Two good cold fronts have hit South Padre Island in April; the first had little affect on the numbers of spring migrant birds stopping to refuel and rest until the wind returned to the south.  Then, a blast of cold air hit us last Thursday just as peak numbers of birds were crossing the gulf and we saw a pretty good fallout on the island.  Friday’s winds were above 30 miles per hour most of the day so I waited until Saturday for calmer weather.  Wow, it was wonderful?  Lots of Baltimore orioles, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grossbeaks were there along with a few warblers, dickcissels, western tanagers, summer tanagers and yellow-billed cuckoos.

Eager to make an extra buck off their spring visitors, the city of South Padre Island had scheduled a motor cycle rally right next to the best bird habitat in town.  That’s right, several hundred Harley’s were rocking and rolling and rumbling as the birds tried to settle in for a day of rest.  Lest we forget or seem biased, I must say there were several hundred birders and photographers there to do there part.  In spite of all the noise, the birds were focused on eating and seemed to ignore us.

I’ve photographed these fallouts for several years, so my camera wasn’t smoking, but my friend, Allen Dale, captured over 2,000 images on Saturday.  At the end of the day he was satisfied that most of the species were well represented on his flash cards and I had enjoyed a good visit with many other old friends who venture out each April to share the migration experience.

Here are a few of the image captures from my cameras on Saturday.   Just click on a photo to make it larger and sharper for viewing.  In the upper right corner  of each, you will see a “next” button that allows you to click through the slide show.

My favorite photo of the day was this tack sharp Western Tanager male who flew right at me as I was ripping off a blast of digital captures from my Canon 1D Mark IV.  The camera is amazing in its ability to focus quickly and anticipate the advance of birds in flight.  The shot was done at 1/4000 second at ISO 800 with the Canon 500 mm lens, 1.4X teleconverter, Feisol carbon fiber tripod and Wimberley head.

Cerulean Warblers are one of the rarest birds to make a spring visit to South Padre Island.  The photo above was a lucky shot at the Convention Center where some of the walls are painted funky colors like pink, yellow and ocean blue.  You have to admit, the wild color gives this photo an artistic look.  I really like the pose.

It is almost impossible to get an American Redstart to hold still, even for a second.  When I can get one in the viewfinder, I just lock focus and shoot a blast or 4-5 captures, hoping one will include a good pose.

Painted Buntings  seem to be a favorite among the birders and photographers.  This one held still for several photos.

* If you want to photograph painted buntings, call or email me soon.  They are fairly common in south Texas during the summer.  I’ll put you on one or two or three at one of the local photo-ranches.

 

 

 

 

Many thanks to all the great volunteers who put out bird seed and oranges to help sustain the thousands of hungry birds during their South Padre Island layover.

By Sunday, the wind had shifted back to the southeast and most of the migrants were on their way again.  If we get one more front before May 10, I hope to be back at the island for the final fallout of the season.

Let me know if you enjoyed this little trip the island.  It was incredible!

Larry

 

 

 

 

 

Most of last week, I was in the Galveston, Texas area to lead several nature photography workshops and field trips.  All were part of FeatherFest, an annual event that attracts birders and photographers from around the country and the world.  My outings included San Luis Pass, Galveston Island State Park, and High Island (done on my own).  Surprisingly, we saw only a few of the various neo-tropical migrant birds (warblers, buntings, tanagers, vireos, etc.) which should have been “falling out” in the area in mid-April.  It was the resident birds that made our visit so successful.

Weather for FeatherFest was exceptional and included some great sunsets and sunrises.  The photographers at this year’s festival exhibited exceptional interest and focus when we were working on the beaches and dunes.  When we (tour group leaders) suggested a ground level position for photographing shorebirds, the photographers went to the sand like veterans.  If we spotted a bird in the marsh, everyone waded right it.  It is always fun to work with photographers who will go the extra mile to get exceptional photos.

Here are some of last week’s photos:  Click on a photo to enlarge and sharpen it.  Advance by clicking in the upper right portion of the photo.

