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15 Mar sno-falls peregrines [dave templeton ] 15 Mar Photos from Discovery Park [Kevin Mack ] 15 Mar Re: John Stubb's commentary [Jim Greaves ] 15 Mar Flight photography techniques (was Re: camera equipment) [John Puschock ] 15 Mar Re: Re: camera equipment [] 15 Mar Northern Shrike at NWR [Tony ] 15 Mar Steller's jays nest construction [Tracey Cummings ] 15 Mar Re: Re: camera equipment; apology [Lee Rentz ] 15 Mar Snoqualmie Valley Yellow-headed Blackbird yes, Western Bluebird no ["Bob Schmidt" ] 15 Mar Re: camera equipment; apology [Jim Greaves ] 15 Mar Re: camera equipment [Jim Greaves ] 15 Mar Re: camera gear [Jim Greaves ] 15 Mar Nesting Pine Siskins, nesting material, Yelm, Thurston County [Yelm Backyard Wildlife ] 15 Mar Northbound Swans [Michael Price ] 14 Mar Female King Eider continues Grays Harbor County ["Grace and Ollie Oliver" ] 14 Mar Cranes and other Othello area birds ["Randy Hill" ] 14 Mar Cranes and other Othello area birds ["Randy Hill" ] 14 Mar Skamania Co birding Saturday 3/13 [] 14 Mar chasing Merlins in Mason and Kittitas Counties ["washingtonbirder.Knittle" ] 15 Mar Great Blue Herons [] 14 Mar Discovery Park this morning [Kevin Mack ] 14 Mar Fir Island Sunday morning [] 14 Mar Bluebirds and Nest Boxes at Chinook Bend [] 14 Mar RE: camera gear [John Puschock ] 14 Mar Re: bird photography: how/where to post photos? [Lee Rentz ] 14 Mar Nanaimo bird alert ["The Backyard" ] 14 Mar Hummer Nest [JEFFREY COHEN ] 14 Mar KGW Raptor Cam - Portland OR [Barbara Deihl ] 14 Mar Vancouver, BC RBA for March 12, 2010 ["Wayne Weber" ] 14 Mar Hawk close up and personal - ID help? [Trileigh Tucker ] 14 Mar Re: re: camera equipment [Marc Hoffman ] 14 Mar GBH [David Hutchinson ] 14 Mar Dubois Grouse Days ["Kit Struthers" ] 14 Mar Spencer Island [] 14 Mar Re: Western Bluebirds, et. al. [] 13 Mar "old" camera gear [Bill Anderson ] 13 Mar Re: Re: camera gear and posting [Allyn Weaks ] 13 Mar Tree Swallows at Steigerwald [Lyn Topinka ] 13 Mar Osprey in Seattle [Mike Wagenbach ] 13 Mar Re: camera gear and posting ["Joseph V Higbee" ] 13 Mar photography thread ["Dianna Moore" ] 13 Mar TWO GOLDEN EAGLES, RIDGEFIELD NWR, SATURDAY [Carol Ledford ] 13 Mar SAS trip to Montlake Fill this morning [Evan Houston ] 13 Mar Western Bluebirds, et. al. [] 13 Mar Re: Re: camera gear and posting ["Bonnie Block" ] 13 Mar Re: camera gear and posting ["Joseph V Higbee" ] 14 Mar RE: camera gear [John Puschock ] 13 Mar BlueBirds At Theler and Eurasian Wigeons in Port Orchard [John Riegsecker ] 13 Mar photography thread - new camera format (micro four thirds) [Charles Swift ] 14 Mar Re: camera gear [] 13 Mar Tufted duck still here [Rainer Wieland ] 13 Mar Re: Mystery Chickadee ["Josh Hayes" ] 13 Mar Re: Photos of banded juv Cooper's Hawk in Arboretum [Kevin Purcell ] 13 Mar re: camera equipment ["Nate Chappell, Trogon Tours" ] 13 Mar RE: camera gear [John Puschock ] 13 Mar Photos of banded juv Cooper's Hawk in Arboretum [Clare McLean ] 13 Mar A bunch of turkeys [Larry Schwitters ] 13 Mar Re: Tweeters Buy a loaf, save a grouse. [Martin Muller ] 13 Mar Re: bird photography: how/where to post photos? [Lee Rentz ] 13 Mar Othello Sandhill Crane Festival [Jim Ullrich ] 13 Mar BirdNote, last week, and the week of March 7, 2010 [Ellen Blackstone ] 13 Mar Edmonds Morning Report (3-13-10) [Carol Riddell ] 13 Mar Dungenendss lighthouse yardbirds [] 13 Mar It's an.....OWLET! ["Valerie Elliott" ] 13 Mar digiscope, was Re: camera gear (long discussion on Canon equipment) [Mike Wagenbach ] 13 Mar Rufous hummingbird, Sequim. [bruce paige ] 13 Mar Snipe hunt at the Edmonds marsh (3/12) [Bill Anderson ] 12 Mar Buy a loaf, save a grouse [Adam Sedgley ] 12 Mar Mystery Chickadee [Joe Dlugo ] 12 Mar sno-falls peregrines [dave templeton ] 12 Mar RE: Black Turnstones in Commencement Bay in Tacoma ["Amy Schillinger" ] 12 Mar Re: camera gear [Scott Carpenter ] 12 Mar Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival ["Dianna Moore" ] 12 Mar (Tweeters) Camera gear ["David Richardson" ] 12 Mar Re: camera gear [Jim Greaves ] 12 Mar Re: Black Turnstones in Commencement Bay in Tacoma [Hans-Joachim Feddern ] Subject: sno-falls peregrines From: dave templeton <crazydave65 AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:28:52 -0700 hi: the falcon appears to have settled in on the eggs in earnest as of today. there are at least two eggs and one report is that the angle of view from the upper sidewalk was such that it could not be seen that there were two pairs of eggs lined up such that they appeared to be one egg each. that makes sense given the time it took for the eggs to appear. i do not know if there is a visual record of the sighting, but i think it's highly likely she is on four eggs. given her past history, it's possible she could lay one or two more, but the incubation period probably has started in earnest today. tony fuchs, pse's biology guy sent the following note regarding accomodations at the falls this year during the remodel period: I just thought I'd pass along to you the plans for the Snoqualmie Falls upper park and observation platform. As you know I'm a Natural Resource Scientist at PSE and have been watching the peregrines at Snoqualmie Falls with you and others for some years now. The park is pretty unique in that several areas in the park are great for watching the birds during the breeding season. PSE's Snoqualmie Falls Park has three public, ridge-top viewpoints overlooking the falls: the "Rim Viewpoint" (closest to the Salish Lodge), the "Falls Viewpoint" (the roofed observation platform), and the "Peregrine Viewpoint" (at the downstream end of the park). We "formally" named the viewpoints this year in conjunction with the improvement work we did in the park the last few months. The 43-year-old observation platform, now closed, is going to be demolished in April and will be replaced with a temporary viewing structure, reopened to the public sometime in April or May. A new, permanent Falls Viewpoint will be constructed this fall and winter. The Rim and Peregrine viewpoints will remain open to the public but may have brief, temporary closures this spring to allow for installation of new Information and Education signage. Since the peregrines look to be nesting on the scrape nearest the falls, the "Rim Viewpoint" area will likely be the best place to view the birds from. Even though portions of that area along the railing will have some short closures for sign installation, much of the area along the railing will remain open all spring so viewing should be good. Please feel free to pass this onto your friends and/or post on tweeters. Thanks guys! that's the news from lake woebegone . . .. regards, t -- dave templeton fall city, wa crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today; it's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Photos from Discovery Park From: Kevin Mack <kevin_mack AT comcast.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:54:08 -0700 Hi All, I just uploaded 17 photos from yesterday¹s trip to Discovery Park to my New Photos gallery here: http://www.goatislandimages.com/photogalleries/ImageViewMain.html?s=new_phot os Who knew Steller¹s Jays could do such a great impression of Don King? Happy Birding, Kevin Mack Edmonds, WA www.goatislandimages.com http://everydaywild.blogspot.com/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: John Stubb's commentary From: Jim Greaves <lbviman AT blackfoot.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:01:19 -0600 John and everyone, and since John chose to make the personal remarks "public": At 03:32 PM 3/15/2010, johntubbs AT comcast.net wrote: >Jim and everyone, >I'll weigh in only one more time here with two points. > >1.) I find it interesting that the people with the expensive gear >aren't the ones criticizing the abilities of people who choose to >use less expensive gear. I respect people's choices, and in case >people missed it in my first post, almost all the time nowadays I'm >using my $300 superzoom digicam. I think the people with the ego in >this thread are the ones who imply or outright state that people who >make different choices than they do clearly are inferior >photographers. Who has the narrow-minded viewpoint here? Then why, John, did you set up a "straw dog" of a bird 500 feet away at a nest, then make the absurd INFERENCE that we, who use less expensive and less powerful equipment, think our results would EVER be better than someone using high end, MUCH MORE POWERFUL and IMAGE STABILIZED lenses or cameras? YOU did that. WE did not. You've insulted US by implying that we thought we were better than anyone else, and you continue to do so by belaboring, instead of edifying or educating, which we who aren's so well-financed have attempted to do for the "common man". >2.) More importantly, knowing your background as a wildlife >biologist, I'm surprised that you would tout getting a photograph of >a bird while buried deep in a thicket as a good thing. I was NOT "touting" anything. The nesting attempt was already a failure BECAUSE of the cowbird. I was using the example as one to refute your IMPLICATION that the only good photography is of HUGE birds at great distance taken by experts with HUGE lenses and expensive equipment. I do agree that we should all do what works for each of us. That was ALL I was attempting to show. On list and off list. >One of the benefits of large lenses is being able to stay a safe and >biologically reasonable distance away from your subject. And MY (not YOUR) experience with the species I referenced was what led me to KNOW, taking into consideration the complete failure of the host to reproduce, that my presence was not going to adversely impact the nest NOR THE ENDANGERED SPECIES under consideration. The dead vireo eggs in the nest, killed by adult cowbirds, was sufficient to tell me that. Assumptions about others' experiences are getting a bit trying. >I have seen way too many photographers - with the entire range of >equipment, not just high end, low end or no end - ignoring good >birding etiquette to get that all-important shot. I think that type >of behavior gives all wildlife photographers a bad name. Agree. And I do not deny my own mistakes in