May, 2010

Grasshopper Sparrows may be my favorite sparrow. As far as sparrows go they’re a pretty sharp looking bird. In Idaho they seem to be found in tall grassy areas with scattered shrubs. This morning I photographed a few birds that were on territory near Market Lake.

Grasshopper Sparrows, Market Lake, ID 2010

Birding was really good at Market Lake WMA today. There were dozens of Western Tanagers, Empidonax Flycatchers, and Wilson’s Warblers. There were several Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Olive-sided Flycatchers, an American Redstart, several Warbling Vireos, a couple Yellow-breasted Chats, and several sparrows of several species. My friend Steve also found a Northern Parula (an eastern bird that shows up rarely in Idaho). It was a fun day to be out dodging the rain showers.

Western Tanager, Market Lake, ID 2010

Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Market Lake, ID 2010

American Redstart, Market Lake, ID 2010

Northern Parula (sorry, it’s a bit soft), Market Lake, ID 2010

Tree Swallow (odd plumage), Market Lake, ID 2010

Brian and I took a drive to Squirrel and Drummond, ID to photograph a few old homes we had either seen previously or heard about from others (thanks  Alex). We also stumbled upon a couple discoveries of our own. Again, the 24mm Tilt/Shift lens worked like a dream. Here are a few efforts.

Collapsed Home with Bee Hives, Ashton, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #1, Drumond, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #2, Drumond, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #1 (with Doll House), Squirrel, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #2, Squirrel, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #3, Squirrel, ID 2010

Abandoned Home Interior #4, Squirrel, ID 2010

After we got home from a weekend in Utah, I took a quick run out to Market Lake. Migration is really picking up. I had several species of warblers in the woods, several Black Terns, breeding-plumage Great and Snowy Egrets, and a pretty good bird for these parts – a Great-tailed Grackle in the Marsh.

I took a few minutes to take advantage of approachable Tree Swallows and then was able to document the Great-tailed Grackle.

Tree Swallow, Market Lake, ID 2010

Great-tailed Grackle, Market Lake, ID 2010

Susan ran the Ogden Marathon today. She did great and she’s glad to be done. I had to drop her off in Ogden at 4:20 to catch a bus to the start line. I then had a few hours to kill so I went to Antelope Island to do a little birding. It is a remarkable place for birds. I saw 8 species of warblers, several species of shorebirds and sparrows, as well as buntings, orioles, flycatchers etc.. I also saw Antelope oddly enough.

Antelope on Antelope Island

Lark Sparrow, Antelope Island, UT 2010

Susan Finishing the Marathon, joined by a couple of our children and a niece and nephew.

I decided to brave and even embrace the wind this evening. I made several photographs of these ratty old willows along the Teton River near Sugar City at sunset this evening. Both of these photographs were made by stitching together four frames from the 24mm tilt shift. Enjoy.

Teton River Willow #1, Sugar City, ID 2010

Teton River Willow #2, Sugar City, ID

Ethan at Baseball Game, Rexburg, ID 2010

One of my students, Alex George, showed me some photographs he made inside an old home I was aware of in Chester. This afternoon I decided to drive up there to photograph it.

These were made with a 24mm tilt shift lens, a wonderful lens that does really well in these spaces. Panos stitch together seamlessly with little distortion. Here are some results.

Abandoned Home – Chester, ID

One of my favorite birds is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. I photographed a few of them at Camas National Wildlife Refuge today.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Camas NWR, ID 2010

Here are a couple of panoramas I made of Ashton Dam yesterday evening.

Ashton Dam, Ashton, ID 2010