 

The High Island rookery photos were captured with the Canon 1D Mark IV camera, Canon 500 mm IS lens, Wimberly tripod head, and Feisol tripod.  Contrary to what we’d heard, we were permitted to use tripods while photographing at the rookery.

 

 

At Galveston Island State Park the weather and bird diversity were exceptional.  On the first morning out, we were greeted by a variety of shorebirds, ducks, night herons, roseate spoonbills and other wading birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fishermen shared the beach with our photographers at San Luis Pass but the birds seemed to be used to all the human activity.

 

 

 

 

Chasing gulls in flight was the best way for the class to learn the basics of action photography.  I sat on the beach while hand holding the camera and 500 mm lens to get this take-off shot of a laughing gull.

My next workshop at the Block Creek Natural Area near Fredericksburg is full, but I hope you will consider it for next year.  Eastern bluebirds, painted buntings, summer tanagers, hawks, owls and more await our arrival.

Images for Conservation’s Pro-Am photo shoot at Tacubaya Ranch (tacubayaranch.com) near Edinburg, Texas will be here soon (May 9-11) so get signed up at their site or with me or at ICF’s web site (ICF.com).  I’ll be the coach for that one and we still have room for 4 photographers.

Then, May 16-18 I will be at the Ramirez Ranch in Roma, Texas for butterflies, south Texas songbirds and hawks.  If you are interested, check my web site for details.

I hope you enjoyed this trip to Galveston Island.

Larry

 

After a week in Big Bend National Park, I can’t help but feel humility having been in the presence of so much natural beauty.  The desert was incredible and the weather, the landscapes, the wildlife and the camaradrie couldn’t have been better.  Joe Zinn and I lead a 4 day instructional photo tour to west Texas that was spectacular.

We were stopped dead in our tracks (tire tracks) by a sow black bear with four cubs crossing the highway as we drove into the park’s Chisos Mountains.  On our second night out, we almost collided with a white-nosed coati and a gray fox.  Obviously, it wasn’t just the landscapes that left us inspired.  One of the park campgrounds had at least 4 pairs of vermilion flycatchers.

All of the following landscapes were photographed with a Canon 5D Mark II camera, Canon 16-35 and 24-105 mm lenses, polarizing filter, two stop neutral  intensity filter, cable release, Feisol ball head and Gitzo 1348 carbon fiber tripod.  For the bear and birds, I was using the Canon 1D Mark IV camera and Canon 500 mm lens.

So, take a photo tour with me and enjoy this small selection of photos that I think pretty much tell the story of our trip.

Our photography journey began with a walk to “The Window” in the Chisos Basin at Big Bend National Park for an incredible sunset.

Click on the upper right portion of a photo to make it larger and sharper for viewing.  From there, you can advance through the Big Bend photography.

 

 

Everybody waded in to capture this shot below a small check-dam of rocks below Santa Elena Canyon at sunrise.   A shutter speed of less than one second give the  current a soft, foamy look.

While returning to the road from capturing the boulder shot above, I watched an incredible sunset over Santa Elena Canyon and a large prickly pear cactus.

This rock looks more like a lion’s head or the Sphinx than a keyhole, don’t you think?

 

Near the park’s west entrance, ocotillos guard the rim of a canyon that reminded me a lot of the painted desert with it’s yellow and gray clay strata.

Never leave a workshop early if you don’t want to miss something special.  All our students headed home a few hours too soon during the last afternoon of the workshop.  Joe and I captured these images as a storm approached Boquillas Canyon.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip to the Big Bend.  Look for us to try it again next spring.

Larry

 

 

 

 

 

This past week, I finally got out to do some shooting at a couple of local parks, South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and North American Butterfly Assoication’s National Butterfly Center.  Spring in south Texas (yes, it’s spring here) may require a photographer to lean a little into the wind, but these habitats compensate with their abundant birds and butterflies.  March 2 was brisk and windy so the birds stayed close to shore or flew to the freshwater ponds at the Nature Center’s boardwalks.  We were working on our second 16 gig cards before the winter Texans got out for their morning boardwalk stroll.  Just before sunset, we were treated to a half hour of great blue heron fishing along the Laguna Madre boardwalk.