that regard. But, that was not the topic. >Now you now why I meant to erase the tweeters address rather than >Doris's in my original e-mail - it's because I've seen this "my way >is superior to your way and I'm superior to you" attitude in this >topic before. But, you keep touting YOUR opinion as "the superior" opinion. Situations call for different methods. >As I mentioned offline to several people, the folks in this thread >who attack other people's personal choices and abilities are eerily >reminiscent of other similar attitudes I saw when I was the COO of a >very well-known photographic company. There were a number of >fantastic photographers at that company who I admired greatly >because of their ability to capture all manner of images on film, >and in particular to print prints in the darkroom that would have >made Ansel Adams proud. Unfortunately, there was a high percentage >of these same people who totally pooh-poohed digital photography >COMPLETELY (not just what equipment you chose to buy) and did so in >a particularly strident and personally attacking manner. So? That was NOT what we were doing. > Anyone who gave any credence to digital photographer simply was an > uneducated slacker who clearly didn't know anything about > photography. Stuff like...Obviously people who use digital simply > aren't skilled enough to use film or do darkroom prints; digital > photography isn't and never will be 'art', digital photography > isn't 'real' [and presumably little grains of silver in an emulsion > is 'real', I guess?!] and on and on. Those folks are strangely > absent and very, very silent these days - because their > closely-held universal truths proved not to be so > universal. Anyone remember the days when Tom Till only did > hand-developed Cibachrome prints and swore never to do > otherwise? Interestingly, Tom is not only selling digital prints > now, but he's giving digital workshop tours. The point is that > with a few minor wording changes, the attitude in the "people who > own expensive equipment obviously don't have photographic ability > or a good 'eye' comments reflect exactly the attitude that my old > film-is-king-friends at the company had. I don't think anyone was making any such assertions. YOU are wrong. >'Nuff said, except to thank the off-line responses I got who also >took issue with the attitudes expressed by a couple of other folks >in this thread. Folks...buy whatever you want, respect other >people's choices, and have fun shooting birds (except don't disturb >them in the process). I respect you, John, and YOUR experiences as what led to your conclusions. Respect mine. >John Tubbs >Snoqualmie, WA >johntubbs AT comcast.net >www.tubbsphoto.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Flight photography techniques (was Re: camera equipment) From: John Puschock <g_g_allin AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:14:43 +0000 Hi all, I think a lot more is being read into some of these messages than is actually there, but I love everyone, so moving on, I thought the following might be of interest to the photographers out there: Jim Neiger is a photographer who handholds huge lenses for flight shots. He's developed some techniques for getting some amazing flight photographs, notably his "bumping the focus" method. You can read about it at http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1949. Arthur Morris also talks about it in his blog at http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2010/02/28/carmens-tale-handholding-the-canon-800mm-f5-6l-is-lens/. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to do the tiny URL thing.) Also, check out Jim's website at http://www.flightschoolphotography.com/ for some samples of his work. The "crazy action images" gallery has some interesting shots. Also, I finally got around to adding another Canon 7D post to my blog. There are some indoor comparison shots between my 7D and 30D at http://zbirdtours.com/blog/2010/03/15/canon-7d-image-quality-comparison/ for those of you who care about such things. Later, John Puschock Wedgwood, Seattle g_g_allin AT hotmail.com http://www.zbirdtours.com & http://www.birdtreks.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_1 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Re: camera equipment From: johntubbs AT comcast.net Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:32:06 +0000 (UTC) Jim and everyone, I'll weigh in only one more time here with two points. 1.)  I find it interesting that the people with the expensive gear aren't the ones criticizing the abilities of people who choose to use less expensive gear.  I respect people's choices, and in case people missed it in my first post, almost all the time nowadays I'm using my $300 superzoom digicam.  I think the people with the ego in this thread are the ones who imply or outright state that people who make different choices than they do  clearly are inferior photographers.  Who has the narrow-minded viewpoint here? 2.)  More importantly, knowing your background as a wildlife biologist, I'm surprised that you would tout getting a photograph of a bird while buried deep in a thicket as a good thing.  One of the benefits of large lenses is being able to stay a safe and biologically reasonable distance away from your subject.  I have seen way too many photographers - with the entire range of equipment, not just high end, low end or no end - ignoring good birding etiquette to get that all-important shot.  I think that type of behavior gives all wildlife photographers a bad name. Now you now why I meant to erase the tweeters address rather than Doris's in my original e-mail - it's because I've seen this "my way   is superior to your way and I'm superior to you" attitude in this topic before.  As I mentioned offline to several people, the folks in this thread who attack other people's personal choices and abilities are eerily reminiscent of other similar attitudes I saw when I was the COO of a very well-known photographic company.  There were a number of fantastic photographers at that company who I admired greatly because of their ability to capture all manner of images on film, and in particular to print prints in the darkroom that would have made Ansel Adams proud.  Unfortunately, there was a high percentage of these same people who totally pooh-poohed  digital photography  COMPLETELY (not just what equipment you chose to buy)  and did so in a particularly strident and personally attacking  manner.  Anyone who gave any credence to digital photographer simply was an uneducated slacker who clearly didn't know anything about photography.   Stuff like...Obviously people who use digital simply aren't skilled enough to use film or do darkroom prints; digital photography isn't and never will be 'art', digital photography isn't 'real' [and presumably little grains of silver in an emulsion is 'real', I guess?!] and on and on.  Those folks are strangely absent and very, very silent these days - because their closely-held universal tru ths proved not to be so universal.  Anyone remember the days when Tom Till only did hand-developed Cibachrome prints and swore never to do otherwise?  Interestingly, Tom is not only selling digital prints now, but he's giving digital workshop tours.  The point is that with a few minor wording changes, the attitude in the "people who own expensive equipment obviously don't have photographic ability or a good 'eye' comments reflect exactly the attitude that my old film-is-king-friends at the company had.  'Nuff said, except to thank the off-line responses I got who also took issue with the attitudes expressed by a couple of other folks in this thread.  Folks...buy whatever you want, respect other people's choices, and have fun shooting birds (except don't disturb them in the process). John Tubbs Snoqualmie, WA johntubbs AT comcast.net www.tubbsphoto.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Greaves" To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 10:11:18 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] Re: camera equipment John - your "absurd" statement is insulting to those who pioneered in photography before there was electronic circuitry! I'll take an older photo of Ivory-billed Woodpecker over anything shot of the same species recently... :-)  That said, of course you are right, with the example you used. I don't know any "serious" photographer who would even attempt to photograph a flying or perched bird at 500 ft with a skimpy zoom! Apples and oranges? But, I disagree about auto-zooms and mega-teles being "ipso facto" superior to manual focus similar or smaller lenses. AGAIN, it is the photographer who makes the image, by depressing the shutter release, not waiting for the camera's ignorant computer, which even pros will tell you often focus on things unwanted - hence the reason they want a camera that can blast off 10 or more frames a second for several minutes while they pan and watch the lens go in and out of focus at 500 feet. Of course, something only 50 to 100 feet away can be locked onto the focus, and every shot tack sharp, but it isn't likely to happen that ALL will be. I challenge anyone to get better photos of birds in dense thickets with such a megally-wonderful lens. Or a Least Bell's Vireo feeding a cowbird using that recommended "best" equipment... I made the linked photo from inside a thicket at 6 feet with a 28-300 Vivitar zoom on a Konica-Minolta 7D [7 mp] http://blackfoot.net/~larkwick/LeastBellsVireos.html [third image down - the image was cropped a bit and resolution reduced from 4.x mb for use on the web]. Unless one takes his/her mega-zoom or tele and attaches about a 6 inch empty-space tube twixt the camera and lens, they cannot get within about 15 feet - thus the effective distance is BETTER with my 300mm macro-zoom (actually only 280 as I measured against a straight 300) at about a pound than their 500mm at about 6-8 pounds, handheld. And with that tube on that bazooka, the light would be terribly low for focusing, virtually requiring a tripod. That huge amount of "stuff" in the thicket might make any bird suspect it's being invaded... Of course knowing how one's subject will respond dictates the methods and proximity of the photographer. And, as we all know from the "ethics of birding", in order to do so, such an encumbered "professional" would have more than likely had to remove vegetation from the shrub that hid the nest in order to get clear shots like I got without having to remove anything but distance [leaf and twig removal being a no-no - which a "professional" photographer once tried to do when I showed him a vireo nest he wanted to photograph for an LA Times piece - I told him leave the twigs alone and move a foot; he did NOT get what I would call a "pro quality" image -- experience in some realms does not necessarily transfer to others, no matter how large someone's ego may be or expensive and impressive their equipment or clothing] - Jim Greaves At 01:00 PM 3/14/2010, John Stubbs wrote: >For anyone who wishes to dispute the incremental >benefits of better gear , I would propose an >in-the-field experiment.  