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Great Blue Heron raises his head from the task of fishing and notices me. We had quite the staring contest going on for several minutes. He eventually gave in and went back to fishing. From my trip to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ on 7-11-2009.
For more information on Great Blue Herons, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
On the way back from the Gull Pond area and back towards the wildlife drive, I saw several Great Egrets sitting in a tree on the corner of the Gull Pond. I stopped and setup my tripod in an area with just barely enough room to see between the trees. Two of the Egrets were engaged in some sort of altercation that can only be described as being similar to a third grade child’s “I know you are but what am I ?” type of argument during recess. They would stand on branches and each would raise its neck a few inches to try and top the height of the other one. Up, up, up their necks would go until they could extend no further. A few tense seconds would elapse as the one who was still shorter would have to give up, after which the melee below would take place with lots of wing waving and squawking and grunting. Then things would calm down for thirty seconds until they would resume the neck raising contest again. Had the Egret on the right just moved to a branch more level with the other Egret, it would have been a more fair contest and maybe worthy of a little less drama. It was a blast to watch.
From my 7-3-2009 trip to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
For more information on Great Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
The older (by one week) of the two Osprey chicks at nest # 4 takes flight, even if for just a few feet and a few seconds. I watched both chicks take turns taking flight today. Within a week I think they will have this stuff mastered. I noticed that all the Ospreys at the refuge looked to be banded recently. This is great news. Now we’ll be able to track their progress over the coming years as they mature, migrate and hopefully come back.
From my Saturday 7-11-2009 trip to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ.
For more information on Osprey, visit the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
Watch your back dear, your brother is trying to parallel park…
The Russian and French Judges withhold the awarding of points until the contestant has clearly stuck the landing.
It’s 7:26 AM, do you know where your Egrets and Herons are ?
The clouds were pretty thick for most of the early morning so instead of trying to venture out onto the wildlife drive to photograph birds in the early morning hours, I opted for an alternative strategy. I noticed rays of sun trying to burst out from places in the cloud cover so I changed heads on my tripod and grabbed my Sigma 10-20mm lens, cable release and Cokin Pro-Z filter set and climbed to the top of the observation tower at the end of the Gull Pond. From there I was given great 360 views and set this shot up so that when the sun did finally burst through, I was ready to capture it.
I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames with a Cokin Pro-Z Neutral Density ND-4 filter and a Tobacco gray 2 filter mounted to combat the sun’s strong oncoming rays and bring out some of the color of the marsh. I then combined those frames into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and then, tone mapped that image to create an output image.
An Osprey banks during a flight back to its nest. From my 6-13-2009 trip to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ.
For more information on Osprey, visit the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
I made my way back down to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ on 6-13-2009 to observe and photograph all the many different kinds of birds and other creatures that reside there. On this trip, I wanted to try and concentrate on some new techniques and ways I thought I could get some better shots of the birds. I also wanted to spend some more time with the Ospreys there since the chicks were now visibile in the nests.
Osprey flies overhead.
I spotted these Thistle plants on the right side of the road just after the first left turn on the eight mile wildlife drive at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ during my 6-13-2009 trip. I forgot to bring the 70-200mm that lens I had planned to use for macro shots with the Canon 500D closeup filter so instead I just took this shot with my Sigma 50-500mm while sitting in the car shooting across through the passenger side window. Have I mentioned the 50-500mm can be a real S.O.B. to hand hold ? Must remember to review my checklist next time to make sure I have not forgotten any important lenses before I leave.
Two Black Skimmers attack the surface of the water at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on 6-13-2009. They are a blast to watch.
When they “skim” they lower the lower half of their long bill into the water surface and fly along at a fast pace hoping to scoop up small fish. It’s amazing to watch how nature has equipped and adapted each of the different bird species at the refuge to use whatever they have in order to catch fish and survive. These guys attack the water like a fighter jet coming in and strafing it’s target. For more information on Black Skimmers visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Last weekend I didn’t see any chicks in the nest. Today there was one young chick and an older one that, just estimating, is probably about a week or two older than its sibling. This photo shows the older of the two with the Mom. The younger one is quite a bit smaller and stayed low in the nest except for when the Mother was doling out fish that the Father Osprey brought to the nest. I noticed that when she fed the two chicks, she would feed the smallest one first then the older one, with bites for herself in between. For more information on Osprey, visit the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.
Two Common Terns fight over a fish. Can’t we all get along ? From my Saturday 6-13-2009 trip down to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ. The Tern on the left, having the advantage of being able to dig his feet into the wood for leverage, won this fight. For more information on Common Terns visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Snowy Egret slowly steps through the marsh to get a closer look at some fish he has spotted. For more information on Snowy Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
This Common Tern must have hovered directly over me for several minutes, affording me every possible angle I wanted. I tried to get him back lit with the sun to see if I could illuminate the tail feathers and this is the closest of those shots.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
I spent a second day at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ observing and photographing all the many different kinds of birds and other creatures that reside there. I wanted to go back on Sunday to work on some techniques that after reviewing Saturday’s photos, I felt needed to be worked on. These are some shots from my Sunday trip.
