I am starting to run behind on my blog posts again. I have a post I am still working on from a recent trip to extreme South East Montana and I also just returned from an awesome early summer trip to Glacier National Park. Please check back in the near future to view those posts. Since I am still working on those, I thought I would make a real quick post to share a few of my pictures from a little closer to home I have taken this spring (in some cases, so close to home they were in my backyard.)
I recently had a flock of Cedar Waxwings hanging out in our apple tree in the backyard. I had seen a few in the neighborhood a couple of years ago, but I was not able to get any good pictures at the time. I have since been hoping that someday I would see them again. Luckily this spring was my chance. Since the apple tree was still full of blossoms (which the birds were eating) it made for some great pictures. It was an overcast day and the wind was blowing pretty hard, so it wasn’t the best day for photography, but it was still fun. We have also had a pair of Mourning Doves build a nest in the same apple tree. The nest is not very substantial, but it has survived several storms now, so I guess it was sufficient. We also had robins nesting in both of our neighbors' yards that have been fun to watch. I did not take pictures of either of these however, as I didn’t feel comfortable pointing a large lens and camera into my neighbors’ yards.
A Cedar Waxwing getting ready to pull off and eat another pedal off a apple blossom.
A Cedar Waxwing posing with some apple blossoms.
Another Cedar Waxwing eating an apple blossom.
A Mourning Dove sitting on her nest keep an eye on me.
I also took a trip out to Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge the other day. If you follow my blogs you know that is one of my favorite spots to visit. With the drought conditions this year, the water levels are fairly low in the area, but I was still able to view several bird species. As I am typing this, we are luckily finally getting some much needed rain. I was out there when it was a little windy and a bit cool, but on the upside that meant the bugs were not too much of a problem which can be the case during our warmer months. This trip was also my first chance to try out my new Canon 100-500 RF lens. Since I primarily shoot with the Canon R5 now, I am starting to get tired of always having to use EF to RF adapters with my old lenses. It just complicates things and makes packing/planning what gear to bring more difficult. I cannot afford to replace all of my old lenses, but the 100-500 is something that I will leave on my camera most of the time so it seemed like a good investment. This will replace the Canon 100-400 II that has kind of been my workhorse from my DSLR days. That is a great lens so the 100-500 has some big shoes to fill. So far I have been pretty satisfied with the 100-500. It does have a minimum aperture of F7.1 at 500mm which is kind of a bummer (the 100-400 was F5.6 at 400mm), but for the most part I can work around that. It is a little bit lighter and you do get an extra 100mm focal length over the 100-400, so I think it’s a fair trade. It will still never be a replacement for my 600mm F4, but that is not always practical to pack around.
A White-Faced Ibis wading in the water at Benton Lake NWR.
A Black-crowned Night-Heron along the shore at Benton Lake NWR.
A gull flying over Benton Lake NWR.
I am not 100% sure on the ID of this bird. Please leave a comment if you know.
A Northern Shoveler just coming in for a landing.