Polish Lowland Sheepdog

Elusive Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Last weekend I set up my blind outside my feeder stations with one objective in mind.  I wanted to photograph a bird that has been pretty elusive and only seldom photographed by me.  Red-Bellied woodpeckers in my area see, to be very skittish, more so than other species of woodpeckers.  I see them fairly frequently at my feeders and in the woods around my house. I can watch them fine from inside my house without disturbing them.  They will even approach the feeders as long as I am a long way away from them if I am outside.  If I am close enough to get a good photograph them they either stay away and I can hear them vocalizing in the surrounding woods or they fly to the feeders, see me there, and instantly fly off.

I recently resorted to taking a screen out of one of the windows in my house so that the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers would feel safe to approach the feeders and I could get a clear photograph of them through the open window.  At least this is how that plan was intended to work in theory.  The first part worked fine.  The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers still came to my feeders.  However, being that it is currently winter I do not sit there and wait for them with the window open.  Once the subject arrives I have to open the window before I can photograph it.  This almost inevitably scares off my quarry.  In the instances where the woodpecker does not immediately flee the sound of an opening window it is still gone before I am able to train my lens on it and create an image.

These failures led me to attempt using my blind which previously allowed me to successfully photograph bluebirds at their nest box, feeding their young.  So I figured this would surely work with the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers too.  Somehow, this plan too failed.  Not a single Red-Bellied Woodpecker appeared at the feeders while I was in my blind.  I even tried setting it up in two different locations.  There are several variables that could account for this and it may take a few trials to work out the details that will allow the woodpeckers to feel safe enough to approach the feeders in the presence of the blind.  Repeated trials should allow me to work these out.  Perhaps the blind was simply too close to the feeders.  The woodpeckers may have been afraid of the new and large object suddenly appearing near the feeders.  Maybe the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers simply were not hungry that day.  I am sure I will get it worked out in the long run.

The good news is that out of this experience where I was attempting to photograph a bird I see frequently but am seldom able to photograph I was actually fortunate enough to be able to photograph a birds that I rarely see and have never been able to photograph.  The Brown Creeper is a species that I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I have even seen it.  They generally show up at the tree my feeders are at creep around a little bit and then fly off.  I probably only see them twice a year at most.  I see them so infrequently that I do want to at least watch them a little bit to enjoy their presence.  Once it seems they may stay around a little while I go get my camera to try and get a photograph.  Inevitably this fails.  They never stay very long and leave by the time I am ready with my camera.  I usually see them when I am inside my house so this makes it even more difficult.

This time one appeared while I was sitting in my blind.  I took as many photos as I could.  Not many of them were great, or even good for that matter, but I had finally been able to photograph that little elusive bugger.  Then before I knew it the Brown Creeper flew off into the woods and did not return the rest of the day.

So, even though my plans did not work out as I had planned I was still able to accomplish some other goals.  I created many nice images of more commonly photographed species.  I learned what things not to do if I wanted to try and photograph Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and what to try next time.  And I was able to successfully create some nice images of a bird I had never photographed before and did not expect to be photographing that day.  It’s funny how things have a way of working out.

Sperr Park Hawk

I headed to one of my favorite locations to hike and photograph.  I went to Trooper Sperr Memorial Park in Big Flats, NY.  I have been going there since before the tragic events that lead to its renaming.  I had no real purpose in mind.  Just wanted to walk and clear my mind.  I took my camera gear just because I always take it just in case, but I wasn’t really planning to photograph anything.

Today I decided to park at the far end of the trail as the bridge was out at my usual parking spot and would require me to drive the long way around to get there.  This was fine because it had been a while since I had walked the whole path and I was looking forward to this opportunity to do so.  It also worked out well because I was able to have some photographic opportunities that I would not have had if I had only been at my normal area.

As I walked I saw how nice and blue the sky was.  I noticed how the trees were reflecting nicely in the water of the large pond.  I did a double take.  Thought about stopping to take some photos.  Kept walking.  Then went back put my camera bag down on the park bench and got my camera out. 

I composed photos at different angles and with different focal lengths.  With lots of sky and little water and lots of water and little sky.

As I continued to walk along I heard the splash of birds landing in the water.  I didn’t think too much of it as I assumed it was some mallards or Canada geese landing, which are pretty common sighting for me and I had no desire to photograph them at this time.  To my surprise when I came to a clearing in the bushes that lined the pond’s bank I saw that the birds were neither mallards nor geese.  They were American Coots which are pretty uncommon in my area.  I have only seen them on a few occasions and never in this location.  They were a little ways off but I figured it was worth stopping to get a few shots of a bird I do not frequently see even if they would not be very close.  So I once again dropped my camera bag and this time I pulled out my gear for bird photos.  I liked the ripples created in the water as the dove and resurfaced.  It was tricky shooting as they moved along the surface of the water they continued to be screened from my view by the bushes.

