Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw the Cops

Emergency_0384.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I heard the siren many minutes before the car appeared near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. I've been meaning to practice panning with a slow shutter speed so I tried it.

CameraNikon D7000
Exposure0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperturef/8.0
Focal Length24 mm
ISO Speed100
Exposure Bias -1 EV

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw an Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe_2135.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I only spend a little more than an hour at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area tonight. I visited with a nice young couple and took some photos with of them with their camera.

After they left (usually stuff happens after people leave), I saw this eastern phoebe chasing a moth through the grass. It paused briefly for this photos and moved on quite quickly.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk_0985.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

When I drove up to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area tonight, I saw a white spot on the fence that looked out of place. As I walked up, I saw a red-tailed hawk. I quickly but slow and deliberately set my bag down and fired off the shot to the right.

This hawk was very intent on hunting. It would look up at me once in a while but didn't seen disturbed at all so I inched closer.




And a little closer...



And a little closer...



And closer yet...



And it flew off the plunge into the grass on a hunt...but I didn't get any shots of that...yet. It landed on the bluebird house...



Then it flew up to the top of the oak tree...



Then plunged back into the same spot of grass...but I don't think it was successful...



a little preening in the dead tree...



None of these shots are cropped. All were shot with the D7000 and Nikkor 500mm f4 with TC1.4eII

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Clouds

Cloud_0936.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw the clouds all day and couldn't wait to get out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area to shoot them.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Ambush Bugs Doing It

Ambush Bugs Doing It_0778.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I left the big glass at home tonight when I visited the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Saw these jagged ambush bugs doing it on a black-eyed susan. Shot it hand held with my new Nikkor 24-85G VR and the on-camera flash.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Sunset

Sunset_1189.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

As of right now, I have posted 398 sunsets from the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area to my Flickr page. Here is another one.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Dragonflies

Halloween Pennant_0504.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Saw a couple dragonflies today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. I also saw the swan pair, the momma common loon and young, a nice national guards solder.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Deer and Sunset

Deer and Sunset_0366_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Had to do a little handheld three exposure HDR to get the deer to show up without blowing out the sunset. I'm starting to like using HDR to get those extra stops. I was going to realistic but I think there is a little "Elvis on velvet"ishness in this one. What do you think?

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Lots of Bluebirds

Bluebird_0008.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This eastern bluebird momma flew right up and landed about 15 feet from me at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. They do that on occasion because I move slow and deliberate. If you make sudden movements or loud noises, it scares them off. For this shot I had to move the focus limiter switch so I could get close focus and move a dial to a preset I have programmed for a slower shutter (in order get my ISO down) all without disturbing her. She only hung around for a few seconds and flew away once a clicked off about 10 shots.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Flowers

Butter and Eggs_9743.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Lots of flower variety at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area Today.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Common Yellow-throat

Yellow-throat_9544.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw the yellow-throat family skillfully bug hunting tonight at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. They are very quick little birds so I was fortunate to catch this one hopping around on the trail.

The sunset was pretty cool tonight too:

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Buck

Buck_9293.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This formerly 8 point buck snuck up on me tonight at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. He has a broken tine on the right side of his rack. I was shooting into the sun.

I got my D7000 back from Nikon and it now auto focuses perfectly.

Saw an osprey fly over with a fish and a female common yellow-throat in the fence.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Green Heron

Green Heron_0965.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This morning at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw a green herons perching and stretching on a tree branch. Occasionally, I've seen them fly over but one has never stopped at the WVA.

I saw a huge variety of birds and animals today: white-tailed deer, mice, a rabbit, dragonflies, red-winged blackbird, eastern bluebird, two purple martins, house sparrows, song sparrows, rose-breasted grosbeaks, gold finches, house finches, eastern phoebes, osprey, common loons, great blue herons, great egrets, ring-billed gulls, herring gull, common tern, common yellow-throat, brown-headed cowbird, gray catbird, American robin, blue jay and northern cardinals.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Duped Yellow-throat

Confused Yellow-throat_0793.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Today at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw one of the most interesting behaviors yet.

Brown-headed cowbirds are sneaky parasitic birds. They don't build nests because they lay their eggs in other bird's nests. Their young grow up faster and end up pushing the other birds out of the nest. For some reason, the nest owner doesn't realize the baby isn't really a member of the family.

Today, I saw a young cowbird making a constant racket on the barbed-wire. Within a minute or so I saw a flash of yellow appear and disappear. I slowly moved closer with the tripod and trained the camera on the little bird. Turns out a common yellow-throat was feeding this young cowbird. Very interesting given the cowbird is so much bigger than the yellow-throat. See video below.

As always, click on any of the images to embiggen and click on the video for HD and full screen.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Swans in the Fog

Swans_0192.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

It was a little foggy at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area this morning. I watched these two swans feeding and snapped this pic when the fog was right.

I also saw an osprey, a gull, flowers, a butterfly, a young robin and a deer:

Previously Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw an Old Building

Old Building_4183_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Previously near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw this old building with a red spot on it. I have no idea why there is a red spot on the side of this building. There are remnants of an old railroad track in front of this building.

Previously Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Dragonfly

Dragonfly_7676.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Found this dragonfly while counting butterflies with St. Paul Audubon on June 30th.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Butterfly Weed in Monochrome

Butterfly Weed_9867_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

These beautiful orange flowers at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area are called Butterfly Weed. They grow in bunches all over the area. I decided to mess with Silver Efex Pro 2 tonight for a monochrome perspective. What do you think?

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Butterfly Weed

Bridge and Clouds_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The orange flowers you see in this shot are called Butterfly Weed. They are in full bloom at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area today. If you like bright orange flowers, stop by soon.

I made this particular shot and processed as an HDR from three exposures two stops apart, handheld. The sky and clouds were too bright when I exposed for the grass and flowers. HDR worked perfectly for this situation.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Five Loons

Five Loons_9330.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This morning at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw five active common loons. They were swimming, dancing and chasing each other around today.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Sunrise

Sunrise_8907.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I got up early and made my way to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area for sunrise the other day. It was so hot and humid that my camera immediately fogged up. I thought I had the lens de-fogged but not quite for this photo. I added a little Glamour Glow from Nik Software's Color Efex Pro4. I still can't figure out how I got that weird single horizontal flare.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Cedar Waxwings

Cedar Waxwings_8826_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

A group of about 10 cedar waxwings flew into this bush and ate some berries at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. It was already 80F at 6am when I arrived. The humidity was jungle.

I saw five common loons in the area. The female osprey left the nest to get some new sticks for the nest. The butterfly weed is blooming all over the place.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, It was Cold

Frost at the TCAAP WVAD7K_5621, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Back on February 4, 2012, it was cold, beautiful and comfortable. Today, it's about 100F. Meh. I'm not going out in that.