New bird and book happenings
January 20, 2010
Tuesday evening I made my way back to Huntley Meadows Park to see what a dusk shoot was like.
Despite seeing little in the woods, I began to hear constant noise of chirps and motion once I approached the boardwalk. As I walked that area, Red-winged Blackbirds, Downy Woodpeckers and tons of sparrows moved among the reeds. Read the rest of this entry »
Exploring Huntley Meadows Park
January 18, 2010
Monday morning I explored a new site in Alexandria, Huntley Meadows Park, and was very pleased with the diversity of environments and number of birds.
A male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) sings in Huntley Meadows Park on Monday shortly after sunrise.
Around 7:40 I hit the trails and started walking through the woods. The park is situated on a freshwater wetlands area and the paths take you either through the forest or over the water. While mammals were few and far between, birds were a different story. Read the rest of this entry »
Red-tailed hawk in Northern Virginia
January 17, 2010
While driving along Route 7, I often see hawks and other birds of prey. Saturday afternoon I spotted a red-tailed hawk and luckily was equipped for the occasion. Here’s a video of my initial impressions (images after the jump):
I was pleased to have spent a few minutes with it, and nearby residents told me that it’s a frequent guest of that area. Read the rest of this entry »
Try and try again
January 14, 2010
With a lot of things, the more you do it the better the results. I’ve been spending a lot of time with the same subjects, because each time I get different aspects of their existence. I got the frame above a few days ago of a duck in Holmes Run in Alexandria. I feel like the water adds something nice and it just feels right.
Best subjects are the ones that find you
January 13, 2010
Wednesday afternoon as I set off to check on the beaver, I wasn’t sure what I would be able to find. As it turns out, fate was on my side and I got some really nice images.
When it all started, I wasn’t so optimistic. Read the rest of this entry »
Kicking back with critters
January 11, 2010
Monday was a really calm relaxing outing in Alexandria. Even the usually paranoid ducks mellowed out a bit and went about their business instead of scurrying away.
As an aside, I don’t know why ducks bobbing for food always cracks me up, but it does. Photographically, I was really glad to see some of the nice tonal values on the scene. An overcast day usually helps out in that regard. Read the rest of this entry »
Well how about that…
January 8, 2010
Remember when I said I wanted to find a fox? Thanks in large part to the recent snow, I got the chance.
Tonight I set off to film the bird flyovers at Holmes Run Park, but was distracted by the presence of canine tracks. Along the path they made sense, but when I saw them veer off without any accompanying shoe prints, I decided to investigate. Read the rest of this entry »
Birding and track detective
January 7, 2010
This evening, I again explored Holmes Run Park in search of critters. The best I could find was a few birds. Read the rest of this entry »
Bird activity at dusk
January 6, 2010
I’m not sure if this is common, but around my area of Alexandria, at dusk swarms of birds take to the sky. Almost as if from some movie, they sweep overhead for a few minutes and then are just gone.
While the usual variety that I see doing this are a type of black bird (that I’m admittedly poor at identifying), earlier this week I noticed a group of pigeons (Columba livia) weaving through the sky like a giant school of fish.
I’d been used to seeing straight flyovers, but not this. The group turned in unison again and again like a well-choreographed dance for nearly a minute. Read the rest of this entry »
Evening scan of the neighborhood
January 5, 2010
Tuesday evening I took a different approach and made a walk of my neighborhood. In the past I’ve seen a few interesting things like opossum, a raccoon and blue jays. However, initially I couldn’t find much more than Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis).
In Alexandria, photographing squirrels is like shooting fish in a barrel, but I spent a little time shooting a few that were darting around.
After looping through a few blocks, I began to see a number of robins. Overhead, there were also a significant number of other birds passing through the area. Read the rest of this entry »
