This spring/early summer has been wonderful for sighting new birds in our part of the Bluegrass.

On a rainy Monday morning I saw this female Blue Grosbeak right outside our upstairs bedroom window:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49911012761_7b6cb78ea9_o.jpgFemaleRBGB18May2020_014 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr

The first time I saw one of these I had to go to Merlin Bird ID since they look so different (except for that beak!) from the male.


Marshall

I believe that SqBear is correct. I've seen this "mobbing" behavior from several different birds against Great Blue Herons at the ponds where I photograph.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/birdwatching/bird-behaviour/what-is-mobbing/

Marshall

Katy, that was a very well put together set of photos! Thanks for putting them up for us to see.

I wasn't sure that we here in KY even have ravens, just really big crows, but I did some research and we do! Very uncommon to see them, but our woods and cliffs along some rivers are apparently a good habitat.

If you are ever in Lexington, KY, this place might interest you: Raven Run Nature Sanctuary.

http://outpostusa.org/ravenrun.html

Great description of the hiking trails, but not one mention of a raven, lol. I guess they were more plentiful 200 years ago.

Best I can do these days is feed a peanut butter cracker to the family of crows that frequent the parking lot of the pizza place I get take-out.

Marshall

Very nice! Wish we had these, and I had to go to the Merlin Bird ID app using your photos for an ID:

Number 1: female Orchard Oriole
Number 2: male Orchard Oriole

Marshall

Thanks, it has been a great spring for bird watching, so far.

Their hanging nests are incredible, too. I've seen several around town, but none have been active. Maybe this year!

Marshall

My wife doesn't like ants, so we haven't tried any jelly.

Ninety-nine cents is what stopped me from trying orange halves.


Marshall

We had one male Baltimore Oriole at our feeders last year, and a couple of males this year, but today was the first female we have ever seen.

Not as stunning as the male, but nevertheless very pretty in her own right.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49888706763_350860ffb2_o.jpgFemaleBaltimoreOriole12May2020_063web by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


She was mostly interested in the suet block, and returned to it several times.

Marshall

Red-bellied Woodpecker, Jim.

We've had Redwing Blackbirds on our Woodpecker Block occasionally, but not often.

Marshall

Have you tried playing around with the various modes of Topaz AI Sharpen: Sharpen, Stabilize, or Focus?

In the past I have had shots taken from my car window that I thought would be dead on sharp, ruined by heat distortion, probably partially due to heat rising from the car manifold. So, I've avoided that situation lately, but have wanted to go back to those files and see if Topaz could do something with them. Just haven't tried that yet.

Marshall

I believe that those are European Starlings, very pretty birds, but there sure are a lot of them.

Marshall

I guess I'll have to pass on that, I just like to look up stuff on ebay!

Way, way, back in the day when I had a darkroom, I dried prints in the way User_ID mentioned; on racks of plastic window screening.

Marshall

$95.00 on ebay and it's yours! lol!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heated-Drum-print-film-dryer-with-cloth-apron-for-darkroom-development/231040642271?hash=item35cb186cdf:g:2GIAAMXQb2JSGrQU

Marshall

Well, Cherihorn, until Steve Perry comes away from the dark side and writes a book about the Canon autofocus system I guess we are on our own.

I've been round and round with this and several years ago found this guy who had set up his 5D in a way that made sense to me, so I did the same:

https://www.grantatkinson.com/blog/making-the-most-of-canons-new-autofocus-5dmk3-and-1dx

Since 5X5X3=75 possible ways to set the three autofocus parameters it's not surprising that Canon tried to simplify things into 6 "Cases."

We had a very good bird photographer come and give a presentation and talk to our local camera club and she was asked in the Q&A about which case she used. She was confused, too, and admitted that she just left her 5D on Case 1 all the time.

So, hope you can get something out of that link. Me, I've been all over the place, and seem to end up back on Case 1. Wish I was sophisticated enough to appreciate the nuances available. lol!


Marshall

Did some Google research and will have to revisit IS Mode 3. This is four years old, but an interesting conversation to me nevertheless:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1455194

I may have been seeing a stable viewfinder image and been lulled into thinking my handholding was more steady than it could be. I'll check this out when it's easier to get out and about.

Marshall

I took that awkward foot off and replaced it with a Really Right Stuff LCF-54B foot/arca plate replacement piece.

When positioned on the bottom of the lens it is tripod or monopod ready, and if positioned on top of the lens it makes a very comfortable and secure handhold for carrying the lens/camera combo. Really Right Stuff stuff is pricey, but beautifully made and a joy to use, with more finger clearance and comfortable rounded edges when using it as a carry handle.

I'll have to withhold judgement on using Mode 3 of IS. Right now I'm in the camp that likes to see it doing something when looking through the viewfinder. lol!


Marshall