Watching Jr. Grosbeak

There is an ongoing parade of colors in the yard.  Sometimes it is butterflies, often it is flowers, but recently it has been in the form of avian life.

Baby Grosbeak (male)

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have nested and are currently raising young in our yard. This peachy-colored male has been visiting the feeder on a regular basis.  Early on his father brought him in and carried sunflower seeds to him. Now he comes all on his own. 

The awkward age. Who knew grosbeaks went thought a spotted-breast phase?

But sometimes the feeder is a bit crowded.  The local cardinals and titmice are busy gathering seed and bringing their own young to the feeder.  We won't even talk about those pushy House Finches and House Sparrows, both noisy, boisterous lots.

Jr. Grosbeak gleans from the squirrel baffle.

 This young grosbeak is a smart one, though.  Rather than dealing with the pushing and shoving, the standing-room-only at the feeder, he shops the bargain basement. Before now, I have never seen a bird meticulously glean seeds from the top of the squirrel baffle. He has the whole place to himself!

Bird watching arrangement.

My bird feeders have limbs attached to them- all the better to perch on , my dear. It is also better for photography.  The birds come and go in good numbers, and many wait their turn on the limbs attached right to the feeder.  The surrounding area is filled with native plants and much of my window is partially obstructed by vegetation. It makes a very natural looking blind. Those are Common Milkweed leaves you see peaking into the lower left side of the photo.

The "inside view" of my birding blind.

 The window treatment is a blind consisting of large wooden slats.  They create enough of a barrier that the birds pay very little attention to me as I stand and watch them feed and practice my photography. The top window is open; the camera lens sticks out between two of the slats. This arrangement presents very little distraction to the birds as they go about their daily lives..

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This is a photo of Jr. Grosbeak's proud papa.  The male grosbeak would come into the feeder and check things out, with the juvenile 'beak close behind.  Because of my window "blind" and the perching limb, I am able to take some rather striking "natural" shots of the birds.  In actuality, the bird feeder is but inches away, but one could never tell from this uncropped shot.

This window set up also allows me to take some close-up shots without using much of my camera's zoom copasity.  Therefore, the resolution and quality is the shot is much better than one gets in the wild.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed meeting this wonderful grosbeak family as much as I have enjoyed filming them. It has been a profound experience for me!

Fringetree: Nature through the lens.

Fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus is a southern species, best known from Virginia and the Carolinas.  If you want to see it in Ohio, you'll need to go south- to Scioto or Adams County.

Coincidentally, that is where we hold Flora-Quest, and we hold it when the Fringetree is in bloom: the first weekend in May.  Mark your calendar- this year's date is May 3-5, 2013.

                                   

Fringetree, photo by Andrew Gibson

                                            

 Knowing Fringetree is found in Scioto County is one thing, knowing where to find it is altogether another. That is why you'll want to book a trip with our experts guides, like Andrew Gibson and Ian Adams.

Fringetree, photo by Ian Adams

If you love to study nature, you may find it is even more enjoyable when you frame it as a photograph.  Whether it is the entire landscape that catches your eye, or some little detail you would like to examine with macro photography, today's "point and shoot" cameras do it all.

This year we are offering something entirely new:

                           Nature through a lens.

This isn't some difficult class filled with talk of F-stops and apertures!  You don't need a fancy camera, your cell phone will even do. This is a nature class.  Let the experts teach you how to get those photos you will want to share with friends.  Learn how we sneak up on butterflies or bees.  Get down on the ground for some exciting perspectives!   Ian and Andrew will help you understand nature, and see it in a new light.

So pick up this year's Flora-Quest card- and you'll notice a portion of Andrew's spectacular photo is featured on the front.

Join us and see all your favorite spring flowers: orchids, shooting-stars, Indian paint-brush and some exciting trees.  We are still in the planning stages, but the trips are coming together and we can't wait to share what our guides have in store for you this year!

Is it spring yet?

Lakeside- Karlson's Photo Class

Sunday Morning of the OOS Conference, I climbed the stairs of the pavilion at the lakefront to attend the Kevin Karlson Photography class.

"Storm watch" at Lakeside Dock

The view, overlooking the dock from the classroom windows, was inspiring. The clouds were rolling across Lake Erie, giving threats of a North-east storm.   

Fall weather on Lake Erie is bi-polar: lovely or brutal. 

 Gordon Lightfoot referred to the "gales of November."  It is a legend on the lakes, immortalized in "The Edmund Fitzgerald."

Kevin Karlson teaches our class about focus and composition of a photo.  If you get an opportunity to take his class, sign up!  We covered a ton of great info including-

the basic principles, like the "rule of thirds."

Lake Erie's sky rules in thirds.

As I looked out the window, the heavens were blessing Kevin's class.