Went for Feathers, Saw Metal

My last couple of trips to OBNWR have been pretty disappointing; few birds to be seen. The weather was gorgeous this morning, so I went, hoping for better luck with birds. While my luck with birds didn't change, I did catch this C-17 flying low over the Occoquan, then making the turn toward Quantico. Shortly after rolling wings level, it extended the landing gear, presumably to land at the Marine Corps base. I've seen these aircraft on the ground a few times. I've seen them in the air at a distance. This was by far the best opportunity I've had for a flight shot.

C-17 Globemaster

Conowingo Dam

Today I made my first trip of the Fall to Conowingo Dam. I've seen recent trip reports on Facebook and it seemed that there was reason to hope for some action on this beautiful, cool, clear day. No such luck.

It was bad from the beginning. I drove through two traffic jams before even leaving Virginia. Then it was slow going all the way to Baltimore. I arrived around 7:30, chose a spot right down on the water among the rocks, set the tripod up, and waited for some action.

I got a heron at the beginning.

Great Blue Heron

Then there was a series of cormorant swim-bys and fights. A few eagles were perched on the electrical towers and rocks on the far shore. And there was a grand total of one eagle fishing event, well away from me. Previous visits had few cormorants, so I was at least able to shoot some of them. But overall, it was a disappointing visit.

Cormorant with an Eel

Close Pass

With a Fish

Cormorant with an Enormous Fish

So, quite a disappointing day... But at least I was able to watch several cormorant fights. I've seen plenty of cormorants over the years, they're usually alone, and usually I ignore them because I find them uninteresting. With nothing else to see this time, I watched several events where a cormorant came to the surface with a fish, only to have several other cormorants converge and try to steal the fish. The bird with the fish would dive underwater to get away, then resurface, only for the fight to resume. I've seen this kind of fish stealing behavior in eagles quite often, but this was a first with cormorants.

Eventually I gave up and headed home. To make matters even more annoying, traffic was heavy all the way home.

This was my first outing with my new tripod. I got a Gitzo 3 series. I selected one that extends to a ridiculously high height, above my head actually. I wanted one that could put the camera well above my head so I could shoot high objects while I stand upright. My experience with the eclipse and an old Manfrotto tripod was aggravating because I couldn't get the camera up to a comfortable height. My choice was to crouch or kneel. And because the sun was so high in the sky as to seem nearly vertical, I couldn't tilt the camera enough, so I wound up extending one leg more than the others. This changed the center of gravity and made it uncomfortably unbalanced, so I set it up low to minimize the distance my camera would fall in the event it tipped over. Fortunately it never fell over, but that taught me that I needed a versatile, sturdy tripod that could extend to at least my height. The Gitzo tripod that I selected was on sale when I bought it for even less than a more standard height model. I also got it without a center column because I think center columns are useless.

To the tripod, I added a Wimberley gimbal head. I researched several other heads, and kept returning to Wimberley as the safe choice.

So anyway, about using the tripod. I set up on the shore right next to the water because I like the lower angle that it gives. Conowingo Dam's shore is a steep, rocky incline except for the concrete terrace. The water was very low; setting up on the terrace would place me much higher than I like. So I fooled with the tripod height for a while until settling on a comfortable height. Bottom line: it's sweet. I couldn't be happier with the tripod and head. Following action was effortless.

Carrying the Monster

This past Summer, I bought a new lens for wildlife photography. I immediately faced the problem of how to carry it around. I'm used to walking around with my 300mm lens, which is much smaller and lighter. I use a BlackRapid strap for that lens, and I've been pleased with that arrangement.

So after I got the new bulky, heavy lens, I started by holding the tripod foot as I walked around. That quickly gets old because of the weight; I had to frequently switch it from one hand to the other. And the stock foot that came with the lens is a bit short so there is less metal to grip than I would like. Then I tried using my BlackRapid strap, attached to the lens foot. That works OK, but I worry that the attachment point will break while supporting the weight. So I went back to just carrying the lens and attached camera by the foot.

I got a new tripod and gimbal head, so that created a need for an Arca-Swiss mounting bracket. The bracket screws into the foot, and it's not a quick job to install/remove the bracket. And it's not comfortable to carry the lens around with the bracket installed. So that led to the hunt for a replacement foot. I settled on a Jobu foot, which has the advantage of being longer (more to grip while walking), but the disadvantage of being a bit more square (less comfortable in my hand). OK, I can't win. But the new foot works great on the tripod head, so I'm sticking with it.

But what to do for a really long walk? And what if the terrain is uneven? I don't look forward to scrambling over rocks with my camera in my hands. I really don't look forward to scrambling with the camera and a tripod.

I think I have the answer. My son rows, and his team had a race this past weekend. I looked at the course map and decided that the best place to photograph the action was on the shore of a park along the river, and this park is a forest with unimproved paths. The nearest parking lot is 2 miles away from the spot I selected. Let me introduce my newest camera accessory.

Osprey Stratos 26

I got this backpack for hiking. My son and I hiked through the Haleakala caldera earlier this year and we each needed to pack our own water and snacks. I didn't want to make him use an old school book knapsack and sour him on hiking, so I spent the money on a good pack, complete with a rigid frame and a mesh screen that keeps the pack from resting against the wearer's back. This means the sweat can evaporate instead of being trapped in the shirt between the body and the pack. It separates the main compartment from the body, leaving an air gap.