I finally got to my usual area at the park and saw from a distance a hawk swoop down and land on a street sign.  I was quite surprised as the hawk landed right across the road from a car where people were getting into it and driving away.  In my experience hawks are generally skittish of humans and avoid or fly away from humans when they are near.  Since this one blatantly approached an area already occupied by humans I thought this was a good chance to get close and get some photographs.  I thought that if it didn’t mind the ones already being there it was a safe bet it might not mind my approaching it too much.  I was still a good distance away and had to hurry so I could get there before it flew off.

I arrived at the location of the hawk and slowly approached.  I took only a few steps at a time and I kept an eye on the hawk, watching it for any signs of distress so I could stop before disturbing it too much and scaring it off.  I also took photos after every few steps documenting my approach. 

Then my worst fear, when I am photographing, was realized.  More people heading my way.  A car was driving right toward me and stopped and parked in the parking lot and people noisily unloaded from the car.  I knew this was likely to cause the hawk to take flight so I kept my camera trained on the hawk.  The hawk did indeed take flight but to my surprise it did not fly off into the sky.  It flew only a few yards away and down to the ground.  Shortly thereafter the hawk took off again and flew up the road and landed on another street sign. 

I decided I would hang around a little bit and see if it came near again.  As I was looking around I saw a flutter in my peripheral vision.  I turned and saw that the hawk had landed in the tree about ten yards away from me.  I was quite surprised that the hawk would land in a tree so close to a human.  I immediately began to photograph it.  It did not seem to be phased by my presence.  I decided to see if I could move around and get a better angle without disturbing it.  I was able to move around quite a bit without noticeably disturbing the hawk. 

As I photographed it I noticed the hawk was eating something.  Apparently after heading up to the second street sign it caught some prey and returned to this tree to eat.  I imagine this must be part of its regularly visited territory and it comes here often to eat and may be used to the presence of humans.

I was able to photograph it the entire time it ate until it had fully consumed its meal.  Then it wiped its beak off on the tree branch and eventually took flight.  It still did not travel too far as I spotted it atop a light post at the park’s entrance opposite where I had entered.  Alas it was time for me to leave.  I could not wait for its return. 

Border Collie AKC Agility

Dog Show at Sampson State Park

September 30 – October 3^rd there are a series of dog shows at Sampson State Park in Romulus, NY.  I will be there doing freelance photography.  At the last two dog shows I photographed dog owners approached me about buying photos of their dogs.  This has lead to some business selling prints of their dogs to them.  This type of photography is something I have just started getting into over the past three years in addition to my wildlife photography.  I have photographed five dog shows and am always looking for more opportunities that fit into my schedule.

I have photographed agility trials, conformation, and obedience portions of these dog shows.  Information for the upcoming shows indicates that there will be AKC Rally Events at this series of dog shows.  I am excited by this difference because I have never photographed or even watched a Rally event before, and Rally is a relatively new event in AKC.  I am a little dissapointe4d by the fact that there will be no agility trials at these dog shows, because I love watching and photographing them. 

It appears that there will be approximately 140 breeds of dogs at the dog shows.  I thought I’d make it easy on myself and cross of the breeds that I already had quality photos of.  To my surprise that left me with 120 breeds that I still needed to photograph.  So I have my work cut out for me if I want to get photos of all the breeds of dogs at the show, which was my goal prior to this discovery.  I am planning a very workmanlike focused photo session for the first two days then a more relaxed go with the flow approach for the final two days.

The first two days I will focus on getting photos of as many breeds as I can.  The next two days I will try to look for more fun and interesting photos.  Also my style of photos tends to focus on the dog and exclude their handlers.  This time around I want to try to include more photos of the dogs with their handlers and owners as well as more wide angle shots of the whole dog show event.  This upcoming event will be the most time I will have spent photographing one dog show event. 

The hardest part of photographing this event will be pulling myself away from the breeds I naturally gravitate to because of my own personal preferences for dogs.  I want to have photos that will appeal to dog lovers of all kinds, not just those that love the same breeds as me.  I also want to have as broad a portfolio of stock images as possible. 

I love Australian Shepherds, but I attended an all Aussie event earlier this year and have a bunch of great shots.  I will have to tear myself away from the Aussies at this event because I do not need photos of them for my portfolio.  I will still photograph them if they are competing in the Rally or obedience portions.  I also own Bernese Mountain Dogs and especially enjoy photographing this breed.  I will have to restrict the time I spend photographing breeds I already have plenty of photos of.

Osprey over Hammond Lake PA

Green Bee on New England Aster