Black Attack II -- I'm Baaaack!

Returning to the scene of the "incident", I wanted to loiter on the red-winged blackbird's territory just to capture better photos of this irritable character, since the sky was beautifully painted with big poofy clouds and plenty of light for a nice background (through a windshield). I didn't have to wait long before he buzzed my car and landed in the reeds beside me. He let out an ear-piercing rendition of his fiercest call, just to try to scare me off. When that didn't work, he predictably landed on my car and inspected my windshield, then gave another shout!



He paced back and forth on the hood...



...and stared inside...



He shouted a few more times through the windshield and then chased off another unsuspecting blackbird trespassing, so I took that opportunity to escape his wrath.

Whew, I was lucky to get out alive!

A Few Miscellaneous Scenics

I have no time for blogging! I hate that! We can hopefully return to your regularly scheduled program next week? In the meantime, I have these to share:

A Couple of First of Year's

I found this Great Horned Owl on this nest that I have been watching on January 30th. I didn't photograph her til recently because I didn't want the nest to fail because of my intrusion. I waited because last year there was an owl couple that I stopped for, (who wouldn't stop when you saw 2 owls in the nest) and a day later they were gone and never returned. I didn't want that to happen this year, so I waited for well over a week. She is still there so it was worth waiting for.









The first sign of Spring is hearing the Red-winged Blackbirds. I heard/saw/photographed them on February 10th.

Bark at the Moon

O.K. so its not Ozzy Osbournes next album cover redeax, but it was an opportunity to shoot something different on a boring day. The sun came out later in the evening, and I haven't shot anything for a week. The weather has been gloomy, so when I saw the sun poke its bright head out, I threw on my sneakers and took a ride to my nearest conservation area, Braidwood Lakes. My mission: Find some woodcocks. I found a number of them last year around this time, but there were none. I then rode out to Mazonia for anything I could find. I was hoping a certain road would be open that has been gated closed for more than a month, but... no luck. My opportunities are fading as the sun is about to set. There were plenty of red wing blackbirds though, so now I just needed a canvas. Looking high into the sky, I find the moon almost full. I just need the perfect angle, and voila! This brave guy did not flush as I approached slowly with my car. I positioned a few times, and he just kept singing. My mistake: I should have put more distance between me and the bird, so I could sharpen the moon up. I shot at about 180mm focal length, ISO 200 for 1/100 at f16 & +1 e.v. If I would have opened up to 300mm, from a greater distance, it would have been much better.