More dragonflies....

Below are a couple from the park out back.  The first is a Common Green Darner which are pretty numerous now.  And a favorite food for migrating birds and raptors actually.  The second is an Autumn Meadowhawk.  If you look at the 'red' fall dragonflies you will see there is a variety among them.  Be it White Faced, Autumn, Cherry Faced, etc.  So you have to look close to tell the difference.  The big decider between Cherry Faced and Autumn are the leg colors (thanks to Ed Lam for this helpful hint!) and the black pattern on the abdomen.  I took some more of the Lance Tipped Darners that are cruising the soccer pitch but that would be getting a little redundant.  I am looking forward to getting out and taking pictures of birds when the chance arrives on Sunday!

I will try to show a couple pictures of my digiscoping system and their benefits.  I am using one right now but I am getting a connector to try the Nikon V1 out this weekend.  Once I have that together and try it I will write up my personal feelings on the subject.

Also, finally getting my soft stay on case for the Swarovski ATX95.  Seems Swarovski has been struggling getting these to market after some quality issues so I should receive it today from Eagle Optics.  So the photos of the system will have experience with all the contraptions involved.

Sabines Gull in Minnesota

Friday my email inbox had the listserv email of a Sabines Gull at Purgatory Creek in Eden Prairie.  This is a great place to get your Hennepin Co. shorebirds if the conditions are right.  The birder who reported it is excellent so I knew it was the real deal and wanted to get one for Minnesota.  It is only a 15 minute drive from my home office so a lunch break had a birding trip in store!

The bird was on the flat as described and there were some very fun and helpful birders there.  There was also a beautiful non-breeding Hudsonian Godwit as well as Long Billed Dowicher, Black Bellied Plover, and a selection of Sandpipers as well.  American Pipits were also on the flat and found by another diligent birder.

Please note that this digiscoped picture is zoomed all the way to 70X and the conditions were cloudy and rainy.  If you had a DSLR with a 600mm and teleconverter the photo would not have been any better with the distance the gull was from us.  But you can still see it is a juvi.

When on my trip to Washington State this summer were were able to see Sabines in breeding plumage and they are easily the most beautiful gull there is.  The pelagic was with Westport Seabirds and I highly recommend them.  The spotters were very helpful and experienced.  We had a rough trip out due to a really low tide that day but the birding once we got out was fantastic.  If you ever go on a pelagic please join in on spotting and ID'ing!  Don't just sit there and wait for the announcements.  Participate and learn from the experience.  Only 4-6 of the 22 of us, at most,  were participating in the spotting which was disappointing.  But I digress.

I birded the park out back and Old Cedar as well this week but the results were disappointing.  Warblers have been very light all fall and the leaves are still very green making it difficult when they are not calling.  I can say the fall has been underwhelming migration-wise.  The positive is that we had a new yard bird this week and it was a Merlin!  And sparrows are starting to trickle through now.

Lastly, on Saturday, upon arriving home from a going away party for a friend i heard immature GHO's calling in the park out back.  There were three owls all together and we have not heard this many.  Usually one is all.  I hope this does not hurt the chances of the red phase Eastern Screech Owl coming back to its winter roost.  And one landed on the roof of the neighbor's house.  It was a fun end to the evening!

At Grey Cloud I was able to get this photo of a Field Sparrow Saturday.  Again, not much going on here migration wise either.

Fall Migration?

Work has been very busy lately and birding time is at  premium.  I went out and birded the back this morning and the best I could get was a Magnolia and Black and White Warbler.  One of each.  Here in Minnesota the migration for warblers has been very slow.  But I was able to find my FOY White Throated Sparrow out back.  This means it is getting cold up north unfortunately.  But I love their song so there is a positive.

I also traveled for work this week and brought my Swarovski ATX95 along for some digiscoping.  This part of Iowa I always thought would be pretty good for birding but I have always struck out.  I think I should have brought my fly rod instead for some trout fishing!  But I was able to get this American Goldfinch in the middle of a molt on some thistle in evening light.

Also in the park out back I was able to get a few shots of a Lance Tipped Darner.  There are only a couple left cruising the soccer pitch....down from a dozen or so earlier this week.  Must be the cold weather.  But it is nice to see them here as I did not have them in the park out back last year at all.  Lance Tipped are best ID's by the shape of the cerci and the thoratic stripes....as well as habitat.

Last weekend I made the 2.5 hour trip up north to Park Point in Duluth.  I was hoping to see a Jaeger or something unique.  But upon arrival I knew that would not be the case as the lake was like glass.  It was actually a beautiful day in the mid 80s but not so good for birding.  Warblers other than Palm were few and far between.  But there were a few shorebirds so I put the ATX95 through its first paces with birds.  I got some decent shots of Semi Palmated Plover, Black Bellied Plover, and Sanderlings.  You only have early morning on the weekends to make hay on a nice day as the beach fills up quickly with beach combers and the like.  As well as the plethora of people who seem to think that the leash law does not apply to them when they arrive on the beach.  And their dog chases the shorebirds.  Would be nice to see this nipped in the bud at some point but I am not holding my breath.

The birding has been slow around here so far this fall.  At least in the park out back.  Probably due to the consistent southerly winds and mild temperatures accompanying them.  So in the slow periods I take to photographing dragonflies.  Along with the Meadowhawks that are so prevalent in the fall I try to find some Darners.  I was able to locate both sexes of Lance Tipped Darners last night and below is a picture of a female Lance Tipped.  Beautiful green coloring compared to the male's blue.

Also, there was a hatch last week of Common Green Darners in the park out back.  They are often a food source for migrating kestrels and merlins.  The CGDs that hatch at this time of year also will migrate south.  They are one of a handful of dragonflies that do migrate.

These White Faced Meadowhawks are extremely common in the late summer/early fall.  And they were dinner last night for the Eastern Phoebes that were chasing them around.  At one point a Lance tipped Darner chased the Phoebe away; showing their fearless nature.

As these dragonflies are small, there is some zoom on the camera required to get a proper shot on the digiscoping system.  With the superior glass of the Swarovski ATX95 it did not seem to be a problem at all.

Welcome!

I am just getting started in digiscoping (coming from the DSLR side of things) and will give my perspective on the process, differences, benefits form each option, as well as the occasional commentary on ethics in nature and bird photography.  I will also provide inputs on the birding and birding trips I take as well.  I also enjoy taking odonata (dragonfly and damselflies)photos and they will be included as well.  So enjoy and feel free to ask questions!

Below is my first attempt at photographing birds using a digiscoping system.  I think the results rival my old DSLR system!