I got spend some time in the AHATS tonight and it was a big night of firsts for me. Although the clouds didn't sync with the photo ops, I had lots of fun.
The bird on the right is an American Kestrel. I saw a pair of males hunting from the power polls and lines. They are usually very skittish and don't let even a car pull up very close. This one was true to form but when I got out of the truck, it came back with what looked like a skink or snake. The light was awful but I had to document the birds. I'll be posting the sighting on The Raptor Center's website because they track these birds in particular.
The most exciting part of the evening was seeing two beavers. I was told they were around and saw their lodge up close this winter. The sun was long gone behind the hills so this shot is very noisy and icky. I saw five swans on the lake tonight. These two didn't care for the beaver. At one point, the beaver slapped it's tail and dove under one of the floating bogs.
I also saw two muskrats grooming each other. Didn't get a decent shot though but it was fun seeing them.
I accidentally surprised a red-tailed hawk so it let out the classic scream at me as it flew away. I've heard it countless times in movies and on TV (mostly associated with the wrong bird...dumb Hollywood) but there's nothing like hearing it person knowing it's directed at you.
These two deer were in a group of three...also very dark and high ISO but I like the pose and composition. I got a decent photo of a
male eastern bluebird. And got a shot of my nemesis
coming in for a landing in nice light.
Lastly, the sun looked really amazing just before it set.
