Flower Photography Workshop

 Flower Photography Workshop

April 18 2015

Langley BC

Nature Workshop Registration

We will be meeting at the Houston Barn on Allard Crescent at 10 a.m.

No Better Place To Be

Oct 29 2014 Ladner and Brunswick Point, Roberts Bank Nature Reserve Sunny 17c

For those who live in the British Columbia's Lower Mainland the autumn and winter can bring more than a few rainy days. As I write this journal October 30th it's pouring. It's not much fun birding in the rain so when the weather forecast called for sunny breaks I decided to visit Brunswick Point via Delta's Hornby Drive.
Most of the morning was spent scoping distant flocks, looking for signs of the Pacific Golden Plover  amongst a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers. The birds were huddled together taking cover from the strong winds coming off Boundary Bay.
Because of the high tide and the accompanying swells there was very little activity on the dyke so I made my way to Ladner, taking a circuitous route to see if I could spot any raptors. Sure enough I spotted a Merlin perched atop a bush. I barely had time to jump from the car and shoot a few handheld frames before the raptor swooped away from me and nailed a shorebird (Dunlin I think)

Juvenile Merlin (Falco columbarius)
Shot from quite a distance this Merlin perches moments before making a kill.

If there were any artistic value of showing the results of the kill I would but it was gruesome. I'll leave it up to your imagination.

Next up was the Brunswick Point Tropical Kingbird that has been delighting birders and photographers with its acrobatic feeding displays. The bird which should be moving south is a rare visitor to the Vancouver area. The last sighting was two or three years ago in Delta.
This was my third visit to photograph the bird. For the first effort I took my Tamron 150mm-600mm but I found it a bit sluggish for the flight shots. To be fair I did have a few which were OK (See previous blogs for more flight shots)
This time I took my 500mm F4 and tripod and a Nikon D3s which shoots 8 frames a second and has a larger buffer for shooting raw files. Previously I used the D7100 which is a fine camera but painfully slow and has a very slow buffer hindering my ability to get more than the odd clear shot.
For better or worse here are some of the results, although not perfect they are an improvement over last week's efforts. It seems practice and patience are the only way to get better images. More about that in later blogs.

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus)

A distant shot of the Tropical Kingbird about to catch an insect. The bird fed incessantly from the time I arrived until I left.

More Tropical Kingbird shots:

I can see why they are called Tyrant flycatchers, that fearsome bill would fit right into a Game of Thrones episode.

Not to be cynical but this type of shot is often called a 'Bird on a Stick' shot.
However some birds look better on a stick than others!

I dislike some of the expressions birders use, the 'Bird on a Stick' is one, the other is 'Dirt Bird' No bird deserves that moniker. 

Anyway the shot above took a lot of patience, a kickback to when I use to be an angler, camping out all night out to catch enormous carp and tench. Catch and release of course!
I would have been happy with any shot if the bird was only around for a few hours but this guy has been here for two weeks and doesn't seem too perturbed by all the attention he/she is attracting.

To find the bird on a branch that didn't have a cluttered background took hours of waiting. I additionally bisected the frame at each corner by careful cropping in Lightroom© and have left a few branches in the bottom of the frame. I think they give the image a little more of a three dimensional effect. I could have Photo-shopped them out but I don't think it was necessary or ethical. I also placed the bird in the bottom left of the frame using the tried and trusted two-thirds rule.

As I was getting carried away with the kingbird and the warm weather I 'accidentally' took this picture below. Talk about a lucky shot, it is my first American Robin flight shot. Maybe that is something to practice on with the commoner birds..Hmmm!

Maybe i'll assign myself that little project and see what I can come up with.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
I like this shot and that is all that matters. I like the symmetry of the wings.

There were breaks in the action when the kingbird would simply take off to catch an insect hundreds of metres away. During one such interval a Northern Harrier flew by and I was able to get off two frames.

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

Finally, when the day was coming an end a Robin perched in front of the kingbird. I thought the mixture of tones, colours and two species of birds, one common and the other a scarce vagrant an interesting juxtaposition. I quickly took two shots so that both birds would be in focus. The shot with the robin out of focus and kingbird in focus doesn't look right so i'll just remember that moment in my mind's eye and leave the memory there. The one below works better.

