Dragonfly in flight

Dragonfly in flight

This is my first attempt at photographing a dragonfly in flight, and it came out better than I expected it would. But it is a long way from the quality of shots I’ve seen from other people, so I’ll have to spend more time in the field trying to do better.

I’d thought this would be nearly impossible the first time I saw such an image posted on the web, but I eventually realized that some species of dragonflies will hover almost completely stationary in a spot as they hunt for prey. So, I’ve been watching for it to happen when I’m out somewhere, like the Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ, where this was taken.

Like any other photo, it helps if you pay attention to the details at the time of shooting. Here I was careful to line up the camera with a good background: a nice graduated color with no distracting details. I also wanted the background darker than the dragonfly so it would show better, especially the transparent wings.

I’ve used the angel of the light to create a rim of light to help separate the subject from the background and to emphasize the transparent wings.

Exposure was 1/200th second at f/5.6 with an ISO setting of 200: obviously this dragonfly was holding position rather well for such a modest shutter speed.

I kept my D200 on aperture priority for this – that’s the way I shoot almost all my birds and other subjects. But the next ti me I do this I’ll probably set the camera on full manual so I have a consistent exposure and don’t have to worry about changes as te dragonfly moves around.

Northern Parula – Winter Vagrant

Northern Parula #1

I know I’ve been neglecting the birds in my blog recently, but its not from lack of interest. I just haven’t been out lately taking photos: its too hot now, and I’ve been too busy with other commitments. So, here are a few shots from January 18, 2008 to help get through the 114 degree weekend in Phoenix.

Northern Parula (Parula americana) is a casual transient and winter visitor in Maricopa County, AZ. In my 15 years here I’ve only seen 2-3 of them, including this bird that hung around the Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ from its discovery on 12/14/07 at least into March of 2008.

Northern Parula #2

At first it moved about some, but after 2-3 weeks it found a spot it must have liked a lot and it became easier to locate on any particular visit to the Water Ranch. And that gave some of us more opportunities to get some decent photos of the bird.

But being able to find the bird is not the same as being able to get good photos of it. Keep in mind that I don’t use taped calls to pull a bird into camera range, nor do I create an “outdoor studio” set up with a selected perch and bait it with food. Instead I try to spend enough time watching the bird to learn its ways and hope that I have enough patience and luck to catch the bird in good light and in clear view on a nice perch. Yes, I toss out a lot of shots I take with this approach, but it just feels better to me letting the bird be itself rather than having me control it for my purposes.

Northern Parula #3

These three images were all taken during a single encounter with the Northern Parula, when all the random variables worked out in my favor. All were taken with my Nikon D200 and my Nikkor 300/2.8 lens with TC20E 2x converter (effective focal length 600 mm). The camera was set on ISO 400. Natural light only; no flash. As always when I’m on a walkabout the camera and lens were mounted on a Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber tripod with a gimbal head.

Of course we all hoped the bird would return to the Water Ranch the following winter, but it didn’t. We still looked for it, though, in the spot it liked so much.

Gila Monster

Gila Monster at Boyce Thompson Arboretum

One of the very few compensations for the brutally high temperatures of the Arizona summer (we’re supposed to reach 114 degrees on Saturday and 115 on Sunday) is the chance to see a lot of snakes and lizards. My previous post here was of a Coachwhip snake that spent a short period in our back yard. Today’s post is something a lot easier to correctly identify, but also something less often seen: a Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum).

The Gila Monster is the only poisonous lizard in the United States. It is large, and its movements are lumbering (especially compared to the blazing movements of the smaller common lizards). They are plump and brightly colored – unmistakable when seen. But they spend most of their time in underground burrows, and when they are out it is often at night, so they are rarely seen. In my 15 years now in AZ this is my sixth, and it was a real treat to see on Sunday July 5, 2009 at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. By the way, all six of my sightings have been at Boyce.

After three weeks of other commitments that kept me away from any photography I forced myself out in the heat to have some exercise and rejuvenate my spirits. I chose Boyce as my destination, rather than the closer Gilbert Water Ranch, as I knew it would be a bit cooler and there’s be trees to block out a lot of the direct sun.

I had modest success in seeing some birds, but only took a few photos of a Yellow Warbler bathing in a puddle. And the setting was unphotogenic so I haven’t yet  bothered to transfer the shots from my camera to my Mac.

After a couple hours of walking and watching, I returned to my car in the parking lot and packed up my gear: the D200 with 300/2.8 and 2x into its traveling compartment; the large Gitzo tripod folded and stowed with the gimbal head removed; the waist pack of extra gear in the trunk. But I kept the D70 with 55-200 lens mounted on the front passenger seat “just in case” as I always do.

I was ready to back out of the parking spot when one of the garden staff rushed over and told me they’d just spotted a Gila Monster. So I shut off the car and grabbed the D70/55-200 and rushed over to see it. It had already moved into a covered trench where a motorized gate allows access to a lower parking area, so I didn’t have as clean of a view as I would have liked. But it certainly was worth rushing over to see. If I’d have needed more time to get camera gear ready I probably would have been too late to even see it.

D70, 55-200 @ 95mm, ISO 400, 1/250th at f/5, flash.

For more information about Gila Monsters (and better photos) see the Reptiles of Arizona web site entry.

Snake!

Backyard Snake #1

There was some excitement in our yard yesterday, and excitement in the house as well, as we got to watch this snake for about 15 minutes.

Although we get a lot of birds, rabbits, and lizards in our small urban yard this is our first snake. Frankly we’re surprised we haven’t had a rattlesnake yet as we know a few folks who have had them.

My wife called me out to see our visitor with great excitement: she’d noticed movement on the cinder block wall that separates us from our closest neighbor and was surprised when it turned out to be a snake instead of an expected lizard. After grabbing the my binoculars to get a look I also grabbed the camera and 300/2.8 plus 2x converter and got the tripod up in a hurry. Light is always an issue in this area: the houses are close and the large tree on our lot between the houses blocks a lot of the light. I started shooting at ISO 400 but quickly stepped up to ISO 800, and even with the lens wide open at f/5.6 I could only manage a shutter speed of 1/80th to 1/100th of a second. I was also forced to shoot through the dirty non optical quality window glass here, so image quality isn’t the best for this sequence.

Backyard Snake #2

I estimate the snake was three to four feet in length – we never did get to see it fully in the open or stretched out completely on top of the wall. At first it kept much of the body hidden in the leaves of a shrub that just barely tops the wall. It was very alert and kept checking down both sides of the wall. AS shown in the second image it sometimes lifted its head above the wall for a better view ahead.

Backyard Snake #3

It reversed direction at one point, giving us a view of the other side of its head, and went back towards the shrub.

Then it was discovered by a Northern Mockingbird who immediately went on the attack. The mockingbird flew towards the snake and it looked like it actually hit it once or twice, all the time flaring its wings and squawking. The snake rapidly retreated, turned around, and dropped off the walltop into the shrub, quickly reached the ground, passed behind the trunk of the tree, and disappeared into the green stuff growing at the base of the wall. Although we watched closely for some time we never saw the snake again.

I dug out my copies of A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona, and A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Maricopa County, both by Thomas C. Brennan and Andrew T. Holycross and available from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. I also checked out the snake section on Thomas Brennan’s web site. But I confess I find snake ID a lot harder than bird ID, and I am at a loss as to the identity of our backyard visitor.

So, if anyone viewing this blog post can tell me exactly what this snake is please leave a comment and let all of us know.

Update 7/4/09:

After alerting the AZ/NM birding listserv to this blog post and asking for input I received replies from a number of people, both in the comments here and as personal or public email messages. The responses were overwhelming for coachwhip, as seen in this summary:

• Coachwhip (aka Masticophis flagellum, aka Coluber flagellum) 15
• Red Racer (a form of coachwhip) 1
• Striped Whipsnake 2
• Sonoran Whipsnake 4
• Whipsnake 1
• Garter Snake 1
• Long-nosed Snake 1
• Bull Snake 1

Here’s one of the public messages:

Just to put this issue to rest.  It is a Coachwhip.  I have observed this species from all over the Southwest for 40 years, and have seen many resembling this critter.  This is a very typical-looking Coachwhip in color, pattern and gestalt. Being the herpetology collections manager at the University of Arizona, I have access to over 500 specimens, many of which are dead ringers for the subject snake.

Thanks

George Bradley

I am always impressed by the strong interest in all things natural to be found in the realms of birding, and by the extensive knowledge possessed by so many “birders.”

Barking up the Right Tree

Tree Bark

Temperatures in central AZ have now reached the point where I seldom go out to shoot: it was 108 degrees today in Phoenix, with an overnight “low” of 87 degrees, so even if I’m out at dawn it is already getting uncomfortable. So, I’ll probably be making fewer posts here, and when I do they will more often be non birds or other images from my unprocessed archives that I’ve ignored until times such as this.

Here’s an example of the sort of subject that’s always interested me, but that I don’t shoot as often any more as I concentrate on birds. This is the Bark of a Palm Tree that I’ve walked past at least 100 times as I look for birds at Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, AZ. The tree sits back a bit from the man path, and it is always shaded and easy to overlook in the gloomy light.

I finally stopped for a closer look, drawn in by the pattern of the “sine waves” that intersect. I paused long enough to take a couple frames with the mounted bird rig – my multi-purpose 300/2.8 and 2x converter with Nikon D200 body. If I’d been carrying my 105/2.8 macro lens on this walkabout I likely would have used it, getting a lot closer to the tree and enjoying the brighter viewfinder image of the f/2.8 aperture and the higher resolution of that lens.

But the 300 and 2x delivered for me here, and the long focal length allowed me to work from farther away and at a less steep angle. The low light forced me to ISO 400. 1/40th second, and f/7.1 for the matrix metered exposure. I could have used more depth-of-field to deal with the curvature of the trunk, but didn’t want to risk a longer shutter speed or higher ISO. I cropped off the left edge here where the image was beginning to sharpness from the shallow DOF.

The composition here is simple, based primarily on the pattern of the curved lines. Like all pattern shots I think it is stronger because there are enough small variations to add interest that invites the viewer to linger and explore more of the image. I also like the simple brown tones in the image.

I think this would make a nice image in a series of similar shots – say dried mud that has cracked, or the trunk of an elephant. Unfortunately,  I have neither of those images in my files.