Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Yet Another Love Story
About a week ago I missed a great opportunity to photograph some wild turkeys at the John Heinz Nature Preserve. Well, this morning I got my chance. I got to the Nature Preserve just about dawn. It was still pretty dark outside and I could hear the wild turkeys gobbling in the woods where they were roosting. I set up the camera and began to photograph the turkeys in the woods. They were making a racket and I could see all the boys were showing off their colors and big tails to all the girls. After a few minutes they came out of the woods close to the parking lot and before I knew what was happening one of the boys stepped on top of one of the girls, flattening her to the ground. He sort of walked all over her back and she acted as if she was getting a good foot massage. Another boy turkey approached with his tail feathers all displayed and tried to hone in on all the action, but he could not prevail. The original male kept walking on the girl's back for a long time, then he did what good turkeys do. I was so amazed to see all this happening right in front of me. Finally when it was all over, the girl got up, shook herself off and ran away.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Almost a Missed Opportunity
It was a rainy morning this morning, but I was determined to get out early and see if I could find something to photograph. I got to the John Heinz Nature Preserve about 7:30 and as I entered into the park I was thrilled to see about eight wild turkeys right there in the little field along the entrance road. One of the boys had all his beautiful tail feathers up and showing off to the girls. I pulled the car quickly to the side of the road, jumped out and tried to quickly set up the camera and tripod. Well, as you know, when you want to do things quickly, it never happens. The new big fat lens is heavy and getting it set up on the tripod is a little tricky. Add to that, in my excitement, I couldn't remember if I twist the legs of the tripod to the left or right to get them to tighten. All the while I am seeing the turkeys put their little heads down and run across the field and into the woods. By the time I was ready, the turkeys were gone. Ugh....
Not to be deterred, I put the camera and tripod back into the car, drove to the parking lot, parked the car and ran quickly to the other side of the woods to head off the turkeys. When I got there, they were just about out of reach, but I got one guy who walked across my path. Didn't get his feet, but here is most of him.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
X-RATED (Must be Spring)
Today, I was innocently walking past the pond at Eastern University. Two beautiful Canada Geese had just landed at the far end of the pond. I noticed they were dunking their heads into the water one after the other over and over again. I started taking pictures just to capture the geese with the water droplets on their faces, when all of a sudden I realized I was in the midst of their mating ritual. Rather than turn my head and give them some privacy, I decided to stick with it. And oh my.... it was some ritual. That nasty old boy grabbed the girl by the hair on her head, dunked her in the water repeatedly, then stood on top of her, and after it was all over, he raised his wings in triumph. While all along, the poor girl, just went along for the ride. Take a look for yourselves. Click twice for best view.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
400mm Nikon Lens - Poor Little Worm
O.K. guys, I finally got the right tripod for the new big lens and have been having the time of my life lugging this big old baby all over Kingdom Come looking for fun things to photograph. Here's an example of how fast and precise this new lens is. It takes the robin just a second or so to catch a worm, but I was able to get off a good four shots and all of them pretty sharp. Life does not get better, except for the poor worm.....
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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