American Robin and Tropical Kingbird.

I've travelled around the world, visited some iconic places, met some amazing people and photographed a wide variety of creatures but honestly, it would be very hard to beat this particular day in the Lower Mainland. 

"It's never too late to start birding"

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

I went Birding Thursday

       Feb 6 2014 New Brighton Park Vancouver B.C -5 Sunny and very, very cold for B.C.

Vancouver is experiencing some wonderful sunny weather albeit unusually cold. As long as one wears plenty of clothing (I can hear those in the rest of Canada laughing) it is a pleasure to be outdoors.
The assignment for Thursday was to photograph a Gyrfalcon that has returned to New Brighton Park  in Vancouver. The speedy falcon has been feasting on pigeons which are attracted to a nearby granary crammed full of delicious Canadian wheat. Yummy for the pigeons and doubly yummy for the gyrfalcon which is dining on tasty grain fed pigeon several times a day.

A Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) heads toward a unsuspecting flock of pigeons.





Unfortunately the best place to stand with a clear view of the Viterra Granary is in the shade which meant a very cold wait. I spent two hours waiting patiently for the Gyrfalcon to launch itself off the conveyer belt which itself is about two hundred feet off the ground. 

A Gyrfalcon scatters a flock of pigeons. Several attacks were made without success. On one occasion a pigeon was snagged but got away. I missed the shot.

After dropping the prey the Gyrfalcon looks below but it had plunged into the water.

What can I say, the wait was well worth it despite the cold. I not only secured my first ever photographs of a gyrfalcon I was blessed to witnesses one of Nature's most powerful and beautiful performers go about its daily ritual.

The Gyrfalcon heads back to its perch ready for another foray.

Good Birding

John Gordon

                                                                           ******

Warblers and More!

April 30, 2013.  Richmond Park East, Richmond, B.C. Sunny
Richmond Park East was teeming with newly arrived warblers. Several large flocks of Yellow-rumped and dozens of Orange-crown warblers are busy feeding on insects, probably stocking up for the next leg of their journey northward. I have never seen so many birds in one place.
Deep within the forest, a Rufous hummingbird incubates a clutch of eggs. The nest is perched at the very end of a flimsy cedar branch. Across a sun drenched glade an American Goldfinch sings loudly from a treetop, a Downy woodpecker drums on a stump, and the rasping sounds of the Pine Siskins can be heard everywhere. Meanwhile Black-capped chickadees, Varied and Hermit Thrushes were all busy going about their business.
There were so many birds to focus on that it took an hour to walk a 100 metres!

Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

As mentioned in a previous blog, my highlight last week had been the Palm Warbler and the Dicksissel. Todays surprise, another 'lifer' was a colourful Townsend's Warbler. At the time I had been photographing the Yellow-rumped Warblers and thought that one of the birds had looked different but with so many hybrids I didn't realize what I had captured until later that evening while sorting through my files in Lightroom.

As I only have one frame (below) I'll include for identification purposes.

Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi) 

 It seemed that a good proportion of the flocks encountered were hybridized Yellow-rumped warblers. This bird (below) has a white and yellow chin while some birds had very dark colouring and others were predominately white bodies with all white chins.

Hybridized Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata)
Myrtle and Audubon

Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufu)

A rufous hummingbird sits on a nest made of lichen. The nest was so close to the end of a flimsy branch that predators would have difficulty approaching.

Hammond's flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii)

Earlier in the day I stopped off at Queen Elizabeth Park where I photographed a Copper's Hawk, a Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, Hutton's Vireo and this Hammond'a Flycatcher.