My camera and lens fit perfectly in this backpack. The frame and screen keep the bulky uncomfortable edges from digging in to my back. And there are loops made for attaching hiking poles, which worked beautifully for my monopod. I hiked 2 miles in, photographed my son, and hiked 2 miles out, up and down steep hills.

Bottom line: this worked great, although I still need to figure out how to lug my tripod. I'll probably just carry that in my hands or over my shoulder, which is still not ideal, but at least the expensive camera and lens are well-protected and secure in the pack. I don't think I can attach the tripod to the pack; it's too big and heavy.

Two New Species

We're having an unusually warm late September. I've had bad luck at the wildlife refuge lately, but decided to go and at least get some exercise.

As I feared, not much was going on. It was looking like I'd come home with nothing, when I spotted two eagles on an osprey platform. They were too far away, but I hung around for a few minutes, hoping for some flight shots. Then I spotted a mockingbird, a species I haven't ever photographed.

Northern Mockingbird

 And then I spotted this butterfly, so I figured I'd experiment with the new lens on something unusual.

Butterfly

 Then I looked up and both eagles were flying more or less toward me.

Bald Eagle

 After they flew away, I wandered along for a while, finding nothing to photograph. It was getting dark, so I headed to the car. My routine is to exit via the Wildlife Loop; occasionally I see something worth shooting. I stopped at a culvert to observe a Great Blue Heron, but he was uncooperative. Just as I was ready to drive away, I noticed movement on the opposite side of the road, and realized that while I was looking at the heron, I was completely oblivious to this owl. I was able to get a few shots, and as I was fooling with the ISO to try to get something better-exposed, it flew away. So here's my best shot, and it's a whopping FOUR stops underexposed. But raw files are wonderful, and I was able to rescue this exposure with a lot of exposure adjustment and noise reduction. This is a new species for me. I've only once before seen one, while I was out for a walk, sans camera, in my neighborhood.

Barred Owl

Joint Base Andrews Air Show

Today the aerial performers at the Andrews Air Show had their practice session. I made the opportunity to go, primarily to see the Thunderbirds performance. As I arrived, the KC-135 made a low pass.

KC-135 Aerial Tanker

I'll just show some of my favorites without commentary...

Head On

Passing Right Overhead

Passing Under Their Own Smoke Trail

Wingtip Vortices and Smoke Trails

Opposing Solos

Two Slow  Planes With Gear Down, One Fast One with Gear Up Passing Between

They Went High, Coming Back Down FAST

Vapor Trails

In Tight Formation and Banking Hard

Up We Go

Right Angle Intersecting Pass

Inverted At the Top of a Loop, Passing the Moon

I went back for the actual show. There was a wall of clouds to the west, partly cloudy to the east, which made for difficult shooting as the background changed.

Low Pass with a Cloudy Background

Vapor Trails During a Tight Turn at Low Altitude

Coming Back Down In a Loop

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Well I'm back home after my long trip and I managed to get out to the usual spot for some exercise and photos. These turkeys were busy running away from me. I think this flock is from a clutch or two, as they all seem to be about the same size, stay together, and are accompanied by a pair of adult females (whom I didn't get in this photo). They never seem to fly.

Turkeys

Great Egrets are sometimes around, but they are very timid. I sneaked up to this one by keeping bushes between me and the bird, and as I tried to get closer, it flew away. What big feet.

Great Egret

This deer stood and stared at me for quite a while as I tried to approach, keeping bushes between us. I only saw the fawn after they ran into the woods, not knowing that I'd actually gotten a few shots that show the fawn back in the shadows.

Deer with Fawn in the Shadows

The ospreys are still here, but I expect them to leave soon. It's not obvious from the photo, but I shot this one from almost directly underneath, looking straight up, with the bird looking straight down at me. The big yellow eyes and sneering beak are a frequent sight here.

Osprey Close-Up

Showing It's Wings

Badlands National Park

All my life I've heard about the Badlands of South Dakota. What the hell is a badland?

After seeing the eclipse, the badlands were the last stop before making the long slog home. What's a badland? If you ask me, it's a lot of eroded dirt.

Badlands

 This was easily the worst light of the entire two-week trip, so most of the landscape had that washed-out look. On the relatively flat, dry grassland above the badlands, I drove through an endless prairie dog town. It seemed to go on for miles. As far as the eye could see, in all directions, there were dirt mounds, dry grass picked to the stub, and scurrying furry rodents. There were occasional bison, usually too far away to photograph or not doing anything interesting. But there was one animal that was new to me. There was a fleeting encounter with bighorn sheep.

Bighorn Sheep

And that's the end of the blog entries about this road trip that I made with my son. It was a lot of driving, with a lot of corn along the way. I visited five new states, saw an eclipse, visited four national parks, two national monuments, and one national wildlife refuge. This leaves only three states that I've never visited (Oklahoma, New Mexico, Oregon), , and now I'm on the lookout for opportunities to complete the list...