Black-billed Cuckoo!

I was birding at Baxter's Hollow today and found this Black-billed Cuckoo! The bird was soo nice, it sat right out in the open:












I also heard a Connecticut warbler call. I sure wish it had sang because ID by call is a little shaky but I've ticked it anyway.

It's looking like one of my WI year list nemesis birds will be Worm-eating Warbler. So far I've dipped twice on it.

I then stopped at Bakken's Pond. They have drawn the water level down quite a bit and there are a good number of mudflats showing. Aaron H and I are rather ecstatic! I found around 100 Least Sandpipers, ~50 Dunlin, and several SemiP Pipers and Plovers. There was probably more out there but it was raining pretty hard and visibility was poor.
I did see at least 30 Great Blue Herons though!! That's more Great Blues in one place than I've ever seen other than at a rookery!

Which Warbler?

Ok! Quiz time again!

Which Warbler is this:












Leave your answer in the comments section.

Good luck.

A Cuckoo day

Yes, it was a Cuckoo day. Literally. I heard, and saw both species of Cuckoos today!

First I heard the Black-billed as I was listening to a singing Canada Warbler.

Then, I was sitting on my front porch when I heard that characteristic "knocking" sound coming from the maple tree next to my house! I ran and grabbed my camera and managed to get some shots of this Yellow-billed Cuckoo:

Light Painting

I do a lot of bird, nature and scenery photography. I've recently been experimenting with a different type of photography though. It's called light painting. It has to be done either at night, or someplace dark and has to be a subject that doesn't move.   Something like this barn:

It's pretty fun if you have other colors to use. I just used white for now because it was easier than figuring out how to make colors quickly interchangeable.  

What you do is set up your tripod and point your camera at your subject. Then set the shutter for as long as it will go (the longer the shutter, the more time you have to "paint") then you can adjust the aperture so that it doesn't get over exposed. 

Then, take a bright, powerful light (I used a spotlight), trip the shutter first of course, and shine the light on your subject anywhere that you want lit up. 

It's a pretty neat way to play with light and shadows. 

Here's a golf ball I was playing around with one day:

I used white, Red and Green light:

Here's in black and white:

So have fun with your "painting"! 

Catching up

Man, I am waay behind on posts these days.  It's only likely to get worse too.  Since I'll be gone so much this summer, I be able to post only when I have a chance. Who knows how often that will be.  So while I'm catching up here......

I've gotten through the state birds I got at the convention. Here's some random pictures from the convention:

First this N  Parula:

I managed to catch him flying:

Yay! A Black-throated Blue Warbler!!

Chestnut-sided:

You guys know this one right? 

Blackburnian!

Again:

And again!: 

Lastly, this Magnolia: 

The WSO's 69th annual convention was a blast!  I'll be posting the rest of my pictures on my website soon. I'll post the link when I do.