Yesterday’s weather was much more accommodating with a gentle breeze and morning temperatures in the 50s and 60s.  At the National Butterfly Park near Mission, Texas the butterflies were active in the morning sun.  My body wasn’t ready for the crawling and bending required to get photo-close to the smaller butterflies, but it was a lot of fun (I’ve got to get back in shape for butterflies after a two year lay-off during our extreme drought.)  I was surprised to see so many nice birds (great kiskadees, green jays, chachalacas, altamira orioles and clay-colored thrushes) at the center, as well.  To compensate for the morning’s exertion, we sat and photographed birds through the late afternoon.  It was all a blast.

Here is a good selection of photos from these two days of photography at south Texas parks.  Enjoy.

Click on the upper right portion of a photo to make it larger and sharper.  Then click in the lower right or left zone to go forward or backward through all the photos.

 

My “new” Canon 1D Mark IV has proved to be “as advertised” with its ability to lock on flying targets in a heartbeat.

 

 

Normally, I would select a shot with full up or down wing positioning, but I liked this one because the folded wing provided a shadow to highlight the brown pelican’t magnificant head.

 

 

 

I was panning way too slow for the bullet-like redhead, but I liked the composition that includes a boardwalk photo blind in the background.  Note the Laguna Madre in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the South Padre Island photos above were done with the Canon 1D Mark IV, 500 mm IS lens, Feisol carbon fiber tripod and Wimberley head.  The shutter speed was never lower than 1/1250 second and most of the time, it was 1/2000 second or better to freeze the motion.

Below, I used a Canon 7D (with its 1.6 magnification factor), Canon 300 mm f4 IS lens, Canon 1/4 tele-extender or Canon 500 Close Up lens, Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and Feisol ball head for the butterflies.

 

 

The two shots above were done with the close-up lens screwed on the front of the Canon 300 mm f4 lens.  In both shots, the insect was closer than one foot.  I didn’t use enough depth of field for the butterfly but I was trying to keep the backgrounds blurred.

 

 

 

I have one more photo for you, the now famous Flamulated Owl of South Padre Island.  This bird has spent a month or two hiding in deep cover at the Convention Center.  On this day, it decided to roost near the thicket’s edge and the birders located it.  Thanks to the guy who told us… a Texas “Longhorn” no less!  Good thing I wasn’t wearing my maroon and white that day.

 

 

Here’s wishing you good days afield in the Lord’s creation,

Larry

 

 

Yesterday, Paul Denman and I traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas to meet with about 50 photographers and landowners who will participate in the 2013 Coastal Bend Wildlife Photography Contest.  Paul reviewed a number of important items in Photoshop which each photographer will need to prepare images for competition.  I talked with landowers and photographers on the importance of developing a strong partnership during the competition.  As the day came to a close, we gave the group a number of tips on how, when and where to get the better photos.  The audience really got into the swing of things when I shared my experiences on what the judges will be looking for as they select the winning shots.  Good luck  to all the Coastal Bend photographers and landowners.

Recently, I made a few images at South Padre Island including a shot of the elusive American bittern.  It’s not a good photo but at least it finally stood up and allowed me the chance to get one or two captures.  My luck was also running pretty thin as I tried to catch a pair of bald eagles on the sensor early last week.  I say this every year, but next year I will be there in early January with the hope of getting the adult eagles while they are actively feeding and tending their young.

The last images in this week’s newsletter are from the Big Bend National Park area where Joe Zinn and I will lead an Instructional Photo Tour in late March.  If you are so inclined, come on and join us.  We still have space for two photographers.  Check the details on Joe’s or my web sites…photozinn.com or larryditto.com.

To view the following images just click in the upper right area of a photograph and it will enlarge and sharpen for better viewing.  From there, you can advance or back up by clicking on the “next” and “previous” commands in the upper right or left area of any photo.

 

The eagle photo above was done from a tripod using a Canon 1D mark IV and 500 mm IS lens.  The shot below was also hand-held and I had the Canon 7D body on the 500 mm lens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the shooting hits a mid-afternoon lull on South Padre Island, I can usually find butterflies in the Convention Center habitat.

