Daily Archives: July 15, 2015

Block Creek Bonanza

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Finally, I got time to sit down and look through this season’s images from the Block Creek Natural Area during late April.  They had a lot of rain this year, so the timing of bird nesting and things like that were a little off.  Nevertheless, we had a great week with two groups of photographers, back to back.  I’ve got a bunch of images to show you a sample of what the group got, so let’s get to it.

Don’t forget, clicking on an image will give you the enlarged and sharpened view.

Red barn at Block Creek Bed and Breakfast
Red barn at Block Creek Bed and Breakfast

The first things I noticed when I arrived the day before our photographers was that the barn had been painted and the entrance road had a new surface.  The big oaks in the back yard provided the perfect frame for the barn.

Orange clouds at sunset with windmill and freshly surfaced road to the house.
Orange clouds at sunset with windmill and freshly surfaced road to the house.
Block Creek Natural Area green house.
Block Creek Natural Area green house.

Larry and Sharron Jay had lots of fresh flowers in the greenhouse and throughout the grounds.

Parking and flowers at Block Creek B&B
Parking and flowers at Block Creek B&B
Eastern Screech Owl; both color morphs.
Eastern Screech Owl; both color morphs.

The Last Chance Forever folks brought a variety of owls and hawks to the Block Creek Natural Area to educate our photographers and to use as subjects for a morning photography session.

Great Horned Owl eyes
Great Horned Owl eyes
serious face of the red-tailed hawk
serious face of the red-tailed hawk
Harris's Hawk in flight
Harris’s Hawk in flight

 

 

Luckenbach Store jazzed up with a little HDR toning. I like it!
Luckenbach Store jazzed up with a little HDR toning. I like it!

I was experimenting with the HDR Toning component of Photoshop and discovered that it can help make some photos much more fun to see than when they are processed “normally”.  The rooster below was one of the most colorful birds I’d ever seen so I couldn’t help but boost the colors into another level.

Rooster on stage at Luckenbach, Texas post office and store
Rooster on stage at Luckenbach, Texas post office and store

 

Tiger Swallowtail on thistle bloom
Tiger Swallowtail on thistle bloom
Black Swallowtai femalel on thistle bloom.
Black Swallowtail female on thistle bloom.
Wild turkey gobbler strutting in front of our small bird photography blind.
Wild turkey gobbler strutting in front of our small bird photography blind.
wild turkey gobbler enjoying the seeds and insects available in a Block Creek Natural Area meadow.
wild turkey gobbler enjoying the seeds and insects available in a Block Creek Natural Area meadow.
Ladder-backed Woodpecker hammering on oak limb
Ladder-backed Woodpecker hammering on oak limb

This woodpecker was hanging upside down while working on this dead oak branch.  I thought the shot would make more sense if rotated to a vertical pose.

male Eastern Bluebird perched on lichen-covered branch.
male Eastern Bluebird perched on lichen-covered branch.

Almost everyone in our group got shots of this beautiful male eastern bluebird.

male Painted Bunting on weed
male Painted Bunting on weed
male black-chinned hummingbird feeding at yucca flowers.
male black-chinned hummingbird feeding at yucca flowers.

So, we saw a lot and photographed most of it.  I did leave out some historic buildings we worked with just down the highway from Block Creek NA.  The area has a lot to offer outdoor photographers.

Larry