Let's take someone >with an off-brand, non-autofocus 100-400mm slow >zoom and an older 5 or 8  megapixel digital >SLR, handheld, out to the Samish Flats while the >Peregrines are still hunting Dunlin.  Their >counterpart will have a 500mm prime Canon with a >1.4X teleconverter fast  autofocus lens on a >tripod with a Wimberley head and a 16-megapixel >camera back with four or eight frame multiple >shot mode .  We'll shoot in-flight images for >a morning and do a comparison of the best ten or >fifteen shots after editing and basic >post-processing from each photographer  at the >end of the morning and compare results.  I know who my money's on. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Northern Shrike at NWR From: Tony <tvarela AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:11:33 -0700 Watched a Northern Shrike hunting in the area west of the dike trail yesterday. First I've seen there. http://tonyv.smugmug.com/Nature/NWR _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Steller's jays nest construction From: Tracey Cummings <teecummings AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:52:23 -0700 Had 2 of my friendly neighborhood Steller's jays collecting dried up vines and other nest materials Sunday. Looking forward to seeing some jay babies later this spring. -- Tracey Cummings Carnation WA teecummings AT gmail.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Re: camera equipment; apology From: Lee Rentz <lee AT leerentz.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:36:43 -0700 I think it is great to start out with what one can afford, and build from there if one has the love of the medium. Many years ago in this forum people were giving advice to a young birder with little money about the best tripods and spotting scopes he should buy--as if he had financial access to the best. Sometimes I think we forget that many of us started out with what we could, and built from there. In my case, some of my favorite nature photographs that I have taken were from the late 70s and early 80s, when I had a lot of vision and not much money. But those photos still stand up today, even though I now have better (still can't afford the best!) equipment. The vision is the thing. I loved Kenn Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" book, in which he talked about traveling around America during a 1970s quest to see more species of birds than just about anyone. He did it on a shoestring, with a pair of $20 binoculars that he had painted bright gold. He became one of America's top birders. Lee Rentz http://leerentz.wordpress.com On Mar 15, 2010, at 10:24 AM, Jim Greaves wrote: > At 01:00 PM 3/14/2010, Allyn Weaks wrote: >> Allyn Weaks -- good series of points, etc >> relative to photography > > Thank you Allyn for your comprehensive analysis of the ins and outs > of aspects of this discussion. Also, I apologize if I sounded at > all arrogant in my last two posts. Unintended by attempting to be > brief - which seems impossible given the subject matter, as I've > observed over the decades among photographers of all levels of > expertise! :-) Thanks to all for this VERY useful discussion - > though I'm stuck with what I have to use, and try to make the best > of it, I "long for" the day when/if I actually COULD afford the > BEST lenses and BEST cameras. Until, I like others, make do with > what we can... -- Jim Greaves > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Snoqualmie Valley Yellow-headed Blackbird yes, Western Bluebird no From: "Bob Schmidt" <bobs AT world-wide.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:56:24 -0700 Sunday, my wife Lauren and I started our birding at the Reformatory Farm Pond north of Duvall around 9 AM. We saw about 100 SWANs of which some appeared to be TRUMPETER out on the pond with numerous WIGEON, PINTAILS, and SHOVELLERS. After a short stop we moved to the Crescent Lake Wildlife Area mainly to walk our dogs, but also saw around 150 MALLARD in corn stubble and 50 RING-NECKED DUCKS in the slough (lake) as well as many common passerines. Returning to the Reformatory Farm Pond around 10:30 we spotted a female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD in a flock of over 50 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDs in a yard between the barns and pond. Other highlights were a pair of CANVASBACKS, a single EURASIAN WIGEON, and a single RUDDY DUCK among 100s of more common waterfowl. Interestingly the swans had all left to forage. After lunch we searched hard for Westerns Bluebirds around Chinook Bend Park and surrounding roads without success. We did find 2 beautiful male HOODED-MERGANSERS at the small pond east of the river and some CACKLING GOOSE and more distant SWANs near Camp Korey. Even though it got hazy, it was a fine day. Bob and Lauren Schmidt Bothell, WA bobs at world-wide dot com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera equipment; apology From: Jim Greaves <lbviman AT blackfoot.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:24:29 -0600 At 01:00 PM 3/14/2010, Allyn Weaks wrote: >Allyn Weaks -- good series of points, etc >relative to photography Thank you Allyn for your comprehensive analysis of the ins and outs of aspects of this discussion. Also, I apologize if I sounded at all arrogant in my last two posts. Unintended by attempting to be brief - which seems impossible given the subject matter, as I've observed over the decades among photographers of all levels of expertise! :-) Thanks to all for this VERY useful discussion - though I'm stuck with what I have to use, and try to make the best of it, I "long for" the day when/if I actually COULD afford the BEST lenses and BEST cameras. Until, I like others, make do with what we can... -- Jim Greaves _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera equipment From: Jim Greaves <lbviman AT blackfoot.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:11:18 -0600 John - your "absurd" statement is insulting to those who pioneered in photography before there was electronic circuitry! I'll take an older photo of Ivory-billed Woodpecker over anything shot of the same species recently... :-) That said, of course you are right, with the example you used. I don't know any "serious" photographer who would even attempt to photograph a flying or perched bird at 500 ft with a skimpy zoom! Apples and oranges? But, I disagree about auto-zooms and mega-teles being "ipso facto" superior to manual focus similar or smaller lenses. AGAIN, it is the photographer who makes the image, by depressing the shutter release, not waiting for the camera's ignorant computer, which even pros will tell you often focus on things unwanted - hence the reason they want a camera that can blast off 10 or more frames a second for several minutes while they pan and watch the lens go in and out of focus at 500 feet. Of course, something only 50 to 100 feet away can be locked onto the focus, and every shot tack sharp, but it isn't likely to happen that ALL will be. I challenge anyone to get better photos of birds in dense thickets with such a megally-wonderful lens. Or a Least Bell's Vireo feeding a cowbird using that recommended "best" equipment... I made the linked photo from inside a thicket at 6 feet with a 28-300 Vivitar zoom on a Konica-Minolta 7D [7 mp] http://blackfoot.net/~larkwick/LeastBellsVireos.html [third image down - the image was cropped a bit and resolution reduced from 4.x mb for use on the web]. Unless one takes his/her mega-zoom or tele and attaches about a 6 inch empty-space tube twixt the camera and lens, they cannot get within about 15 feet - thus the effective distance is BETTER with my 300mm macro-zoom (actually only 280 as I measured against a straight 300) at about a pound than their 500mm at about 6-8 pounds, handheld. And with that tube on that bazooka, the light would be terribly low for focusing, virtually requiring a tripod. That huge amount of "stuff" in the thicket might make any bird suspect it's being invaded... Of course knowing how one's subject will respond dictates the methods and proximity of the photographer. And, as we all know from the "ethics of birding", in order to do so, such an encumbered "professional" would have more than likely had to remove vegetation from the shrub that hid the nest in order to get clear shots like I got without having to remove anything but distance [leaf and twig removal being a no-no - which a "professional" photographer once tried to do when I showed him a vireo nest he wanted to photograph for an LA Times piece - I told him leave the twigs alone and move a foot; he did NOT get what I would call a "pro quality" image -- experience in some realms does not necessarily transfer to others, no matter how large someone's ego may be or expensive and impressive their equipment or clothing] - Jim Greaves At 01:00 PM 3/14/2010, John Stubbs wrote: >For anyone who wishes to dispute the incremental >benefits of better gear , I would propose an >in-the-field experiment. Let's take someone >with an off-brand, non-autofocus 100-400mm slow >zoom and an older 5 or 8  megapixel digital >SLR, handheld, out to the Samish Flats while the >Peregrines are still hunting Dunlin. Their >counterpart will have a 500mm prime Canon with a >1.4X teleconverter fast  autofocus lens on a >tripod with a Wimberley head and a 16-megapixel >camera back with four or eight frame multiple >shot mode . We'll shoot in-flight images for >a morning and do a comparison of the best ten or >fifteen shots after editing and basic >post-processing from each photographer  at the >end of the morning and compare results. I know who my money's on. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear From: Jim Greaves <lbviman AT blackfoot.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:44:22 -0600 Thanks John. Good points! Another good average consumer priced camera is a Sony (which has its own image stabilization, so you don't need to buy expensive stabilized lenses), for under $500 at Walmart, it is by far superior to the 6 megapixels of my Nikon... It has 10 megapixels (which is important for image resolution - the higher the pixel count the farther away one can be for good results). And, because of the IS onboard, it is not limited to Sony lenses - Vivitar and others make MUCH less expensive and WELL made teles and zooms. I have no argument with Canon as John notes - it is the one I see most often with "shorter" zooms (80-400 range) or with the expensive bazookas on tripods; results I've seen have been, as John says, the result of the photographer, and not the equipment, as I've seen terrible stuff from some folks with apparently endless expense accounts, and tack sharp, cover-quality results from "little old people" with just a camera and IS lens slung over the shoulder! The eye of the bee holder is the critical element in all image making - Jim Greaves At 01:00 PM 3/14/2010, John Puschock at Tweeters wrote: >If you're convinced you want to get into the "art" aspects of bird >photography but aren't already invested in a SLR system, get a >decent lens and one of the cheaper DSLR bodies and see how you like >it. Nikon may be beating Canon in image quality at the prosumer >price point, but for the budget-conscious, I'd still recommend >Canon. I believe they have a better selection of affordable >(relatively speaking) lenses. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Nesting Pine Siskins, nesting material, Yelm, Thurston County From: Yelm Backyard Wildlife <yelmbackyard AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:39:39 -0800 Dear Tweets; I watched a Pine Siskin pick up a wad of dog hair yesterday and fly off into the treeline. Evidently, it is ideal nesting material. Usually I toss out dryer lint for nesting material, but I see why the dog hair is preferred; the lint is sopping wet. Michelle Yelm Thurston County yelmbackyard AT gmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Northbound Swans From: Michael Price <loblollyboy AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:56:55 -0700 Hey Tweets 30+ swans northbound over East Vancouver, about 8.30 am Sunday morning. On the bus, no way to know species. But from now to the end of March, this is about the time the swans leave for the north. Sayonara until late October. Michael Price Vancouver BC Canada loblollyboy AT gmail.com Every answer deepens the mystery. - E.O. Wilson_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Female King Eider continues Grays Harbor County From: "Grace and Ollie Oliver" <grace.ollie AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:53:50 -0700 Hi Tweeters, Today we went in search of the famous Ocean Shores female King Eider that's been hanging around waters between Damon Point and the Sewage Treatment Plant in Ocean Shores for months. The wave action was VERY ENERGETIC. Wave troughs and crests did an amazing job of hiding even large sea birds. After 3 hours of searching Ollie spotted it! Yeah! It is a nice looking sea duck. Wind kept the scopes vibrating. It was a very challenging experience. The energy of the cool weather was impressive. Shorebirds found on the Ocean Shores Jetty were a mixed flock of Black Turnstones and at least 2 Rock Sandpipers of the Pribilof Island subspecies. Flock total size was about 20 birds which was noted when they took flight. The bi-colored (yellow/black) longer and slightly down curved bill of the Rock Sandpiper subspecies was clearly visible, as well as their yellow legs; and also they were much paler on belly and overall. Both Trumpeter and Tundra (2) Swans were observed from Brady Loop Road. It was a good day. (shamelessly stealing from Marv Breece) Grace & Ollie Oliver Redmond, WA _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Cranes and other Othello area birds From: "Randy Hill" <hill AT smwireless.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:31:15 -0700 Back in Othello for the weekend to do a couple of pre-Festival field trip yesterday. Visit the Festival website at www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org for details on speakers, field trips (and ticket availability), and other happenings. Sandhill Cranes continue to move in. McKinney Road south of SR 26 and Road B SE north of SR 26 have several hundred using corn fields to the west. Friday's scouting included Dunlin, a Great Egret and plenty of Tricolored Blackbirds at the Para Ponds. Yesterday we found a few Burrowing Owls, a Tree Swallow at Crab Creek, and several Tundra Swans and Dunlin at the County Line Ponds. Be aware that Highway 24 is closed where it passes under Highway 26. Randy Hill Othello/Ridgefield _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Cranes and other Othello area birds From: "Randy Hill" <hill AT smwireless.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:31:15 -0700 Back in Othello for the weekend to do a couple of pre-Festival field trip yesterday. Visit the Festival website at www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org for details on speakers, field trips (and ticket availability), and other happenings. Sandhill Cranes continue to move in. McKinney Road south of SR 26 and Road B SE north of SR 26 have several hundred using corn fields to the west. Friday's scouting included Dunlin, a Great Egret and plenty of Tricolored Blackbirds at the Para Ponds. Yesterday we found a few Burrowing Owls, a Tree Swallow at Crab Creek, and several Tundra Swans and Dunlin at the County Line Ponds. Be aware that Highway 24 is closed where it passes under Highway 26. Randy Hill Othello/Ridgefield _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list Inland-nw-birders AT uidaho.edu https://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders Subject: Skamania Co birding Saturday 3/13 From: mattxyz AT earthlink.net Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:18:13 -0700 hi Tweeters - I headed out early Saturday morning to try for more Skamania Co birds -- and it wasn't disappointing! Saturday I started off super early, heading straight to Skamania. I stopped at St. Cloud Ranch for a bathroom break at a bit before 8:00, only to have the highlight of the trip: PINE GROSBEAK! One was singing away by the bathroom, confusing me with its song and size combo until I deigned to look through my binocs.... I was expecting to find a hidden Purple Finch -- interesting to compare their songs. Over to Drano Lake, where Michael Hobbs was present & soon turned up the TUFTED DUCK From there, we circled around to Underwood, where I've never before birded and where Michael had already 'scouted' earlier in the day. We turned up WILD TURKEY, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD & CALI QUAIL We also had our first of the year TURKEY VULTURE fly overhead. Also present were huge numbers of very loud Western Scrub-Jays & Steller's Jays, seeming willing to live together. We tried for a bunch of other things as we headed west,. North of Stevenson, at the marsh at, approximately Rock Creek x Red Bluff, a Virginia Rail responded but didn't show itself. Also had a nice pair of Hooded Mergansers fly in. In North Bonneville, we spent a while hiking around Hamilton/Strawberry Island -- none of the 'target birds' showed up, but we did have VIOLET-GREEN & TREE SWALLOWS, and our first of the year RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD - a loud male. At the east end of Skamania Landing, a large flock of white-cheeked geese remain, including at least a few minima CACKLING GEESE -- the others seemed mostly to be of the intermediat range Taverners/Parvipes - Back at St. Cloud Ranch again, our highlight was find a flock of BUSHTITS [5 or so, coastal race]. A stop at Marble Rd. produced WB NUTHATCH heard at a distance & briefly glanced in flight. All in all, a good day -- Matt Bartels Seattle, WA _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: chasing Merlins in Mason and Kittitas Counties From: "washingtonbirder.Knittle" <washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:59:32 -0700 Marv Breece and I chased Merlins in late Jan. in se Washington and were sucessful so we decided to try for Merlins in Mason and Kittitas Cos. as that is the only 2 counties I have never seen Merlins in. The trip was on and off for most of last week and then Friday night decided to make a go of it. Mason County high-lites seen between 7 am and 2 pm between rain showers are: Skokomish Valley Road near a Christmas tree farm was 1 American Kestrel, previously seen along this road the week before. Shelton along the bay produced 1 Peregrine Falcon Potlatch St Park and Skokomish River mouth is usually good birding and although nothing rare it produced Red Crossbills, Brant, Canvasbacks, Red-throated, Pacific, and Common Loons, Pigeon Guillemot, 5 Eared Grebes along with Red-necked, Horned, and Western Grebes. Schafer State Park we had our first of the year Turkey Vulture. Kennedy Creek we scanned over quickly and noted only Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin. We could not find a Merlin in Mason Co. Sunday in Kittitas we woke to frosty temps with clear skies in Cle Elum. Birds noted was a Townsend's Solitaire, Evening Grosbeaks, a bright yellow-rumped Red Crossbill, and 1 Eurasian Collared-Dove the furthest west I had seen them in Kittitas Co. Ponds around Ellensburg had Tundra Swans in them. Also while driving through Ellensburg near the college we had a nice looking Merlin. This leaves only Mason Co. for me to try and find a Merlin in. Heading down to Vantage area we had Violet-green Swallows, Say's Phoebes, a Bald Eagle sitting on a nest possibly on eggs, and Chukars. Near Quilomene Wildlife Area we had great looks of Mountain Bluebirds and a Sage Sparrow. Both days produced 59 species. On the way home I noted 900+ white-cheeked Geese in the ponds just after I got onto I-82 after following the Yakima River Canyon south. We looked hard for geese in Kittitas Co., but didn't realized they are just 33 miles south. Not sure what is holding them in Yakima Co. and not moving north into Kittitas Co. Ken Knittle Vancouver WA 98665 mailto:washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com Washington Birder online http://www.wabirder.com/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Great Blue Herons From: kenquery AT comcast.net Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:59:19 +0000 (UTC) I passed by the GBH rookery off of Pioneer between Puyallup and Tacoma on Friday morning. Something had spooked the nesting herons. There were 60-80 herons in the air circling the area. I wish that I had my camera ready. There is a nesting pair of eagles nearby but I did not seem them at the time. Ken Query Puyallup, WA kenquery AT comcast.