So Friday night, our one dog kept going to the back door and making a fuss. He was acting like he was seeing something outside, but we just couldn't see anything. Finally I grabbed my night vision binoculars and scanned the yard. I saw a shape on the ground and so I snuck outside without the dogs and discovered that there was a pheasant hanging out in the yard.

So I decided to see how the camera would perform with the flash at night. At first I thought I would need my Better Beamer to increase/direct the flash since I was working at a bit of a distance; however, that simply made a very strong vignette to the shots. So in the end, I went with just the flash itself (and even set to flash compensation of -1 stop).

I took a few shots from behind the fence and then finally decided I wanted to see if I could get a better angle of the bird. He was being fairly calm, so I went around the house and approached him slowly from the front. I was staying low and almost crawling on the ground - I managed to get fairly close until he popped up and I got this shot. I then tried to rotate the camera to get a vertical orientation and that must have been too much for him because he took off running....

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/60 sec at f/4. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode with -1 EC. Image Stabilization on. ISO 1250. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Fun stuff. I might have to take a nocturnal wander around the property some bright moonlit night and see what I run into...

- Bill

Spring is trying to get here, and I'm trying to improve my bird photography...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/320 sec at f/8. OS On. ISO 200. RAW conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

I guess I promised some birds, huh?

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/1250 sec at f/8. OS Off. ISO 320. RAW conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

This was taken a nice nature area we found in North Park called Latodami Nature Center. The trails there were very nice, and it really isn't all that far from home, so we will definitely be visiting there again soon.

I've been struggling getting good sharp results with this lens of late, so I will be trying some additional techniques to see where I can improve this style of photography. Stay tuned.

- Bill

Well, our little screech owl has been coming and going with somewhat regularity (some days he stays with us, and other days he does not). This evening, I decided to try and get some more photos and perhaps some video...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at approx 300mm, 1/30 sec at f/5.6. OS Mode Off. ISO 12800.

Because it was getting dark, I had to bump up the ISO which makes the video a bit noisy, but it is still a fun little video.

- Bill

Ok - well, apparently after hitting my blogaversary, I kind of just ran out of inspiration for a while. Luckily, some moved in recently... quite literally.

Back in 2011, I bought Anya an owl box for Christmas. Shortly thereafter, we hung it in one of the trees in our backyard. Except for some starlings using it for a few weeks during their breeding season, it sat empty the whole time.

Until yesterday morning, when Anya went to let the dogs out, she was startled to see the owl sitting on the pole system for her bird feeders. After a little bit, it flew directly up and into the owl box. She was so excited that she called me right away to tell me the news.

Last evening, with the unseasonably warm weather, we decided to grill some burgers, and sure enough while I was doing that, the owl came out of the box and flew off. I checked in the morning and didn't see him, so was worried he had just been staying the one night, but when Anya checked when she again was going to let the dogs out, he was back again!

So now I have a new photographic subject to work with...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM with Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 "DG" AF 2x Teleconverter.

All of these shots were taken with the big Sigma lens plus the 2x teleconverter to get as close as possible. Unfortunately it also meant that there was less available light in already dim conditions, so this was quite the challenge. I don't want to disturb him too much, but eventually I think I will have to try using some flash to make this process a little easier.

So after some research, it looks like this is the time of year when these owls (Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio)) start nesting. The male will locate a suitable nest site and if he can find a mate, they will lay eggs around March, and the owlets will fledge in May. So hopefully I'll have plenty of opportunities to get good (ie: better) shots of this cool little bird... and maybe even some babies too!!!

Definitely stay tuned!

- Bill

PS: Oh, I almost forgot to mention... As you can see, this little fella has a rusty color to him. That is the rufous or red morph which is supposed to be much more uncommon around here than the grey morph. So it looks like we're doubly lucky with this beautiful bird.

Well, we're about to head into 2013. I plan to try and get some work done on the blog this year to get it upgraded to the latest version of the software, so hopefully this will introduce some change to the look/feel. But in the meantime, here are a couple shots I took while freezing my butt off trying to get the birds to come to the feeders for some nice shots of them in the snow...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/160 sec at f/8. OS Mode Off. ISO 100. RAW conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/320 sec at f/6.3. OS Mode Off. ISO 320. RAW conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/250 sec at f/6.3. OS Mode Off. ISO 320. RAW conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Have a great New Years! And we'll see you in 2013!!!

- Bill

This past Saturday, Anya and I made a visit to the National Aviary. Because it was gloomy and overcast outside, it was dim and very difficult shooting conditions inside. After wandering around for a few hours, we were set to go - I packed up my gear and we were about to leave. On our way, we stopped by the burrowing owl exhibit one more time. The first time we looked at it, there was only one owl visible sitting on top of a fake cactus. This time a second owl was peeking its head out of the burrow. Well, since it was close to closing time, there were caterers setting up tables for some event that was happening after regular hours. I had to fight the urge to leave all my gear in my bag and just leave... instead, I pulled everything back out, waited for a break in the caterers' activities and moved in to take a couple more shots.

I'm glad I did - this is hands down the best shot I came back with from the day.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/80 sec at f/5. Image Stabilization on. ISO 640. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode and bounced through an ExpoImaging Rogue Flashbender. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Today during my lunch break, I was walking to the bank to take care of some business there. As I walked down the sidewalk, I noticed something laying there, and as I got closer, I quickly realized it was a hummingbird!

Seeing that it wasn't moving well, I decided to pick it up and relocate it somewhere more appropriate. I was hoping that it was just cold and once I moved it into the sun, it could warm up and fly again.

So it very cooperatively let me scoop it up and sat quietly while I walked it to a better location (I was going to see if it would sit in a tree in the sunshine). As I held it in the sunlight, I could visibly see it start to perk up - it became more alert and was watching me intently, it start holding its wings in a normal position, and most amazingly... I could feel its heartbeat getting faster!

After a few minutes, it was sufficiently warmed up that it tried a test flight, but needed some more rest, so returned to my hand. It sat there a few more minutes and then took off and flew away - hopefully it makes it to a warmer location and doesn't get itself into any more trouble...

Unfortunately the photos could only be taken with my cell phone, so the quality sucks... but the experience is one I won't soon forget.

Pretty cool, huh?

- Bill

And finally an assortment of other shots from the aquarium...

The only problem with our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium... I was on the wrong side of the glass all day long.

- Bill

Ok - I guess we can take a short break from all the spider photos... We'll hop back a couple months to the trip we took to the Toronto Zoo. In their Canadian Domain area, they have a natural wetland area, and it is home to native birds who seem to just use it on their normal migrations. While we were there, there was a pair of swans with a nest and some eggs, and also plenty of tree swallows making use of nest boxes mounted on the trees. I managed to catch this shot of an adult tree swallow heading off to find more food for its waiting offspring...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM at 500mm, 1/400 sec at f/6.3. OS Mode 1. ISO 400. RAW conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill