K20 at the Douglas Man-Made GBH Rookery (5 imgs)

[snostorm]

Hi All,

I stopped by the Rookery yesterday and saw from a distance that there were birds on the man-made platforms, but it was too late to take the hike to get some shots.

Here's a 50mm shot from the closest access by car.


One has to go by a round-about route to get anywhere close to the platforms. It took about a 1/2 hour, so I'm guessing about 1.5 miles at the pace that I walk carrying my gear, just following deer paths.

I tried to be careful not to disturb the birds. At a certain distance, a few noticed me and took off, but the majority stayed, so that's where I set up with the K20, Tamron SP 300 and stacked Tam 140F and Pentax F1.7x AFA, for a total FL of 714mm (1071mm eq with the crop factor). When I focused the lens, it said @150 ft, just about what I had eyeballed and guesstimated.

Here's one of the ones that had taken off on my arrival after just landing back at the nest (I think it was the female, but I don't know how to distinguish the sexes. . .)


Here's the happy couple gazing off into the distance. It's interesting to note that one is bigger and has longer tail feathers, but I don't know if or what significance that might have)


Flaps down, coming in for a landing. . .


Touchdown! (not the American football kind) -- and a pose


Hope you like 'em. . .

Scott

[Driver3]

Very nice Scott. They even danced for you!!!

Dennis

[2many]

Scott,

Outstanding shots, The male is always bigger than the female. Your long walk paid off.

Terry

[bigdawg]

2many wrote:

Scott,

Outstanding shots, The male is always bigger than the female. Your long walk paid off.

Terry

Some nice ones Scott!



Dawg

[danielchtong]

Scoot

You have perfected your tele combo now. Perfect use of the potential of your gear

Daniel

[ennacac]

Those are great, lets see, it is only 300 miles to Chicago, but then gas is almost $4 a gallon, I guess I will just enjoy yours.

Tom

[snostorm]

Hi Dennis, Terry, Dawg, Daniel, and Tom,

Thanks for looking.

The GBHs are in the process of rebuilding their nests. Last year all but one of the 20 platforms were being used. Over the winter, all the nests were blown down, so they had to start from scratch. So far, I counted 9 nests that were maybe 1/2 to 2/3 finished. I was hoping to get some shots of this activity, but they weren't in the building mood I guess.

I'll go back a couple of times during the year to see the progress, but when it really gets warm, the ticks will be out in force, and it just gives me the creeps to even think about it.

Scott

[bilybianca]

Yes, we like'm!

Don't worry about ticks, the worst you can catch is a little bit of African Tick Bite Fever, and it won't kill you (well it might, but it can be cured).:lol:

Kjell

[danielchtong]

snostorm wrote:

The GBHs are in the process of rebuilding their nests. Last year all but one of the 20 platforms were being used. Over the winter, all the nests were blown down, so they had to start from scratch. So far, I counted 9 nests that were maybe 1/2 to 2/3 finished. I was hoping to get some shots of this activity, but they weren't in the building mood I guess.

I'll go back a couple of times during the year to see the progress, but when it really gets warm, the ticks will be out in force, and it just gives me the creeps to even think about it.

Scott

Scott

While they are still around without ticks bothering you, you had better make the best of the time(before April and before hot season).

Is it 3 hours drive from you? Would you give the direction ? If it is 3 hours east of you, that would be manageable for me

Daniel

[bilybianca]

ennacac wrote:

Those are great, lets see, it is only 300 miles to Chicago, but then gas is almost $4 a gallon, I guess I will just enjoy yours.

We pay ~7.80 USD/gallon here...

Kjell