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Discovery Park this morning From: Kevin Mack <kevin_mack AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:34:18 -0700 Hi All, My wife and I headed to Discovery Park this morning and had a wonderful time in the sun. Birds were everywhere, but the most interesting action was taking place in the South Meadow. It seems the sunshine had woken up the ants, and the crows were taking full advantage of them. There were at least 50 crows hanging around in the trees and they were taking turns flying down, getting the ants worked up and then eating them as well as bathing in them. When the crows tired of this, robins moved in to feast on the exposed ants. I posted a short piece with a couple photos on my blog here: http://everydaywild.blogspot.com/ We walked the loop trail starting and ending in the south parking lot. Along the way we saw activity everywhere. The list of what we saw is below, and I¹ll be posting photos of some of these sightings on goatislandimages.com in the near future. Discovery Park, March 14, 2010 9:30 am ­ 12:00 pm American Crow Steller¹s Jay Spotted Towhee House Finch Pine Siskin Song Sparrow Golden-crowned Sparrow Bewick¹s Wren Winter Wren Dark-eyed Junco Ruby-crowned Kinglet Red-winged Blackbird Northern Flicker Anna¹s Humminbird Dunlin Killdeer Mew Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Double-crested Cormorant Common Goldeneye Northern Shoveler Mallard Gadwall American Wigeon Lesser Scaup Kevin Mack Edmonds, WA www.goatislandimages.com http://everydaywild.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Fir Island Sunday morning From: Calliopehb AT aol.com Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:09:53 EDT Hi Tweets, Went to the Game Preserve this morning. Highlights include an Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler, Tree Swallows, one Violet-green Swallow on the power lines over by the headquarters office trailer. I also saw 3 Lincoln Sparrows on the trail that goes to the right out on the preserve. There were still large numbers of Snow Geese out nearby too today. Great day to be out birding. Happily Birding in Arlington, WA Beth Thompson_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Bluebirds and Nest Boxes at Chinook Bend From: johntubbs AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:59:46 +0000 (UTC) Hi everyone, Evan Houston just called me (approx. 3:45 Sunday) from his car to let me know that he looked for, but unfortunately did not find, the Western Bluebirds at Chinook Bend.  He also said that he spent some time looking for the bluebird boxes I mentioned in my earlier post, and couldn't find them either.  Mea culpa on that one - the nest boxes disappeared last year, possibly in the big flood, possibly taken down by someone, or...who knows.  I wanted anyone who goes there searching for the boxes to not waste time looking for them as both Joyce and Evan spent time looking for something that wasn't there to be found.  Now that Joyce Meyer has seen the birds again, I may spring for a couple replacement boxes and put them up quickly to see if we get any takers.  Two years ago, the bluebirds were seen most frequently when I was there perching in various places near the bridge access point and fishermen's trail that runs down into the natural area to and through the cottonwood stand.  Sometimes the birds were on the tops of conifers, sometimes on some old poles along the trail, and sometimes on the wires.  However, I also saw them several times on the other side of the Chinook Bend property sitting on top of conifers (this is the area near where Carnation Farm road takes a big bend to the left as you're driving toward Carnation Farm/Camp Korey.)  One nice thing about the improvements being done to the area is that they've expanded the parking area closest to Carnation Farm to make room for a few more cars.  What little parking there is by the bridge gets chewed up very quickly when the fish are running in the river.  If I remember correctly, when Matt Bartels was finishing up his King County species list for 2009 that there were no Western Bluebirds reported in King County in 2009.  John Tubbs Snoqualmie, WA johntubbs AT comcast.net www.tubbsphoto.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: camera gear From: John Puschock <g_g_allin AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:23:23 +0000 Well, I did manage to offend a few folks with my posts, enough that I'll respond publicly. Sorry, not my intention, but given the nature of the medium, not really a surprise. I'm not saying anyone in particular shouldn't be using a pro rig. Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my last message, and what I felt was not adequately covered in the previous messages, that there are less expensive options over a wide range of prices that will produce more than acceptable images _most_ of the time for many people. (And some of these things are more or less free, such as working on technique and composition, or as someone else mentioned, shooting in RAW to allow more post-processing.) My reason for chiming in is that, in my opinion, this message can be difficult to find when searching for camera info on the internet, where discussions are often dominated by pro-level photographers and may be misleading for someone just getting into photography. It also has the potential to scare off those who feel they can't afford to get started. In no way did I intend to suggest that a mid-priced camera will produce results as good as the best available, though if I switch equipment with Art Wolfe, I'll bet that he still gets better results than me. My impression of the purpose of the conversation was to offer recommendations to those new to bird photography who may not be as interested in top-of-the-line image quality as they are in getting something between grab shots for ID purposes to something good for online display, though not good enough for the cover of National Geographic. Perhaps I was wrong, but based on that, I felt the mid-priced cameras and lenses weren't receiving adequate coverage. Anyway, the Canon 7D ($1699 MSRP), along with Canon's 100-400mm zoom (~$1600 at B&H) and the 300mm f/4 (~$1260 at B&H) plus 1.4x teleconverter (~$300 at B$H) were mentioned, along with the Nikon equivalent. That's at least a $3200 investment, not counting CF cards and other accessories. You can get excellent results with that, but it still may be beyond the budget and needs of many. If that's you, I'd suggest taking a look at any of the Rebels or the 40D or 50D, all of which can be had for less than $1000, with some as low as $500. The Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 is a good lens for "only" $1200 at B&H. (I don't know Nikon or other brands so others will have to offer suggestions.) So you can get a rig for about $2000 that will enable you to get photos most of the time that are about 75-95%, depending on the situation (and that number is just based on my opinion) of the quality possible from pro equipment. A ~$500 point-and-shoot will get you photos a lower percentage of the time that will probably be of lower quality than the low-end DSLR. On the other hand, if you know you want to get the best image possible, by all means, spend as much as you can. For what it's worth, there were several winners and honorable mentions in the recent Audubon magazine contest (http://audubonmagazine.org/features1001/bigpicture.html) that were using Canon 30D-50Ds, though admittedly only two were using lenses costing <$2000. So if you were offended, I'm sorry, but I wasn't pointing a finger at you or anyone else. I have no problem with anyone using a set-up that costs $20,000+, though I admit I'm still surprised by the proportion of people using that equipment. It's a bit like showing up for a recreational bike ride and over half the riders have Lance Armstrong's Tour de France bike. Anyway, maybe we're arguing two different issues, i.e., the expectations of the end product and the potential for increased demands on the equipment as the photographer develops (pun not intended). John Puschock Wedgwood, Seattle g_g_allin AT hotmail.com http://www.zbirdtours.com & http://www.birdtreks.com _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_3 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: bird photography: how/where to post photos? From: Lee Rentz <lee AT leerentz.