 

The Big Bend National Park images were done with the Canon 1D mark III and 16-35 mm lens, Gitzo tripod, Arca Swiss mono-ball,  and polarizing or Singh Ray split neutral density filters.

 

 

 

Once I had time to go through all the whooping crane trip photos from early January, I decided to offer a few more images here.  I hope you don’t mind.  I’ll be out looking for birds and landscapes next week, so the subjects will be a little different.  Let me know what you think about these.  If you like the idea of trying these birds, we will be running the tour in mid-December in 2013.  That should produce a little better weather and all the whoopers will be here by then.  Let me know if you want to join that trip and I’ll get you on the list.

Just click on any photo in the upper right corner area to make it open in a larger, sharper format.  Then you can advance or go in reverse for more photos.

 

Even with some rain coming down, several of us got this nice pose of brown pelicans on pilings.  By using a layer mask technique, I was able to brighten the birds and darken the gray sky a bit to help the birds “pop” a little more.  I keep a camera with the 100-400 mm lens on a sling around my shoulder for shots like this.  We approached the birds quickly but I was able to rip off quite a few shots as we passed them because the second camera was handy at arm’s length.

 

 

By panning from a speeding boat, I was able to keep the focus point stable and get an acceptable shot of the Goose Island Park pier (above) well after sunset… 1/30 second, ISO 1600 with some noise reduction in Adobe Camera RAW.

 

After a morning of crane photography, we worked our way back to the docks by drifting up to several oyster bars.  As usual, there was a the wide variety of birds watching the boat traffic.  As the shots above and below attest, we were able to get flight shots of willets and American oyster catchers.  I try to keep the shutter speed close to 1/2000 second when shots of flying birds are likely.  That is a good speed for stopping wing motion.

 

The oyster catcher was photographed with a Canon 7D and 500 mm IS lens, hand-held.  With this type of shooting, it isn’t always possible to get the light and wind at optimum angles, but some really nice shots can result if things fall into place.

 

Whooping cranes were our the prime photo target, but most of us remained ready to capture a few images of just about anything within range.  This vulture glided past us several times.

 

 

 

 

As we watched their backsides from the south, this group of whoopers and sandhill cranes landed into the north wind, offering a shot that was far from ideal but, nevertheless, interesting.

 

 

Shame on me for not being prepared for these whoopers (above) as they landed after sunset.  My ISO was still set at 400.  At ISO 1000, this could have been a very nice capture.  Note the stand of old live oak in the background.

 

Several of you liked a similar shot in the last newsletter, so I decided to share another frame from that fly-by.  During this photo tour, we had a couple of evenings when the sky was incredible.  With 6 photographers keeping their fingers crossed as the sky turned to orange and gold, something good had to happen.  Patience paid off and everybody got a good burst of shots at these guys.

Thanks for dropping by to take a look.

Larry

I just completed my 7th or 8th (I lost count) Rockport, Texas Whooping Crane Photo Tour with a wonderful group of photographers from Texas and California.  The tour always provides much more than just whooping cranes; certainly this year was no exception.  Below, you can see some of the many birds and landscapes we captured as digital images.  Many of the images were made from the deck of a chartered boat that took us right where we wanted to go and for as long as we wanted to be there.

When we weren’t photographing, we were eating seafood, comparing photography ideas, and swapping stories of past adventures.  Rain slowed us down a little on the first day, but the sunset on day two was well worth the wait.  After watching 11 whooping cranes fly in to roost, we were spellbound with the magnificent orange, red and yellow glow on a scattering of clouds as nightfall forced our retreat to the dock.

Whooping crane numbers were near record highs and the tall, white birds were sharing the marshes with many other species, so many photo subjects were always at hand.  Check out the photos below and plan to join me soon on a photo adventure to Block Creek Natural Area or Big Bend National Park.

Of course, it’s not too early to book for next year’s whooper trip.  Just visit my photo tour schedule at www.larryditto.com.

To enlarge and sharpen the following photos for viewing, just click on the upper right area of any photo.  From there, you can advance through the other images.

The photo below was made with a Canon 1D Mark III and Canon 100-400 mm lens, handheld.  All other bird photos were done with the Canon 7D and 500 mm lens from a Feisol carbon fiber tripod with Wimberley head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following images was hand held using a Canon 5D Mark II and 16-35 mm lens.

 

I hope you enjoyed the images of a great trip to the Texas coast.

Larry

 

 

The weather remains unseasonably warm in south Texas, but we had a couple of cool days in December.  I drove out to the coast once just after Thanksgiving and twice more in the last ten days…just before and after last week’s 4-day “sentence” to jury duty, ugh.

I hope you photographers can squeeze in some field time during the holidays.  Enjoy the season.

Click in the upper right area of a photo to open it in a larger format with increased sharpness.  From there, you can advance through the photos.

 

I was fortunate to locate a pair of endangered Aplomado Falcons just after Thanksgiving.  They were busy feeding and getting ready to roost when I saw them at sundown.  These photos were done with a Canon 7D and 500 mm lens from a bean-bag on the car window.  The flight shots were done at 1/2500 second, f 6.3 and ISO 400.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I shot these white-tailed deer pics with the Canon 1D Mark III and Canon 7D cameras and Canon 100-400 mm lens, hand-held.  Hand-holding the zoom lens gives me great flexibility for getting into position to catch shots that have to be done in a hurry, often with the buck coming at me.  I started at ISO 400 about an hour before sundown and gradually increased the ISO to 800 at sunset.  All the while, I was trying to maintain as much shutter speed as possible to aid the “image stabilizer” in eliminating lens/camera vibration.  So, my shutter speed decreased from 1/2000 second to 1/250 second during that last hour of sunlight.

 

 

 

 

Thirteen wild turkey strolled by while I was photographing deer.  They paused long enough for me make a few images just before sunset.

 

 

 

 

The redhead ducks were back on the Laguna Madre around South Padre Island.  I was fortunate to catch a few coming to the island marshes for fresh water.

 

I hope you enjoyed these photos.  Have a Happy Holiday Season.

Larry

If you have been thinking about getting down to the coast to try finding some of our beautiful coastal birds and photographing the sights, please join me on January 8-10 at Rockport.  I still have two spots available and we have a boat reserved with a knowledgable captain to guide us right up to the birds.  Each morning we will be on the water photographing whooping cranes and other coastal birds like roseate spoonbills, pelicans, osprey, and many other species.  Then, we’ll drive to area locations for more birds and some of the local landscapes including harbors, marinas,  fishing boats and such.  It will be a great retreat after the holidays and you’ll have a lot of fun with other photographers of like interests.

Here are some samples of bird photos taken the past two winters on these tours.  If you are interested, check out my photo tour schedule on this web site or contact me at lditto@larryditto.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you can join me for this fantastic trip.  It will be a small group of no more than 5 photographers, having fun, enjoying the adventure, and capturing many wonderful memories.

Larry

Summer seems to be gone, even in south Texas, and I hope most of you are getting the opportunity to enjoy some outdoor time in the cooler fall and early winter air.  That is why I’m getting so far behind on processing images and keeping up fresh newsletter.  I’ve got a ton of shots from recent outings that I want to share with you, but for now, we will see the remains of those Rocky Mountain Trip photos we started several newsletters ago.  Here are some shots you haven’t seen, including a few from my return trip across Texas on a Sunday morning along I-10 east of Fort Stockton.

Enjoy the images in a larger, sharper format by clicking in the upper right area of a photo.  You can advance or reverse from there.

 

All of these rocky mountain landscape photos were done with the Canon 5D Mark II camera and either 16-35 mm or 24-104 mm lens on a Feisol cf tripod and ball head with electronic release.  Notice that several were taken before sunrise or after sunset when the colors were saturated and the tones were closer together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following shots were taken with the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 500 mm lens resting on a beanbag atop the car.  I had to get on a frontage road to escape traffic long enough to make these captures.

 

 

 

 

 

The hummingbird shot was done with natural light and a hand-held 500 mm lens in my front yard as I was loading for the trip west in September.  I missed the big influx of hummers and never really saw very many after returning in October.

Have a happy Thanksgiving,

Larry