White-winged crossbills (Burnaby Lake)

Jan 10 2013 Burnaby Lake, Burnaby, British Columbia

In the Vancouver area the White-winged crossbill is normally found at higher elevations where it feeds on the conifer seeds of the Western hemlock and Spruce. For whatever reason a flock of perhaps 30-40 of these colourful birds have spent the past month or more at Burnaby Lake, a lowland lakeside location where they are very rarely or if ever seen. The flock was spotted during the Audubon Christmas bird count and may have otherwise been overlooked.
As normal with rare or unusual bird sightings, scores of birders and photographers have been trudging alone the trails at the base of Piper Ave to view the birds. For many of us the bird is a "Lifer" which with the Bramble earlier in the day made it two for the day.
I hope the birds stay around for a few more days as I hope to get some better images as these were taken from quite a distance.

Adult male White-winged crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)

Adult female

Owls Bitterns and Tree Sparrows

Jan 1st 2013 Boundary Bay, British Columbia, Canada

Pea Soup Foggy

A thick fog covered the landscape and for brief moment or two the sun peeks through the cloud. It was cold and dull as I poured a cup of coffee from my flask. For the first few minutes no birds were apparent but as the minutes passed the sighting of a Northern harrier and the sound of songbirds drew me in.

I decided to see what I could find ( I really need all the exercise I can get) after eating too much Gravy Bird (Turkey) and chocolates that were gifted us over the holidays. Thanks to you all, may the good cheer continue. May I also be able to fit back into my pants (trousers) again! Hmmm, probably need to going on more birding walks to lose the pounds!

Back to the birding. I was looking for the American tree sparrows that had been spotted along on 72nd and the dyke. They had been pointed out to me by photographer Raymond Ng. I wasn't really happy with my first effort so I decided to go back and have another go.

The first bird I encountered was an American bittern that was feeding in an open ditch, I stumbled on it as I followed the tree sparrows. The bird landed on a Himalayan blackberry bush for a few moments before flying off to an adjoining field.

An American bittern melds into the surroundings .

American tree sparrow

I continued walking the dyke for another hour when I again found the elusive sparrows feeding on seed. I spent the next thirty minutes following them from post to branch to seed heads where this picture was eventually taken, just four frames and then the bird was gone. The lack of sun and a temperature that barely rose above freezing meant the plants were still laden with moisture from the morning hoar frost.
Later, as I approached my car I noticed a large group of people huddled together peering at what turned out to be a Long-eared owl that had hidden itself in a hawthorn bush.

I'm glad I made the effort as it was a great way to kick off 2013!

Long-eared owl

Happy Birding

Christmas Bird Count Publicity

See previous blog for more owl pictures.

Rough-legged hawk, Barnston Island, Surrey
Pitt Meadows Bird Count Dec 15th 2012
© John Gordon Photography

Check the link below for more information

http://www.langleytimes.com/news/185061191.html

Boundary Bay Birding or raking leaves!

Nov 24, 2012 Boundary Bay, Delta British Columbia. Cool and Sunny.

The big decision was to either go birding or rake the thousands of leaves lining the driveway.
By the time I arrived at the parking lot at Boundary Bay and 72nd Ave it was already full of vehicles. It was not only a glorious morning for birding or walking the dog but with the added bonus of Snowy owls that have returned for the second time in two years.
Often overlooked by the casual visitor are the Short-eared owls (see below) and the Rough-legged hawks which can be seen hovering above in the nearby fields. There are also numerous Northern harrier whose antics while hunting can be quite amusing, sometimes they even steal the prey from the Short-eared owls (see previous blog)

The one of many voles caught by this short-eared owl during an afternoon hunting session.

Short-eared owl flies away with a vole in it's talons. 

Other birds noted were Northern shrike, American robin, Yellow-rumped warbler, Song sparrow, White-crowned sparrow, Savannah sparrow, Western meadowlark, Northern flicker, Bald eagle and Snowy owl.