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:46:46 -0700 One other web service I use for displaying photographs is the PhotoShelter web portal, which has an elegant interface. PhotoShelter has a variety of options that you can explore; my galleries on PhotoShelter are viewed at this home page: http:// www.photoshelter.com/c/leerentz To explore PhotoShelter, go to http://www.photoshelter.com/index/d Lee Rentz lee AT leerentz.com On Mar 13, 2010, at 12:21 PM, Lee Rentz wrote: > I have found that a blog is a great way to express oneself with > words and photographs. I use wordpress.com, and there are no costs > involved because the site is supported by advertising. There are > many templates to choose from, and there are statistics available > concerning the number of visitors to each post. The bandwidth > allowed is enormous, and as long as you make appropriate-sized > jpegs, the limits should allow you to post for years. If you have > a lot of friends and acquaintances interested in what you have to > say, you will get a lot of hits. Alternatively, the tags and > categories and content will automatically attract a lot of visitors. > > If you want a place to post and archive your photographs as full- > sized jpegs, Flickr.com provides that service for $25 per year. > > Lee Rentz > Shelton, WA > http://leerentz.wordpress.com > > > On Mar 12, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Bill Anderson wrote: > >> On a related note to the discussion on photo equipment, how/where >> do you post photos for others to view? Looking at the posts of >> others, it appears that my two options are to join a photo hosting >> site like Photobucket or to create a personal website. >> >> I like to write, so I am inclined to explore an option which would >> allow me to post commentary as well as photos. A friend from the >> motorcycle side of my hobby world suggested creating a blog where >> I could link in photos from a photo hosting site. My favorite >> photo sites I have seen on Tweeters are the websites of >> professional photographers. Are these expensive to start and >> maintain? How many photos will such a site hold? >> >> Feel free to reply privately to me if this tread is too far off >> topic for Tweeters. >> Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tweeters mailing list >> Tweeters AT u.washington.edu >> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Nanaimo bird alert From: "The Backyard" <thebackyard AT shaw.ca> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:38:12 -0800 NANAIMO BIRD ALERT To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 e-mail us at thebackyard AT shaw.ca call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029 Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and updates: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com Post your sightings on this site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages Birds of British Columbia: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html International Birdwatching Guides http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com Birdwatching contacts and information find a local birder to go birdwatching with: http://www.birdingpal.org/ Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone Number, along with the date, name and location of your sighting. Sunday March 14, 2010: The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. The morning was cloudy and the winds were bitterly cold. Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets caught our attention when they were singing at different times during the morning. A raft of Buffhead, Barrow's Goldeneye, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted Merganser and Common Merganser were in the protection of the bay at Sunset Beach. A Glaucous Gull and a pair of Pigeon Guillemots were not far from shore. Small rafts of Pacific Loon, Common Loon and Common Murre were further offshore. Ten hardy birders found the following forty species of birds: Canada Geese, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Wood Duck, Buffhead, Barrow's Goldeneye, Harlequin Duck, Wood Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, Mew Gulls, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, European Starling, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin and Dark-eyed Junco. Saturday March 13: Twelve Evening Grosbeaks are visiting feeders along Butler Road in Parksville. Friday March 12: A Glaucous Gull was again spotted among California Gulls, Thayer's Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls in the grassy area at the Community Park in Parksville. A Turkey Vulture was spotted above Sunshine Ridge in Nanaimo. Thursday March 11: Two Cackling Geese, eighteen Northern Shovelers and a Snow Goose were seen in with over seven hundred Canada Geese at Quennell Lake in Cedar. Wednesday March 10: A Glaucous Gull was seen in with a large flock of California Gulls,Thayer's Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls along the grass area at the Community Park in Parksville. Tuesday March 09: The first reported male Rufous Hummingbird of the season was spotted at feeders in the 4100 block of Gulfview Drive in Nanaimo. The Tuesday Bird Walk started in Rathtrevor Provincial Park but we were quickly convinced by the brisk winds to go to the more protected beach at Parksville Community Park. Before we left Rathtrevor we did spot twelve Trumpeter Swans. The morning was cloudy with a strong southeast wind. We were greeted at the Parksville Bay by an estimated one thousand Brant Geese and at least one hundred thousand gulls--Bonaparte's Gulls, Mew Gulls, California Gulls, Herring Gulls,Thayer's Gull, Western Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls. We had good close looks and were able to compare the yellow legs, black wingtips and short yellow bill of the Mew Gull with the deep yellow legs, black wingtips and bright yellow bill with a bright red and black marks of the larger California Gull who are in their clean crisp breeding plumage. Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser were seen further offshore. A flock of Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin left the gravel bar in a large cloud flew south down the Strait of Georgia. A Pigeon Guillemot, one Pacific Loon and one Common Loon were seen off the tip of the hovercraft landing pad at the north end of the Bay. We saw two male Yellow-rumped Warblers, one Song Sparrow and three White-crowned Sparrows on the bushes near the RV Park at the north end of the Bay. Eleven birders saw and heard the following thirty-five species of birds: Canada Goose, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Northwestern Crow, American Robin, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrow and White-crowned Sparrow. Monday March 08: A Turkey Vulture was seen soaring over south Nanaimo. For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store AT 250-390-3669 Toll Free AT 1-888-249-4145 e-mail: thebackyard AT shaw.ca ********************************** Arrowsmith Naturalists Guest Speaker-Colin Bartlett, topic Birds and Bees in the Backyard. Monday March 22, 2010 AT 7:30 pm. Springwood School Parksville ********************************** The Nanoose Naturalists Thursday April 08, 2010 AT 7:00 pm Nanoose Library, Nanoose Bay ********************************** Everyone is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on the Sunday and Tuesday mornings. We leave from the Store at 9 A.M. Sunday Mornings and go to a different location in and around Nanaimo and from the Parksville Beach.Community Park at 9 A.M. on Tuesdays and go to different areas in and around the Oceanside area. ************************************************************** The Tuesday Bird Walk on March 09, 2010 will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the end of Shelly Road (ocean side of highway 19a) at about 9:15 A.M. ***************************************************** The Sunday Bird Walk on March 21, 2010, will be going to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Raines Road at about 9: 30 A.M. ******************************************************* Good birding Neil Robins THE BACKYARD Wildbird & Nature Store 6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8 250.390.3669 250.390.1633 fax thebackyard AT shaw.ca CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Hummer Nest From: JEFFREY COHEN <kokobean2 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:16:23 -0700 Today, while checking out the Arboretum around noon, I found a female Rufous Hummingbird sitting on a nest. While I have seen Rufous earlier (I had a male at my feeder on ferbruary 20, 2008) I have never seen one on the nest this early. I know a couple of people are monitoring them in the area. Has anyone ever had them on the nest this early? I spotted her collecting lichen about 20 feet from the nest. She would line the nest while sitting in it, sit for a few minutes, then go get some more. I watched her for about 1/2 hour, oblivious to walkers and joggers (and me). She would repeat this about every 5 minutes. Jeff Cohen north Seattle, USA _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850552/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: KGW Raptor Cam - Portland OR From: Barbara Deihl <barbdeihl AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:10:58 -0700 Hi, A friend in Portland sent me this link to a Raptor Cam that is presently focusing on a Red-tailed Hawk nest, but also monitors other area raptor nests (see the blog sections): http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/raptor-cam Barb Deihl North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle barbdeihl AT comcast.net_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Vancouver, BC RBA for March 12, 2010 From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus AT telus.