Mallard + More Gear Problems

I went out to the reservoir yesterday evening hoping to see and even more hopeful to photograph the small flock of Wilson's Snipe that I flushed last time I was there. See them I did, photograph them I did not. They flew over head and to a distant marshy area, I made my way over there but they flew off before I was even close enough to be the culprit of scaring them, so not sure what did. So I had to content myself with this cooperative Mallard. I love how the evening light really brings out the green on his head. This is probably the last bird photo I will take for awhile due to having problems with my 100-400mm zoom. It is extremely hard to zoom and am told it is a out of round barrel, a very common problem with this lens and will have to be fixed by Canon. All of this camera repair is delaying my shooting of the spring bird activity.
Oh well, hopefully it will not take too long and I can have it back soon and it won't cost a bundle. That's hoping anyway...

Image Data:
1/500s. | f8 | ISO 200
Canon 7D
Click image for larger size.

Savannah Sparrow

Glad to have my 40D back with me and working correctly, I headed out to the reservoir on Friday to see if any spring migrants have shown up. I did not see much except the swallows that are back occupying their nests under the freeway bridge. I did flush about 10 Dowitchers ( I think ) and was pretty upset about that! I will try to find them again next time. I decided to see if I could get some photos of the sparrows that are still around and was glad to get this somewhat cooperative Savannah Sparrow. Since I could not get any closer, I tried to get some shots including the environment. I am not overly happy with this one and am anxious to get back there and see if I can get some better ones. I will hopefully go out tomorrow for some shooting but am not sure where yet.
Stay tuned!

Image Data:
1/800s. | f/8 | ISO 200
Canon 40D

Canada Goose

Here is another shot taken with the new 7D that arrived on Tuesday. My brothers and I were driving past the city park yesterday when I noticed a pair of Canada Geese wandering around. I didn't have time to stop and get any photos but decided to come back today and see if they were still there. Sure enough, they were foraging not far from the playground. I was able to easily approach them and get some nice portraits. The 7D continues to impress, AF is very acurate and makes my slow 100-400mm lens a tad faster. Hopefully the geese will stick around and I can get some more interesting images. Hope you like this one.

Image Data:
1/2000s. | f/8 | ISO 400
Canon 7D | 100-400mm

Cedar Waxing - New Canon 7D!

Hey Everyone,
Two pieces of great news; First, I received a e-mail from Canon today saying that they have shipped my repaired 40D and it should get here tomorrow! 2nd, in the meantime I have purchased a Canon 7D with my brothers for our video business and will also get to use it for photography some! This photo of a Cedar Waxing was taken in my backyard with the 7D. I have not had a lot of time to spend with it yet, but am very impressed so far. The ISO performance is very good, as well as the AF, and there are a lot of new features that are really nice. The video is fantastic and I am thinking about making a few short films taken at the places I like to photograph birds. Speaking of which, I am hoping to get out to the reservoir on Friday to see if any shorebirds are back. And am planning to go shooting at the Nature Center on Monday so stay tuned!

Image Data:
1/500s. | f/8 | ISO 500 | cropped some branches out.
Canon 7D | 100-400mmL

No Camera

Hey Everyone,
Just a quick post to let you know that I will not be posting much or any at all here for a couple of weeks or so due to my camera breaking down on me. A quick overview of the issue I am having: As I was taking the camera out of the bag this morning, I noticed the "direct print" light was blinking, I tried switching on the camera but it wouldn't power on. I replaced the battery and tried again, this time it turned on but when I tried to take a photo it would make a quiet click and shut off. I asked the great people on Naturescapes.net for some help and after trying some ideas, have been advised to send it off to Canon for repair. I will package it up and send it off tomorrow and hopefully have it back before the month is over. So, I am really going to miss shooting, the weather has been perfect lately, but hopefully I will have my camera back in time for the spring migrants which should be arriving very soon.
So long for now!

Rainbow

Here is a fun shot that I thought I would share. We had a rain shower on Thursday and there was a period when the clouds moved away from the sun providing some beautiful evening light while it was still raining and created this rainbow. I had my telephoto attached to my camera and did not want to change to my wide angle fearing the rainbow would disappear, and I like the effect the telephoto gave anyway. I snapped a few shots from the front porch before it faded away. Hope you like it.

Image Data:
1/320s. | f/8 | ISO 400

Downy Woodpecker

Made another trip out to the Fort Worth Nature Center yesterday. I spent most of my time once again trying to get a good Kingfisher shot, which did not happen. I decided on a new plan for the kingfisher which I hope works, so stay tuned! I walked the Riverbottom trail and came across this cute Downy. He was very approachable, but never came down to eye level. Not a fantastic shot, but I liked the pose here. Anyway, hope you like it.

Image Data:
1/400s. | f/8 | ISO 200 | Fill Flash EV - 1. 1/3

click image for larger size.