Summertime Blues

      Well we have reached the dolrums days of summer, with days of high humidity and 100 degree weather. Migration is over and birds have settled into their nesting cycles. Now is the time to reflect on the best shots of last winter and I would have to say the days of the Wood Duck were my best.  I had located a large group of ducks on a bayou during the last days of December and contacted the land owner who  allowed me access to photograph.
     The first afternoon was a learning process not really knowing the best location . I managed a few shots but nothing like the second and third afternoon. People often ask what type of blind do you use and how close were you.  For the past several years I have been using a blind that is called The Chair Blind. It is small but comfortable and easy to carry and set up. One thing to note if you are using a blind on waterfowl is to break up the outline with some of the surrounding vegetation. Even then the birds are leary.

     All images were taken with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EOS 500 L IS lens.

Flight Shots

 . Flight shots are one of my downfalls partially because I am left handed and everything on a camera is for right handed people, but as they say practice makes perfect and the joy of digital is you can shot all you want and delete even more.  This image was taken with a Canon EOS 7D and 500 4/L lens.




Red Tail Hawk



Red Cockaded Woodpeckers

The Red Cockaded Woodpecker also referred to as the RCW is a woodpecker indigenous to the southeastern pine forests. It is on the endangered species list and is being intensively managed on federal, state and government lands. The uniqueness of this woodpecker is that it excavates a cavity in a living pine tree. Because of the time required to make this cavity biologists put an artiifical cavity called an  in the trees.

    A question often asked of me as both a biologist and a birder is where are the cockades? The bird in the below image was taken while we were trans locating birds to another forest.  The cockades are the red feathers on the side of the head and are only on the males . They are  rarely visible to someone observing.

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Feeding Frenzy

On of my favorite places to photograph wildlife is at Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, located just south of Interstate 10 in southern Louisiana. Over the years I have photographed waterfowl, wading birds, shore birds and alligators there.  This weekend the water level was very low and all the alligators were congregated in the borrow pits alongside the road. I captured these images as several allligators were struggling to take the fish away from each other. All images were taken with a bean bag support from the window of my truck with  a Canon EOS 40D and 500mm lens. Other images from Lacassine are on my website at http://www.jimejohnsonphoto.com/.

September Hummingbirds

It is now the first of October and the last of the summer migrants are passing through and the winter migrants are starting to arrive. The number of Ruby throats in my yard have dwindled to one or two and after the passage of the next front it will probably be zero. This is the first year I have used off camera flash and it was quite a learning experience. Some people prefer to see the wings stopped on a flying hummingbird and some like the blur. I have posted a few of my favorites from this season. Others are on my web site: www.jimejohnsonphoto.com. I hope you enjoy them.

Kestrels

American Kestrels are one of my favorite raptors. I have been working with them over the past few years, primarily the subspecies found in western Louisiana. It is almost identical to other kestrels with the main difference being somewhat smaller. It is the smallest falcon found in North America and primarily feeds on large insects and small birds and animals. I observed this bird trying to take a Dark Eyed Junco this morning but the smaller bird out manuever him and made it to a stand of brush. The kestrel had to settle for a cricket.