On Saturday, September 17, I attended the annual Holiday Beach Festival of Hawks for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was nice to see and hear from very knowledgable birders! I was especially excited to get to release a Black-throated Blue Warbler, thanks to the generous man who adopted the bird but allowed someone else to release it. He initially offered a child standing near me and upon refusal, I got the opportunity :) I found the Raptor Identification class put on by Bob Pettit of the HBMO to be quite informatitve. I also learned two other things: 1) I really need a good pair of binoculars, and 2) an 18-105mm lens just doesn't cut it. A gentleman standing next to us shot a picture of a Juv. Bald Eagle, as did my husband with my camera....in my husband's shot, the eagle is just spec on a blue background...the man beside us captured a fanastic close-up! I will be looking into upgrading to at least a 300mm lens before spring.
As for counting "lifers"...what are the rules? Most of the birds I saw at the Festival (all but the Turkey Vulture and Bald Eagle) were birds I had never seen before. Do I count the birds in the demonstrations as lifers or do they have to be seen in their natural habitat? In the meantime, I am not counting including them on my list because it feels like cheating. I hope you enjoy the pictures :)
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| Barred Owl on display...beautiful! |
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| Broad-winged Hawk on display |
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| One of several kettles of Broad-winged Hawks that flew overhead. |
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| Redstart that had been banded that day. |
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| Northern Parula that was banded and now ready for release. |
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| This is the Black-throated Blue Warbler I got to release :D |
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| One of many Sharp-shinned Hawks that were banded. |
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| An Osprey that flew overhead...those who kept their eyes on it saw it dive into the trout pond...I missed it :( |
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| American Kestrel....so cute :) |
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| Look at that face :) Bander pointing out the baffles on his nostrils. |
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| Eastern Screech Owl on display. |
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| Gray-cheeked Thrush banded that day. |
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| Red-tailed Hawk that had been caught at the Airport, but released at the Festival. |
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| Red-tailed Hawk. Notice the trachea in his tongue! |
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| Female Peregrine Falcon caught at the Airport. It had already been banded, but they didn't yet know where it was from. |
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| Female Peregrine, again. |
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| We saw this Bald Eagle on the way home, soaring over Ojibway Parkway. My husband pulled over so I could get some shots of it. |
Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to get to the Hawk Festival. I definitely have to make it next year as it looks like it would be really interesting to see the birds close up.
I found your blog through Dwayne's Nerdy for Birdy. :)
I post photos on my Snap out of It blog every now and then.
My 2¢ ... I have a 300mm and I still get very frustrated that it isn't enough to shoot the birds. If you can, go bigger!
I really enjoyed the Festival, so much so that I would have went the second weekend too, if time permitted. It is nice to have another visitor to my blog :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to go bigger than 300mm....but price is a factor :(. Maybe I will just continue saving....
I sent you an email but I'll post it here as well.
ReplyDeleteHave a look at the super zoom "bridge" cameras.
You'll get a lot of lens for much less money than what you'd have to put out for a DSLR & a decent lens for birds.
The Nikon P500 is on sale at Henry's right now for about $350 + tax. It has a 36x Optical Zoom! That'll get you close to the birds for sure.
I guess I didn't send you an email ... lol.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to my Flickr account so you can see the captures I got with the new camera I bought last night ... Canon SX40 HS. 35x optical zoom equivalent to a 35mm 24-840mm lens!
Maybe you can ask Santa for one for Christmas. ;)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53581677@N04/
I hope you post some more soon! If you ever want some company when you go out birding, let me know.