American Coot at Middle Creek WMA: Camera Critters

The American Coot is often mistaken for a duck, but is actually a member or the rail family.  I have seen these birds quite frequently at Meadow Grounds Lake in Fulton County near McConnellsburg, Pa. and at Middle Creek WMA on the Lebanon-Lancaster County line near Kleinfeltersville, Pa.  It is possible to photograph a large variety of waterfowl at Middle Creek during the spring migration although it is often difficult to get close enough to obtain exceptional portraits of the birds--even when using the big prime lenses.  I did get a few photographs of American Coot on my March 7th trip.

American Coot: Canon 7D-500mmF4  ISO 400 1/500sec, f4-

Coots Interacting: Canon 7D-500mmF4  ISO 400 1/500sec, f4-

Even though the ranges are often long and the waterfowl somewhat shy, a morning at Middle Creek during the spring migration is usually time well spent.

For more Camera Critters photographs, click Here!

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Sandhill Crane at Middle Creek WMA

I have read reports of as many as five Sandhill Cranes being seen at Middle Creek WMA this year, but most sources only mention one bird. We sighted one on our first trip of  2012  on March 7th, but it walked out of sight over a hilltop before I could get the camera and tripod set up.

This changed yesterday when my daughter Amy and I went to Middle Creek early Sunday morning and found a Sandhill Crane feeding along the border between a corn field that had been plowed since last Wednesday morning and a grass field.

Sandhill Crane at Middle Creek

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The conditions made it impossible to get the quality of photographs that I was hoping for as the distance was too far and the sun was not at the best angle.  As a result both of the photos shown today are cropped quite a bit and as a result there is not the fine detail that I would like. The photos were taken with the Canon 7D at ISO 200 and the Canon 500mm F4 lens.  I also took a few clips of video with the Canon T3i and the 100-400mm lens, which I hope to post in time.

Sandhill Crane: Photo Severely Cropped

This is not the first year that Sandhill Cranes have been seen at Middle Creek, but it is the first I had heard about it or seen them.  This experience causes me to ponder if this will continue to be a rare event or will the numbers increase each year until eventually there is a significant population of these birds in Pennsylvania.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.