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:00:07 -0700 This is Wayne Weber with Nature Vancouver's Rare Bird Alert for Friday, March 12th, sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited, with stores in Vancouver and North Vancouver. The RBA telephone number is (604) 737-3074. If you wish to leave a rare bird report, please press the star button at the end of this message to go back to the menu, press "2" for the rare bird reporting line, and follow the instructions given there. RARE BIRD ALERT for a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY in the 21900 block of the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge, which has been present for at least 9 months. Sightings for Friday, March 12th Two GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES were seen along the West Vancouver seawall near the foot of 23rd Street. Sightings for Wednesday, March 10th A male EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL, as well as a hybrid between the Eurasian and American forms, was seen at the Beach Grove lagoon in Delta (east foot of 12th Avenue). The TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was still present in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver. Sightings for Tuesday, March 9th The three AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS were seen again on Iona Island in Richmond, near the base of the South Jetty. An early TURKEY VULTURE was seen near the Port Mann Bridge in Surrey. Three GYRFALCONS were seen in various locations around Delta. Sightings for Monday, March 8th A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in the 5500 block of Highbury Street in Vancouver was the first report for the year. A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and a HERMIT THRUSH were seen near the lawn bowling pitch in Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park. A WESTERN MEADOWLARK and two BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS were seen at the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver. Five GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were present along Beach Avenue in Vancouver, where they have been for several weeks. Sightings for Sunday, March 7th Two TREE SWALLOWS were seen at Deer Lake in Burnaby. Sightings for Saturday, March 6th The long-staying WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was seen again near 220th Street and the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge. The two TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, one on McDonald Road on Sea Island and one in the 12600 block of 17A Avenue in Surrey, were both seen again. A HERMIT THRUSH and a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER were seen in Camosun Bog, near 19th Avenue and Camosun Street in Vancouver. A HUTTON'S VIREO and 6 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS were near 16th Avenue and Enderby Avenue in the Beach Grove area of Delta. Sightings for Friday, March 5th Four VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were at the Alaksen Natl. Wildlife Area in Delta, and a GYRFALCON was still being seen along Deltaport Way near Arthur Drive in Delta. A HUTTON'S VIREO was singing near 4th Avenue and 172nd Street in Surrey. Sightings for Thursday, March 4th 200 AMERICAN PIPITS on Westham Island near the entrance to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary was a high number, and 23 WILSON'S SNIPE on 41B Street south of River Road was also a good count. A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was seen in a crabapple tree on McDonald Road on Sea I., Richmond, and another was seen in the 12600 block of 17A Avenue in Surrey. Three AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS and 2 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were seen at Iona Beach Regional Park in Richmond. Sightings for Wednesday, March 3rd Several VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary were the first reported this spring. A BLUE GOOSE was seen with 6500 SNOW GEESE near the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, and a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER there was noteworthy. Sightings for Monday, March 1st Two BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and two SANDHILL CRANES were at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta. Nearby, a WILLET was seen near the Westham Island Bridge, on a log floating down the channel. Two BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS were seen on the Tsawwassen ferry jetty in Delta. An AMERICAN KESTREL was seen near 41B Street at 33A Avenue in Delta. Sightings for Sunday, February 28th The WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was seen again in the 21900 block of the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge, and a HERMIT THRUSH, rare in winter, was seen nearby. Five TREE SWALLOWS were seen at Serpentine Fen on the King George Highway in Surrey while observers were checking swallow nest boxes. Sightings for Saturday, February 27th At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, an AMERICAN BITTERN and a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL were seen. Sightings for Thursday, February 25th A BLACK OYSTERCATCHER was seen at the Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver. Sightings for Wednesday, February 24th A MARBLED GODWIT was reported from near the foot of 96th Street on Boundary Bay in Delta. Sightings for Monday, February 22nd The long-staying WESTERN SCRUB-JAY was seen again in Maple Ridge near the intersection of Cliff Avenue and Cliff Place, close to where it has been seen repeatedly since June 2009. Another early TURKEY VULTURE was seen over the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver's Stanley Park. Five TREE SWALLOWS were seen briefly at the Alaksen National Wildlife Area in Delta, and the NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL was seen again at the nearby Reifel Bird Sanctuary. Four more TREE SWALLOWS were seen at the rowing complex on Burnaby Lake in Burnaby, as were 7 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Sightings for Sunday, February 21st The LONG-BILLED CURLEW was seen again on the east side of Blackie Spit in Surrey, but the MARBLED GODWITS which have accompanied it all winter could not be found. Sightings for Saturday, February 20th A flock of 43 MOURNING DOVES was seen near Ladner Harbour Park in Delta, and 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS were at Iona Beach Park in Richmond. A brief account of 31 of the best birding locations in the Vancouver area can be found on the Nature Vancouver website at http://www.naturevancouver.ca/Birding_Birding_Sites If you have any questions about birds or birding in the Vancouver area, please call Wayne at 604-597-7201, Viveka at 604-531-3401, or Larry at 604-465-1402. Thank you for calling the Vancouver Rare Bird Alert, and good birding. Wayne C. Weber Delta, BC contopus AT telus.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Hawk close up and personal - ID help? From: Trileigh Tucker <tri AT seattleu.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:46:41 -0700 Hello Tweets, When I came back home this morning after birding in Lincoln Park (West Seattle), I heard a hummingbird chittering, so I looked up, hoping to spot a nest. I was quite surprised and thoroughly delighted to find instead a hawk perched low in a tree that arches over my driveway almost to my front door -- about 2' from my upstairs bedroom window. Of course, now I couldn't come in the front door and go up to the window, since that would undoubtedly scare the hawk away. So I circled around my house, knocking on windows and then rattling the back door to try to get my partner's attention so I could sneak in the back door and go upstairs to the bedroom window. The cats were intrigued, but no partner appeared. Finally I realized he was in the shower, so I gave up trying to get inside for a while and snuck around the back deck for photos. Finally my partner saw me and opened the back door. You can see the resulting closeups and some full-profile shots at http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh/4430222927/ and beyond. I'm thinking this is a Cooper's rather than a Sharpie because of the head side relative to the body, but would love either confirmation or disconfirmation of that initial assessment. Thanks! Good birding to you, Trileigh * * * * * * * * Trileigh Tucker Lincoln Park, West Seattle _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: re: camera equipment From: Marc Hoffman <tweeters AT dartfrogmedia.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:04:45 -0700 I have been photographing birds with DSLR equipment for about 5 years now. I've probably taken 50,000 shots or more. My skills have definitely improved, but without upgrades in equipment I know I would never have gotten my better shots. Sharpness, accurate color, and adequate resolution (including enough pixels to crop down to the area that contains that warbler at 50 feet), are all limited by equipment quality. Before I bought my first DSLR, I had an $800 Konica Minolta and I can barely stand to look at any of the pictures it produced, except for a few where the compositional aspects outweigh the technical deficiencies. Since then, I have had various Canon DSLR's: 30D, 40D, and now a 5D Mark II. Mostly I've shot with the 100-400mm Canon zoom lens that is rated well by virtually all bird photographers. As Nate has mentioned, there are other options in the same price range that can give slightly sharper photos. But I always return to the 100-400 because of the zoom capability. I do a lot of shooting from a kayak, so I might be photographing a Great Blue Heron at 12 feet when a Kingfisher suddenly swoops in at 35 feet. No time to change lenses, so the 100-400 is a life-saver. Something to consider when buying a camera for bird photography is its ability to focus quickly. The Canon 5D Mark II is actually slower to focus than the 40D, but overall I prefer its superior image performance and higher pixel count. Here's a link to a slide show (with audio) of my trip last year to Costa Rica. Virtually all the photos were taken with the 5D Mark II and the Canon 100-400 lens. Many also utilized flash, which makes a huge difference in either very dim light where the light is inadequate for a fast exposure, or very bright daylight where there is too much contrast between shadow and light and the flash helps reduce the difference: http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/costaRicaSlideShow2010 Marc Hoffman Kirkland, WA email: tweeters "at" dartfrogmedia "dot" com At 03:18 PM 3/13/2010, Nate Chappell, Trogon Tours wrote: >Hi everyone, > >I follow tweeters threads regularly but this is my first post >here. Some of this may have been covered in previous posts but I do >a lot of bird photography (I lead bird photo tours and workshops) so >I thought I would give some of my thoughts on camera equipment. I >use Canon and am familiar with all of their larger lenses as well as >being somehwhat familiar with the Nikon and other brands >available. Canon's 300F4 and 1.4 teleconverter are an excellent >option and a bit cheaper than the Nikon version -which is also >excellent. You can purchase the Canon 300F4 lens and teleconverter >for about $1,600 and they produce sharp