Westmoreland State Park

We recently spent a few hours in the Northern Neck of Virginia to pick up some special wood.  We stopped to enjoy lunch and the view on a beautiful day at Westmoreland.  I loved the crescent shaped beaches facing the cliffs.  I spotted a great blue heron close to the cliffs.

      Great Blue Heron

The eagles are back!

It doesn't take very long for the bald eagles and great blue herons to visit after the osprey fly south.

This pair of eagles was sharing a meal. They tend to mate for life, just like swans, turtle doves, gibbons, black vultures and wolves, to name a few.

     Great blue heron

January!  After being inside a little too much lately, I decided to use the  ”Birding in Southern Maryland” brochure by the Southern Maryland Audubon Society to get out of the house and check out some local birds.  I got a copy of the brochure from the St. Mary’s County Department of Tourism and I also included the online link.  I armed myself with my new Sigma 150-500 mm lens and my Nikon D600.  The brochure turned out to be accurate.  The information in the brochure took me to a nearby swampy farming area not far from the water.  I quickly saw a bald eagle before I could pull out my camera.  I later spotted a great blue heron in a field, lots of bluebirds sitting on a wire and three European Starlings sharing some branches.

If you want to try birding, I can recommend the brochure.

Great Blue Heron Portrait Session.

After the osprey leave our nearby nest, other birds such as bald eagles and great blue herons often visit to look around and “play” in a borrowed nest.  I wanted to share a sequence of photos of this great blue heron. It was feeling lively on the particular day I photographed and I was thrilled with the various poses that resulted.  It was almost like having a family portrait session. Now let me see your right profile, your left profile and please lift your right leg, thank you!   I was glad I had the patience to wait for all of the ways it moved.   Now if only I could do it again with a longer lens.  These are all heavily cropped from the originals.

This last photo was taken on another day when it was windy, but I think it is the same heron posing.

Red Shouldered Hawk: Taking advantage of the unexpected

I took a friend's advice and visited St. Mary's College of Maryland one morning in search of a great blue heron.  Blue herons are fairly common in St. Mary's County, but they are fairly skittish and fly away the instant I bring out my camera.  I didn't see any herons, but I have learned to look around to see if I see anything else interesting to photograph.  I photographed a few red winged black birds clinging to the tall grass and some tall fluffy grass fronds, but I wasn't particularly impressed with the angles and backgrounds.  The birds were too small even with my 300 mm lens.  As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed a large bird in the top of a nearby tree.  I slowly walked toward it, trying not to scare it away.  I didn't know what type of hawk it was until I got home.  Red shouldered hawks apparently like deciduous forests and mainly eat small mammals.  I identified it by its red underparts and brown body.
A little patience can lead to unexpected results!

Great Blue Heron at Great Falls

I saw several Great Blue Herons at Great Falls National Park this weekend. I’m determined to get some good photos of them. They hang around our yard from time to time making noisy comments to the world. Grooonk! They are such graceful birds, with such a nasty voice. To see the bird with a fish, visit my facebook page. Just look for Calm Reflections Photography.