Canada Geese At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Canada Geese at Blackwater NWR: Canon 7D- 28-135mm 5.6 EF at 35mm- 1/400 sec. f 5.6-ISO 400

February can yield many excellent photo opportunities, but sometimes one must travel to find them. Last year my brother Coy and I made two trips to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. So far we have been able to go this year because of his work schedule and inclement weather on the days it would have been otherwise possible to go.  Even though Canada Geese are a common species, I love to watch and photograph them and we had a lot of opportunities to photograph them.  I especially liked the mood created by the early morning light in these photographs.

Early Morning at Blackwater NWR: Canon 7D- 100-400mm 5.6  Lat 400mm- 1/400 sec. f 5.6-ISO 800

Canada Geese In Flight: Canon 7D- 100-400mm 5.6  Lat 400mm-- 1/3200 sec. f 7.1-ISO 400

One may also see the birds feeding in fields by the roadside. I am always reminded of James Michener's great novel "Chesapeake" when I think of the Canada Geese and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Feeding By The Roadside: Canon 7D- 100-400mm 5.6  L at 180mm-- 1/400sec. f 7.1-ISO 400

Of course Blackwater is also home to many other species of waterfowl, birds of prey, songbirds and mammals.

American Coot: Canon 7D- 100-400mm 5.6  L at 400mm-- 1/1000sec. f 7.1-ISO 200

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Beating The Winter Wildlife Photography Doldrums

February is well underway and although the weather here is not as brutal as it was in many years in the past, it is still a struggle for both humans and wildlife to survive.  Sometimes the winter doldrums are broken by frequent sightings of species such as golden eagles and bald eagles, but this is not the case this year. 

Eagle At Conowingo, MD: Canon 7D- 500mmF4, ISO 100- 1/500 sec. f5

When other species are hard to find, one can always turn to birds that are commonly seen at the feeders.  I maintain a back country feeding station, which is set up so the birds may be photographed in their natural environment.

Male Downy Woodpecker: Canon 40D- 500mmF4, ISO 400- 1/6000 sec. f5

 The downy woodpecker shown above paused for a moment on a section of hollow sassafras stump, which has several large woodpecker holes in it.  The feed is placed on a partition installed in the hollow core of the trunk which keeps a suitable supply of feed just below the holes. The photo below shows the feeder and its' natural surroundings.

Natural Feeding Station

At one time I would have mowed the "weeds" that surrounded this, but I learned that leaving certain species resulted in improved backgrounds. Note the broken stalk of Pokeweed in the upper right tangent of the photograph.  That provided a natural perch for the female cardinal shown below.

Female Cardinal: Canon 40D- 500mm F4, ISO 100- 1/2500 sec. f5

The weathered trunk to the right of the sassafras feeder provided a wonderful perch on which to capture a portrait of a White-throated Sparrow.

White-throated Sparrow: Canon 40D- 500mmF4, ISO 400- 1/2500 sec. f7.1

The sassafras tree did not grow in this spot, but the broken off section of locust tree did.  The sassafras log was found lying on the ground in another area, transported to this spot and cut to an acceptable length.  It was then anchored to nearby objects with thin metal straps and lag bolts, which were painted brown and camouflaged as good as possible.  Since the lowest hole was several feet from the ground and the log was completely hollow, I sealed it off about a foot below the lower hole by spraying foam insulation inside the trunk to provide a platform for the seed.

With a bit of creative thinking, one can beat the winter doldrums without having to travel long distances in search of suitable subjects--at least until conditions are right to make a trip in search of more esoteric subjects.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

The Antlers Are Shed

Whitetail bucks shed their antlers each year after the rut. It seems that the smaller bucks in this area usually shed during Christmas week or somewhat later, with the largest often being among the last to shed.  This year only two of the yearling bucks returned after the rut and only one stayed long enough that I could document the shedding of his antlers.  He had both spikes on January 2, but when he appeared on the morning of the 3rd, the left antler was gone.

Spike Buck-One Antler Shed: Canon 5D MK III 500mm F4 -1/400 sec. f4.5-ISO 1000

He still had this antler on the morning of the 4th, but it was gone when he appeared in late afternoon.  I was able to photograph the raw pedicle with the 500mm F4, but the image is severely cropped to give it impact.

Raw Pedicle: Canon 5D MK III 500mm F4 -1/2000 sec. f4.5-ISO 400

 I have seen bucks with antlers in early to mid-February and have heard of them still having antlers as late as early April, but it seems that most have lost them by mid-February. This pattern has held true in my home area for several years, but the normal order of things seems to have changed at Shenandoah National Park.

I used to visit Shenandoah National Park to photograph whitetail bucks during the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend, and one always saw several mature bucks still carrying antlers, but  Larry W. Brown reports in a post on Flickr, Full Circle-Part 1 , that this is the second year in a row that the bucks have shed early.  I am not sure why the time frame on shedding has shifted.  One could  suspect that it was a side effect of the tranquilizer from the collaring program, but that would not explain that they also shed early in 2011.

Also be sure to read Larry's post Full Circle-Part 2 for more about the research program and a look at how visitor numbers plummeted in November 2012.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Introducing Dan Gomola

Interest in serious wildlife photography seems to be steadily increasing.  When I first visited Pennsylvania Elk Country, it was very rare to see photographers with professional grade equipment, but now there is a thriving photographic community that gathers on Winslow Hill each year. I always enjoy meeting or corresponding with fellow photographers so it was a pleasure to receive an e-mail from.Dan Gomola, who is an excellent photographer from Western Pennsylvania.  Dan loves to photograph the flora and fauna of Pennsylvania Elk Country, as well as other areas of special interest such as Gettysburg National Military Park, McConnell's Mill, and Moraine State Park.

Dan Gomola

You may see Dan's work by visiting his Website dangomola.com, which  features several photo galleries including Nature and Wildlife, Landscape & Historic, and A Good Day At The Lake, along with video clips of Pennsylvania elk. To view the website click the above link or click  Dan's portrait.

Dan's favorite prime lens is the Canon 300mm F2.8, which he uses with the Canon 1.4XEF III extender, and  Canon 2xEF III extender when the need for more reach arises.

According to Dan, "Many people don't have the opportunity to see wildlife up close.  I've always had a love for animals big and small and like to show that in my photos.  If I can help someone have that same admiration for our wildlife and landscape, it was worth it to me to go out for hours to get that one photo." 

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill