I happened upon a pair of Ospreys on a platform nest at the Sandy Hook seashore in New Jersey. The nest was protected and too far away for me to get a good photo. But I enjoyed watching them. A couple days later I returned to the site to see if they might come closer. The Sandy Hook area is large, so I wandered around and was lucky enough to see this Osprey as if it were just waiting for its portrait to be taken.

I strategically used backlighting to photograph this Common Yellowthroat, with most of the backlighting on his bill. I couldn't get an angle from the other side of the tree based on the path position. I know that I could have bumped up the ISO to get more of the bird illuminated, but it was fun to experiment and I really like how the lit up beak looks, emphasizing the birdsong. I also chose to center the bird, to show more of the branches and backlit leaves on both sides. There are also backlit spider webs, which do look a bit odd, but ultimately I'm happy with the shot and with the experimentation practice.

this male grosbeak had a grub and gave it to his mate i love seeing things like this

i was at our local birding spot it is the Brandon farm loop in Georgia and this female grosbeak was given a grub by its mate and made a great picture

we were at a condo at Florida and i was out on the balcony when a osprey flew right  by with a fish in his talons

Northern Cardinal outside window in evergreen

I often use environmental elements to accentuate a bird within the frame. In this example, the stark thorny Ocotillo Cactus branches lead the viewer to the male Western Tanager in this image. The bright colors of the bird are reflected back in the spring Ocotillo blossoms.

Here's image I took a long-time ago on May 6, 2013, Captiva Island, Fl.   Most people don't like it including so called professional wildlife photographers. They say because of the man-made items (electrical pole and wires). First the photo shows the bird in what I consider is it's natural habitat. I consider urbanization as habitat too. After all, in Florida and I suspect in other locations, man builds nesting sites on top of poles for birds.

I was trying to get a photo of a lonely Grebe, sitting out in the distance, when I saw movement in my peripheral.  I was lucky enough to be able to pan and catch this heron flying by.  The first/left is my initial crop, focused on the bird.  The second/right photo is my adjusted crop, after this lesson, focusing on the environment and a larger story.

 

I'm pretty happy with this backlit image of an Eastern Phoebe. I used a lot of the techniques I learned in this class - primarily being patient and moving slowly - to capture this shot.

I tried panning birds in flight and I tried photographing birds with the sun behind them. These techniques will definitely need more practice! I especially liked the section on conservation in this lesson. The picture of the Mourning Dove, with its nest in the gutter, demonstrates that they are a species that can adapt and nest anywhere. In spite of this adaptability, their numbers are decreasing. I hope to use photography to facilitate awareness of conservation concerns. A strong thunderstorm drove this Mourning Dove from her nest. Thankfully, the chick was old enough to fly to safety.

The position of the sun backlit the egret's wings and highlighted the eye as it took off for a different look than I had been able to capture for this bird in flight.

I liked the contrast between the bird in motion and the background.  Took these with a bridge camera (Sony RX10IV)

100 ISO  f5.6  1/2000s top photo   1/1250s  bottom photo

Mostly I will put the bird on the left hand "Rule-of-Thirds" line to look into the photo. In this case I decided to put the bird, Levaillant's Cisticola, on the right hand side with the green leaf pointing to the bird.

I must admit that this photo is a post-processing edit. I did not think about this composition while shooting, I was too intent to get the bird in focus and shoot before it flies away! But hopefully after some more practice I will be able to see  more artistic compositions while shooting.

I spent alot of time with this little European Robin and managed to capture him as he took off.  Its a pretty blurred capture but I really liked the feel of an Angel moving into flight.

In another attempt to use what I have learned in the class I attempted to capture this Great Blue Heron in his environment and also use the "virtual leg"  experiment while he fished along the shore of Lake Erie.

Using  my  bridge camera I was able to experiment with capturing this ring billed seagull that decided to land on my car hood and investigate me.  A  true example of allowing the bird to come to me, and his environment around him.  He was quite the character.

At a café with many hummingbird feeders, after taking lots of photos with regular lighting, I decided to try capturing some silhouette shots of the birds, and I was really happy with this one! For the gray-breasted sabrewing on the right, the light not only illuminates its profile but also lights up its eye! (It may not be clear in the uploaded image—I might need further editing ) To me, it looks almost magical.



My bridge camera can't really capture birds sharply when they're not close enough and well-lit, but it still brings me a lot of joy by capturing their habitats and showcasing their fun behaviors at the same time. The parrots were so amusing as they went in and out of their nests. I also like how the tropical leaves in the foreground make the composition more interesting.

Pan blur will be my next exercise! I haven't got a chance but it is definitely worthing trying.

I had been hoping to get a record shot of a Yellow Wattlebird which had eluded me for so long. Every time I had my camera they wouldn't appear or if I didn't have my camera they would be sitting out in the open. Finally I had my camera ready and this bird perched in a tree opposite my house with the light coming from the right direction. So at last I had my record shot. But I took a few more photos to try to improve the composition and was lucky enough to press the shutter at exactly the moment the bird took off. This resulted in an unusual view of the bird as it was just starting to spread its wings to fly.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor 600mm f/6.3, photo taken at f/11, 1/2000 s, ISO 800 – manual settings, and autofocus.  I am making slow progress in getting even decent photographs of birds in flight – very challenging, but the learning and progress, even if slow, is so rewarding. I tracked this great blue heron for about a minute as it flew low over the water towards an area of mud beach that was being frequented by perhaps fifty other great blue herons.  I used burst mode but was shooting into the sun and none of those pictures turned out.  The bird was flying left to right and so as I moved the camera, the lighting became side lighting and I was able to get this photo of the bird about to land, with good definition of the body and feathers, as well as seeing how the angle of the feathers are used to reduce lift and create drag, as airplanes do.

My Merlin bird sound app confirmed there indeed were yellow warblers in the surrounding shrubs and trees, but having them sit still long enough for a picture was a challenge.  Now that I have found them and with some patience I've been working on improving technique.  For such small birds they stand up for themselves against larger birds encroaching on their territory.