A Bald eagle surveys the Boundary Bay Golf course.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Self-assignment (Better flight shots)

Nov 10, 2012 Delta B.C
Sometimes we are slaves to our thinking and that certainly relates to how we sometimes use our gear and approach our subject matter.
I had visited 104th St in Delta to photograph the Tropical kingbird with the idea of getting a few decent flight shots. My previous tripod mounted efforts left much to be desired.
For me, hand holding a heavy and somewhat cumbersome 500 F4 for long periods of time is no easy task. Even the best autofocus systems can have difficulty keeping up with the erratic swooping up and down motion of a bird that is 'hawking' insects.
Waiting for the Kingbird to leave its perch took a great deal of concentration, it meant holding the camera to the eye for several minutes at a time.
In this case a good method to steady a handheld camera is to place both arms against the ribs (forming a tripod) and squeeze the camera body while pressing the shutter button, this technique keeps the lens steady leaving the photographer to concentrate of the flight path of the bird.
With this approach I was able to capture a number in-focus shots, a far higher success rate that was achieved using a Gimbal head and tripod.
I hope this helps your photography, I was certainly helped me achieve my self-assigned project.

So Many Sandpipers!

Oct 30, 2012 Pouring rain.
Who knew there were so many types of Sandpipers, ninety four world-wide. To the casual observer (non birder type of person) there is little to tell one Sandpiper from another but to the skilled observer tell tale markings like leg colour, shape or length of beak or habitat are some of the clues needed to differentiate one from another.
This year, with the help of a number of birders I have learnt to locate, identify and photograph a number of the Sandpiper family. They include the Stilt, Pectoral, Sharp-tailed, Least, Solitary, Spotted and Western Sandpipers, Long-billed curlew, Marbled godwit, Black-turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin, Willet, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Long-billed and Short-billed dowitchers, Wilson's snipe, Wilson's and Red-necked phalarope.
Today I added the Rock sandpiper to the list, thanks to fellow birder Tak who phoned Raymond and I who had retreated to McDonald's to have a  coffee and warm up. The three of us found the birds on the ferry causeway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Ferries during a typical B.C. downpour.

Rock sandpiper was feeding with a flock Black turnstones

Preening

It would have been easier to to say home on this grey and cloudy day but I am glad I didn't. Maybe there will be chance to go back when there is some 'Sweet light' but for the moment I'm just happy to have seen this bird for the first time.

Rough-legged hawks 'Another Lifer'

Two 'Lifers' in one day can't be bad especially, after all the rain we have had. A pair of Rough-legged hawks, one a dark morph were feeding along the trail at 72nd in Delta. Despite the amount of foot traffic, people with dogs running amok and hunters blasting ducks this pair seemed unconcerned. Other birds in the area included an American kestrel and Northern harrier.

Dark morph variety.

Rough-legged hawk hovering.

Tropical kingbird a big draw and "LIFER"

The colourful Tropical kingbird first sighted at Blackie Spit Oct 21st has been a big draw for birders in the Lower Mainland. The Tropical kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) is a rare but regular visitor to the B.C. Coast. For the past week it could have been found easily by looking for a crowd of people with tripods and spotting scopes at the end of 104th St in Delta. It even became a family event with birders bringing their children to see the colourful yellow visitor.
Later in the day I photographed my second "Lifer" of the day a Rough-legged hawk. See following blog.

Could be sharper but.......not a bird on a stick!

The Tropical kingbird has a longer beak than does the Western.

A Mixed Bag

Oct 25th 2012 Mixed cloud and sun.
 Iona Regional Park Richmond B.C.
With family commitments put away and the weather forecast predicting a dry and sunny day I set off for Iona Regional Park in Richmond. Driving up to the parking lot five Western meadowlarks could be seen eagerly searching for food. These prairie birds seem to feel quite at home on the sand that has been deposited here over the millennium. Meadowlarks are most noticeable when they perch in the few bushes which have sprouted up along the beach, however they do spend most of their time scurrying around in the long grass, ever wary of the northern harrier and other raptors looking for a meal.
As per usual I met number of really interesting birders and photographers, exchanging niceties about lens length etc (a male obsession), bird lore and the latest sightings.. it beats working!
 My favourite shot of the day was the Goldfinch (below) which was taken half-way through once such discussion, it pays to keep attentive!

American goldfinch  

Northern Harrier hunting.

Keeping an eye out for trouble!

