Happy Birthday, Laura!

Happy birthday to Laura Erickson!
Laura has been an inspiration to me as she faced various challenges in the last year.
Click for links to her blog and web site.

Crex Meadows - part VI

hunting

SUCCESS!

Crex Meadows - part V

more Sandhills in the air

Crex Meadows - overlooked old bird

My friend (?), Les, pointed out that I had forgotten to post a picture of this old bird at Crex Meadows -- he identified it as a wild turkey!

Colder By The Lake

Colder By The Lake Birding is Mike Hendrickson's new blog -- check it out. I was unaware of it, and was going to write & ask why he wasn't updating his (old) blog. I enjoy his irreverent attitude and casual writing style. His current project, in addition to leading field trips, is The Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival -- read about it here & plan to attend. I'm looking forward to going, but certainly have to find warmer boots & gloves.
The photo of the Northern Hawk Owl, on the right, was taken at Sax-Zim a couple of winters ago.

Crex Meadows - part IV

more Sandhills on the ground

Crex Meadows - part III

and now for a break from the cranes with this Red-tailed Hawk taking off for lunch

Crex Meadows - part II

Sandhill Cranes EVERYWHERE!!

more to follow . . .

Crex Meadows - part I

This morning Les & I headed out to the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area. The place is HUGE! Be sure to pick up a map at the Area Center. It is much better than the one you can get off their web site, simply because it is clearer & larger.
We were going to leave Circle Pines at 7 a.m. -- but then I saw on the web site that open hours on weekends started only at 10 -- so we didn't leave until after 7:30. We need not have worried -- the hours are only for the office, not entrance to the Wildlife Area.
Right from the beginning I was impressed -- in less than a half hour I saw more Sandhill Cranes than I had seen in my life time (and that's a long time).
We were also amazed by the number of raptors, which another visitor told us were migrating through the area.
I'm impressed by Crex Meadows for a number of reasons. First, it is a large protected area with varied habitat. Second, the roads are generally very good (if you stay off the one lane trails, for which I would recommend 4-wheel drive) -- many are even paved. Also, the roads are generally higher than the surroundings, giving one a good view -- and they are well marked. I'm anxious to return, particularly in the Spring.
I'll be posting more pictures in the next several days, as I edit them. I'm estimating I took about 850 shots. The ones below are of Sandhill Cranes.

P.S. You should have come with us, Luther!

Holmes update

These shots were taken about 8:30 p.m. tonight. Both were with a Canon XTi -- additional details are below each picture.

The Comet appears to be less bright than a week ago, but much larger.
Tomorrow I'm going with Les to Crex Meadows in Wisconsin; hopefully we'll bring back some bird pictures.

300mm lens, f/4.0, 30 sec., ISO 400, about a 50% crop

Celestron 8" telescope, 2000mm, f/10, 30 sec., ISO 800, full frame

more of Holmes

Last Spring I couldn't stop taking pictures of ducklings -- this Fall it's the comet Holmes.
All of the pictures are taken with the Canon XTi at ISO 800.

Holmes is at the lower left; the bright star in the upper right is Mirfak in the constellation Perseus. 200mm, f/2.8, 4 sec.

200mm, f/2.8, 1 sec.

400mm, f/5.6, 1 sec.

Celestron 8" scope, 2000mm, f/10, 4 sec.

comet Holmes

A most unusual comet has appeared in the northeastern evening sky. Above is a photo I took of Comet Holmes last night with my old Celestron 8 and the Nikon Coolpix 995. It is very visible to the naked eye, although a pair of binoculars will help you locate it for the first time. The comet has increased in magnitude from 17 (invisible in most amateur telescopes) to 2.5 in a few days; it is getting brighter by the day (or is it night?). You can read more about it here; a map to help you find it is here.

more moon

One night later -- same camera, same eyepiece -- but my old Celestron 8" scope. You will see that the pictures are generally of the same portions of the moon except at somewhat higher magnifications. That is because the Questar is about 1500mm focal length -- the Celestron, 2000mm. All of the pictures are full-frame, except the first one which was slightly cropped.
Looking at the prints of these same pictures, the Questar's are as good, if not better than the C's. Of course the air may have been steadier & clearer, but I'm impressed nevertheless when a 3 1/2" scope can match an 8" one.

the moon?

It seems like I can't do both, take bird pictures and the stars/planets/moon. But, it's all part of God's creation, right?
These were taken tonight with my Questar 3.5", a 24mm Williams Optics eyepiece, and my old Nikon Coolpix 995. I'm not totally pleased with the eyepiece since I see some color fringing, but I think it will be OK on birds and other subjects without as much contrast as the nearly full moon. I got the eyepiece since it screws directly on to the Coolpix and, therefore, is so easy to use.
My Q's base is at Questar Corp. for installation of a new, battery powered drive, so these shots were taken with just a regular tripod -- the exposures ranged from 1/15 - 1/60 sec. at about f/5.1. The color balance was set for sunlight and not modified in any way.
Actually, as intrigued as I am with astronomical photography, I am anxious to use this same combination of scope, eyepiece, camera on birds -- hopefully, within the next few days.

Spotted Owls

The Spotted Owl controversy is still alive & well. Click here

more on Canon's new lenses

Luminous Landscape reports:
Canon has announced two new lenses, a 200mm f/2 L IS and an 800mm f/5.6L IS. The 200 is a replacement for the 200mm f/1.8L which was discontinued last year. It was one of the highest resolution lenses Canon ever made, and loved by many sports photographers as its the ideal focal length and speed for indoor sports such as court-side coverage of basketball or gymnastics. With the addition of Image Stabilization for the lucky few who can afford and need it, the best likely just got better.
The 800mm is a brand new focal length in Canon's so-called Super-Telephoto line and it's bound to be a monster. I found the 600mm almost impossible to handle comfortably in the field, and I can imagine that the 800 will require a built-in Sherpa to help schlepp it around. But I'm sure it will sell like hot-cakes to sports and serious wildlife photographers. No info yet on price or availability.

waiting for sunshine

This past week or so, I haven't been able to drag myself outside much -- what with all of the rain, cold & wind. Instead, it is much easier to sit by my window -- look at the falling leaves -- hope for Indian summer.

Questar birder update

Last Wednesday, Oct. 10, I posted some information about the Questar birder scope that is up for auction. With 27 hours to go, the current bid is at $1111. Let me know if you decide to bid! Anything under $2,000 would be a very good price for this instrument.

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
-- William Blake

2 new Canon telephoto lenses

The first is an f/2 200mm -- interesting & heavy, but probably of little use in bird photography. The second is much more fascinating -- an 800mm f/5.6 lens; the key to this one may very well be the weight -- a lot of photographers do not use the current 600mm because it is so difficult to carry for long distances. Not much information is available yet, but you can read a little more here.