I decided to take a second lap around the 8 mile wildlife drive loop because the light was just perfect by then. The very first thing I saw when I rounded the first turn and headed down the first part of the drive was this Black-crowned Night Heron sitting in one of the pools on the left. It wasn’t moving at all. He just stood there and posed for me. For more information on Black-Crowned Night Hersons visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
On my second lap of the 8 mile wildlife drive loop, the sun was in the late afternoon magic hour and the light was golden and perfect. I pulled up along side this Snowy Egret in one of the inner fresh water pools near the end of the first leg of the 8 mile loop. I watched him watching the fish. We both waited. And waited. I had the Arca Swiss plate attached to the lenses tripod collar resting on my car window opening like a improvised tripod and we waited some more. Finally he lunged for his prize and came up with a tasty fish about four inches long. He quickly gulped it down and continued on fishing. For more information on Snowy Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Male Osprey returns to the nest with additional nesting material comprised of grass to help soften the nest for the female and her Osprey Chicks. For more information on Osprey, visit the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.
saw several of these Diamondback terrapins crossing over the dike that forms the barrier between the fresh water pools and the brackish salt water marshes at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday 6-7-2009. They cross over the dike during June to find suitable nesting grounds for their eggs. They eat mollusks, fiddler crabs and occasionally small fish.
Common Tern hovers over an area where fresh water is allowed to flow through the dike out into the brackish salt water marsh. Fish are often carried through this flow of water and the Terns hover over the area waiting for sight of a fish and when then see one, they dive violently downward into the water to grab their prey. For more information on Common Terns visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
A Great Egret flies across my path, illuminated by the late afternoon sun.
Earlier in the day, I had overheard a conversation that a woman was having with another photographer friend of hers and she mentioned that she had just seen a Stilt on the opening leg of the 8 mile wildlife drive loop and she described to him where she saw the bird. I decided that on my second lap on the loop I would try and find this bird since I had never seen one in the wild before.
Sure enough, this bird was amongst some Mallards that were foraging in the shallow fresh water pool on the left side of the drive not far from where I spotted the Black-crowned Night Heron. For more information on Black-necked Stilts visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
I spent the day at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ observing and photographing all the many different kinds of birds and other creatures that reside there. These are some shots from this day.
Great Egret. He stood there preening this way and that way, never really seaming to be happy and starting over again. He did cast a nice reflection though.
Great Blue Heron flies across one of the brackish salt water marshes.
I was watching this Great Egret for about an hour. The Egret was working the brackish channel looking for fish when this other Egret got, what the first Egret considered, “too close to his turf” and that’s when this little chase ensued.
Great Blue Heron struts his stuff after landing on the far shore of the marsh.
Another Great Blue Heron poses for me in the late day sun. He eventually stoped posing and caught some fish.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.
Herring Gull surveys his kingdom. A kingdom consisting of a citizenship totaling…one reflection. This guy certainly displayed a lot of attitude.
I made this image on my 4-26-2009 trip to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Herring Gulls, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
A little art via pixel punishing with one of my photos of a Common Tern at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, New Jersey on Sunday morning 4-26-2009.
I blended in two different textures to give this piece a feeling of the seaside. Thanks to Skeletal Mess for the Old Testament texture and Ghostbones for the heavenly texture.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Common Terns, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Snowy Egret makes a hasty retreat as a car approaches on the 8 mile wildlife drive loop at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, New Jersey on Sunday morning 4-26-2009.
I spent a lot of time with this guy on Sunday. Every time another car would slow or stop, he and his companion would fly to the other side of the channel, only to return once the car had passed. I remained still and he accepted my presence over a period of time and I was able to get some good shots of him until the next car would come along, lather, rinse, repeat…
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Snowy Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Snowy Egret looks around while trying to fish at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, New Jersey on Sunday morning 4-26-2009.
I spent a lot of time with this guy on Sunday. Every time another car would slow or stop, he and his companion would fly to the other side of the channel, only to return once the car had passed. I remained still and he accepted my presence over a period of time and I was able to get some good shots of him until the next car would come along the eight mile refuge drive.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Snowy Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Great Blue Heron swallows a small fish at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge outside in Oceanville, New Jersey which is just north of Atlantic City. This particular refuge features both fresh water and brackish (salt water) marshes and several nice forested trails. I spent the better part of the day on Sunday 3-22-2009 on the eight mile long Wildlife Drive which makes its way around and through much of the brackish marsh areas in the southern most reaches of the refuge. The refuge actually extends quite a distance north of where I was.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Great Blue Heron, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
I had never seen, nor heard, of this species of Goose before but the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ has quite a population of them. Taken on Sunday 3-22-2009.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Atlantic Brant, visit the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.
This GBH was sort of a hapless chap. He tried, really he tried, but he didn’t seem to be much of a fisherman. In the two hours I watched him, he only seemed to manage two very small fish to his credit. Hopefully, more productive days are ahead for him.
I spent the day at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge outside of Absecon, New Jersey which is just north of Atlantic City. This particular refuge features both fresh water and brackish (salt water) marshes and several nice forested trails. I spent the better part of the day on the eight mile long Wildlife Drive which makes its way around and through much of the brackish marsh areas in the southern most reaches of the refuge. The refuge actually extends quite a distance north of where I was.
For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe.
For more information on Great Blue Heron, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.