Great horned owl (note the white around the throat)

Anyway, after photographing a flock of American goldfinches that were feeding on seed heads the subject of a Great horned owl came up in  conversation. This news sent me scurrying off to the Terra Nova garden allotments in Richmond. A small murder of crows immediately gave away the owls location. The bird has become quite the celebrity, it barely moved as a procession of schools groups and seniors filed to get a good look. It was perched about fifteen feet from the ground where it nonchalantly  viewed all and sundry.
The bird has become quite the hunter dispatching two barn owls over the last few  days. Apparently the Great horned owl doesn't like competition, it has even attacked a gardener!

In Search of Rusty

The Spit: Burnaby Lake Regional Park Oct 2, 2012
It wasn't hard to find the Rusty blackbirds, all one had to do was follow the steady stream of photographers and "birders" who had congregated at the lake's boardwalk. It had been several years since a Rusty had been seen in Vancouver so the birds have been drawing a steady stream of visitors all Thanksgiving weekend.
I'm not too sure why, but even passersby using their iPhones were snapping pix, what they'll do with the images is anybody's guess. Perhaps they didn't want to feel left out!
I digress, The two birds were very obliging, feeding on grain and insects at close range. The key was waiting for the little sun to break through the morning fog so as to illuminate their colourful plumage.

The Rusty blackbird (Non breeding female)

 The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a medium-sized blackbird, closely related to grackles (Rusty Grackle is an older name for the species).

Note the rusty crown and prominent pale supercilium of the Fall famale.

Habitat

Their breeding habitat is wet temperate coniferous forests and muskeg across Canada and Alaska. The cup nest is located in a tree or dense shrub, usually over water. Birds often nest at the edge of ponds/wetland complexes and travel large distances to feed at the waters edge. Emerging dragonflies and their larvae are important food items during the summer.

These birds migrate to the eastern and southeastern United States, into parts of the Grain Belt, sometimes straying into Mexico.

Much of the time is spent in the water feeding on aquatic insects and plant matter.

Ever on the lookout for a tasty morsel, the Rusty blackbird poses for the camera at Burnaby Lake.

Least Sandpiper

Least sandpiper showing fall plumage (Boundary Bay)

The Least sandpiper is the smallest Pacific peep. It feeds in and around tide pools, picking off insects wherever they can be found. This particular bird came within ten feet of me, too close even to focus, it allowed me to watch it feeding, preening and sleeping. As I lay motionless it was joined by five Semipalmated plovers, a small flock of Pectorals and an American golden-plover.
I was able to back away from all the birds without disturbing their behavoir.

Long Distance Traveler

The breeding habitat of American Golden Plover is Arctic tundra from northern Canada and Alaska. They nest on the ground in a dry open area. They are migratory and winter in southern South America. They follow an elliptical migration path; northbound birds pass through Central America about January–April and stage in great numbers in places like Illinois before their final push north. In fall, they take a more easterly route, flying mostly over the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea to the wintering grounds in Patagonia. (Wikipedia)

American golden-plover/ Boundary Bay

The bird has one of the longest known migratory routes of over 25,000 miles. Of this, 2,400 miles is over open ocean where it cannot stop to feed or drink. It does this from body fat stores that it stocks up on prior to the flight. It is a regular vagrant to western Europe.

Pectorals, Least and Turnstones

August in British Columbia has been so warm that it was a welcome relief to head out to Boundary Bay where a cool breeze beckoned.
Flocks of Mallard and other assorted ducks use the calm waters of the bay to complete their summer moult. In some places the sand is so covered in white downy feathers that it looks like the sandy beach is covered in snow.
Along the waterline Black-bellied plovers, Sanderlings, Western sandpipers and a few Black turnstones stop over to feed and refuel before continuing their journey along the Pacific flyway to Central and South America. Some birds will cover as much seven thousand kilometres before reaching their destination. Further up the beach in small pools of brackish water trapped by earlier tides a pair of Least sandpipers dart quickly from tussock to shallow pool feeding on sand flies and other insects. The diminutive little birds freeze and crouch as a Northern harrier glides overhead, only to carry on feeding when they feel the danger has past. I spend five minutes or so with the birds, eventually they are only a few feet away.
johngordonsphotography

Least sandpiper

Pectoral sandpiper

Black turnstone