, 2009
in Photos
Rainbow Lorikeets at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA.
From my second trip out to the Aviary on 11-24-2008. The Lorikeets are kept in a special room where you can go at set times during the day and purchase a cup of nectar and the Lorikeets will come down and sit on your hand and drink the nectar which is just beyond cool.
For more information on the National Aviary and how you can help support this great oasis for birds please visit www.aviary.org
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National-Aviary,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 8, 2009
in Photos
Scottish Highland Cattle at the Philadelphia Zoo on 12-20-2008. These animals are a beautiful orange/rust color. The breed was developed in the Scottish Highlands and western coastal regions of Scotland, and breeding stock has been exported to the rest of the world, especially Australia and North America, since the 1900s and is used as grazer in nature reserves in the Netherlands.
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Philly-Zoo,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 5, 2009
in Photos
This is a look up through the center of the famous William Penn Memorial Fire Tower which stands along side the Skyline Drive and over looks the City of Reading Pennsylvania at a height of 120 feet and towering 950 feet above the city.
Built in 1939, the tower is owned by the City of Reading. The Pa Bureau of Forestry stopped using the tower in 1988 citing safety concerns because of the deteriorating condition of the inside of the tower and the 120 steel steps. A significant renovation project has taken place over the years and the stairs were all replaced by the same company that initially installed them back in 1939. Some of the before and after photos of the internal structure renovations can be found here http://www.pagodaskyline.org/tower/damage2.html. More information on the tower can be found on this web site www.pagodaskyline.org/tower.
The structure is open for the public the third Saturday of each month but it was also open this past Sunday when I ventured up there. You can climb to the top and take in the fantastic 30 mile 360 degree view but you better be in shape. That’s one steep climb and unless you are in top physical shape, it will kick your ass as it did mine.
Tagged as:
landscape,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 4, 2009
in Photos
went and shot some landscape stuff today and one of my subjects was covered bridges. I live in an area of the country blessed with hundreds of covered bridges, some large, some small.
This is the Kutz Mill covered bridge that spans 106 feet across the Saucony Creek in Greenwich Township northwest of Kutztown in Berks County. It was built in 1854.
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landscape,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 4, 2009
in Photos
I hadn’t been up to Skyline Drive overlooking the City of Reading in probably twenty years so I decided to go on up today and shoot the Fire Tower and the famous Pagoda. The renovations to the Pagoda are almost complete and so you still see some construction artifacts in this shot unfortunately.
For a background on the Pagoda, how it came to be and it’s history over the years, check this page out : http://www.pagodaskyline.org/pagoda/
I bracketed five RAW frames for this shot and HDR’ed them with Photomatix Pro to bring out the dramatic and ominous clouds. I like “ominous” :–D
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landscape,
Photos
by Gregg Obst on January 3, 2009
in Photos
I had noticed this particular male Mallard a couple of months ago at the Fleetwood Park Pond. He only has one leg. I’m not sure if he was born that way ot a snapping turtle or a trap or dog got him or what but I can tell you he holds his own in the world. He flies in and out of the pond with the other ducks and stands tough in some of the flock’s territorial squabbles.
When the pond ices over, I along with several other town’s folk, tend to go down and feed them bread since they can’t get to their usual food source. I always make sure “Stumpy” as I’ve come to know him, gets an extra helping of bread. There’s also a Mallard hen with a severe limp. I call her “Ilene” and she also gets an extra helping of bread.
Taken on 1-3-2009.
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Fleetwood-Park,
Photos
