Friday, July 3, 2009

A Good and Grainy Day Nuking It!

Nothing too fancy today, but I wanted to show that you can even have a good day when it's a bit overcast and gloomy.

I was disappointed when I got off work yesterday, as the skies were blanketed in a thick cloud layer. It's been that way for a few days now, and it's building up a frustration in me. I haven't been on a "good" shoot in a while, so every cloudy day adds up. This day had just enough light to tease... So, I set my course despite the less-than-perfect conditions because I have been checking on a few sights that have chicks yet to be born. As I am doing that, I notice a lot of seagull activity near the "nuke plant" lake shore.

I see plenty of Caspian Terns, a rogue American White Pelican and a few Great Blue Herons in a matter of minutes. My hopes increase...

The local birding hotline has had sightings of a Laughing Gull at this location, so I sit in the parking lot for a few minutes. A few Caspian Terns go by, and as I follow their route, I see a great place to park my behind and wait for them to come to me. As I am trailing a tern, a shadow from above hints at a flyover I didn't see coming, and as I look, I see it's the (notorious) Laughing Gull. Damn! I am walking and my hands are full with my camera, water, phone, and monopod! Oh well, I can wait him out when I get to my spot. I get set up and wait, and as I am waiting, a few photo ops go by and I take a few close up fly by shots.






A few fishermen walk by, we chat about the crappy weather, and I lose my vantage point with their arrival. The gulls shy away even farther down the shore, so I end up calling it a day. I never did see the Laughing Gull again, but today looks promising, weather-wise...

10 comments:

  1. Just goes to show that even gloomy days have a bit of sunshine.

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  2. It is so cool having these Terns around! Your capture of all three are excellent!!

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  3. You're shots are always so amazing! What's your secret? My photos are no where near as good as yours. Do you mind me asking which settings do you prefer shooting with?
    Thanks :)

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  4. What the heck is a pelican doing in Illinois???

    Wonderful captures as usual.

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  5. You have some amazing pictures here.Too bad you missed the Gull,hopefully next time.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  6. That tern looks pretty neat! We are seeing so many great blues that I find I'm not even looking up anymore..shame on me..your picture reminds me of what a neat bird they are!
    Enjoy the weekend. Hope you get better weather.

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  7. Thanks so much for your reply and your advice :) Most of the time I just use the close-up and landscape settings because I'm TERRIBLE with the manual ones. I move/shake ALOT when I take pictures, and most of the time the pictures will be very blurry. I need to get a tripod, but I don't think it will always be convenient. The best I can do is keep practicing :)
    Again, your shots are amazing, very beautiful!

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  8. Beautiful birds - and the fuzzy-antlered buck is wonderful - and the butterfly - and the turtles - ALL!

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  9. HI,
    Well even if the day was not that good, you managed to get some nice shots there. I love the last one, and I also realize they were all flight shots. So congrats, because it is not that easy to do!

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