images. My wife uses this >combination and is quite happy with it. The Canon 100-400 zoom is >also a good option and costs roughly the same. It's not quite as >sharp as the 300mm combined with the 1.4 however. The main >advantage is the zoom ability, this may be important to people who >also want to do some landscape work and/or photograph larger mammals. > >If you don't want to spend too much on a camera body the Canon Rebel >XSI is a good option for Canon, it can be had for about >$500. Another good option would be to buy a used or refurbished >Canon 40D. This camera performs better in lower light than it's >successor the 50D which has more megapixels but isn't a very good >performer in low light. So a good birding option that produces >high quality images would be a used 40D or new Rebel XSi with the >300F4 and a 1.4 teleconverter for a total of about $2,200. It's >lightweight enough to be handholdable for most people as well. I >personally use a Canon 1DMkIII and 500mmF4 lens which have a >combined price of about $10K. This equipment can also be handheld >with some practice but it's much heavier. I have just purchased a >7D which from everything I've read is quite a step up from the 40 >and 50D's but also costs about $700 more at $1,600. > >As far as off brand lenses for bird photography if you are >interested in getting high quality images the only brand I would >really recommend is Sigma which has some nice offerings. > >If anyone would like to take a look at some of my images I have >galleries from all over the world and here in the Northwest at >www.trogontours.net/galleries . > >If anyone has any equipment related questions feel free to email me >at >nchappell AT trogontours.net >. > >Best regards, >Nate Chappell > >www.trogontours.net >_______________________________________________ >Tweeters mailing list >Tweeters AT u.washington.edu >http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: GBH From: David Hutchinson <flora.fauna AT live.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:00:26 -0700 At the Kiwanis Ravine Heron Sanctuary next to Discovery Park, there are currently about about 30 GBH nest "guarding". In case you are interested in this beautiful phenomenon, this might be your last best chance before the trees leaf out and the herons go about their business. The least invasive, but excellent viewing site is at the south end of the footbridge over the B.N. railroad tracks, just above the locks. Please stay out of the woods and people's backyards. DH -- David Hutchinson, Owner Flora & Fauna: Nature Books Discovery Gardens: Native Plants 3212 W.Government Way Seattle,WA.98199 http://www.ffbooks.net/ 206-623-4727 _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_1 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Dubois Grouse Days From: "Kit Struthers" <kit619 AT ida.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:48:02 -0600 8th Annual Dubois Grouse Days Fostering Partnerships for Grouse Conservation What: A two-day event to celebrate the shrub-steppe ecosystem and the animals that call it home. Where: Dubois, Idaho (about 45 miles north of Idaho Falls on Interstate 15) When: Friday April 16 doors open at 5pm for registration and light supper Saturday April 17, all day activities starting at 0600 with tours to grouse leks. Saturday April 17, Banquet and awards ceremony start at 5pm Why: To promote education and conservation of our western rangeland heritage. Activities: Guided tours to grouse breeding grounds to view Greater Sage and Sharp-tailed Grouse courtship and The Nature Conservancy's Crooked Creek Ranch and other local highlights, banquet, arts and craft booths, kids activities and art contest, presentations by biologists and ranchers and the Teton Raptor Center; raffle and silent auction. Plus, dedication of the Kent L. Christopher habitat rehabilitation project at Camas National Wildlife Refuge. Sponsored by: Dubois Grouse Days Committee, The North American Grouse Partnership, the Upper Valley Sage Grouse Local Working Group, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Clark County Stockgrowers, the North American Falconers Association, NorthWestern Energy, Rocky Mountain Power, and the people and businesses of Dubois, Idaho. All proceeds go towards conservation and education, including the Kent L. Christopher Conservation Scholarship for a local high school senior. Contact: Jeff Lidey Jeff_lidey_179 AT hotmail.com 208/313/2730 Website: www.grousedays.org Kit Struthers Snake River Audubon Society Idaho Falls, ID 208-529-2028 kit619 AT ida.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Spencer Island From: Calliopehb AT aol.com Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:45:09 EDT Hi Tweets, Spent the afternoon at Spencer Island near Everett yesterday. Very quiet birding but did see several Tree Swallows and one Yellow-Rumped Warbler. Odd though, I did not see any Northern Harriers. Happily Birding in Arlington, WA Beth Thompson_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Western Bluebirds, et. al. From: johntubbs AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:05:12 +0000 (UTC) Hi Joyce, Thanks for the report.  It's good to see the bluebirds are back there again.  Two summers ago, I installed several bluebird boxes there, as there were at least two pairs that appeared intent on nesting - although I cannot be sure they did nest, I suspect they did as there was a bluebird-ish nest in one of the boxes (with a Tree Swallow one built on top) at the end of the season.  Last summer, to my knowledge anyway, they did not show up at all at that location.  Unfortunately, all the 'improvement' work being done by the county on this property is rapidly converting decent bluebird habitat into an extension of the Carnation Farm coniferous tree farm.  All the open meadows at Chinook Bend have been thickly planted over the last two summers, so the open habitat species will have to go elsewhere soon. John Tubbs Snoqualmie, WA johntubbs AT comcast.net www.tubbsphoto.com ----- Original Message ----- From: MEYER2J AT aol.com To: Tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:55:24 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [Tweeters] Western Bluebirds, et. al. Hi Tweets: While cruising the Snoqualmie Valley, a group of us saw 3 Western Bluebirds at Chinook Bend, between Camp Kory and Carnation.  A Northern Harrier was seen off of 60th St., on the north side of Hwy 203, Carnation.  This bird previously made it into the Eastside Audubon 2009 Christmas Bird Count.  A Peregrine Falcon put on a beautiful flight show at Snoqualmie Falls today, March 13th.  Finally, a pair of Bald Eagles courted and sparred with one another in a bare tree near the Tolt/McDonald Park suspension bridge.  Just a peek into their private lives. Joyce Meyer meyer2j AT aol.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: "old" camera gear From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:08:52 -0800 (PST) Although I have been upgrading the camera and lens combo I use for bird photography, my old equipment still serves useful purposes.  Unti it conked out, I carried my p&s in the pocket of my riding jacket on motorcycle trips.  The photos were mostly landscapes and group shots, so the p&s was good enough. I keep an 18-55 zoom attached to my Rebel XSi for landscape and wide angle shots while I am shooting birds with the 7D/100-400 zoom.  If I have the 7D/100-400 zoom mounted on a tripod, I will attach the 55-250 zoom to the Rebel and hang it around my neck for grab shots of birds passing unexpectedly behind me or overhead.   In some cases, a grab shot may be better than no shot at all. Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Re: camera gear and posting From: Allyn Weaks <allyn. AT tardigrade.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:38:17 -0800 Can't resist jumping in even though I'm still a slowly improving amateur who prefers four wings with 6 legs (or 8 legs with no wings, or even no limbs at all). In no particular order, and with no attributions (sorry): >> how/where do you post photos for others to view? > I would like to mention pbase at $23 a year for a posting > option. I third pbase. Best thing is that it's a good showcase, and easy on visitors. flicker, smugmug, etc have such revoltingly obtrusive interfaces that I can't stand to stick around long enough to actually look at the photos, no matter how good they are. > No offense intended to anyone, but it seems to me there's > been too much emphasis on equipment over the past few > years. Photographers have been gear heads since it was invented. I grew up surrounded by gear wars--brand vs brand, 35mm vs medium format, 645 vs 120, Kodachrome vs Ektachrome vs Velvia... I won't admit just how long ago. :-) > I'd only recommend getting the really expensive stuff if > you find yourself limited by what you already have. Yes, but. If you're sure you're serious, it can also be wasteful to spend money on something intermediate that you're going to need to upgrade sooner that you expected. When I was trying to decide between the canon 430 and 580 speedlites, the most common comment I saw about the 430 was, "it's very good...but now that I know more about using a flash, I really wish I'd spent the extra money for the 580 because now I have to buy one anyway." If the majority of photographers whose work you like say that features x/y/z are close to essential, it's worth paying attention. It's one of the bigger reasons why I went with Canon instead of Nikon--at least at the time, Nikon had no low/middle range bodies with mirror lock up, which is very useful for macro, and absolutely essential for micro. Canon's isn't nearly as convenient as it should be, but at least it's there. Random thoughts: Buying used can be a good way to save money if you buy from someone reputable with a good return policy. BHPhoto and Adorama both have good reputations. I haven't bought used bodies/lenses from them yet, but I have bought used accessories from both, and they've been as described. If you think you want a particular lens/body but want to try one out first, there are lots of rental places. If you can go in with a friend or two for a week's rental the price on most items becomes inexpensive. I haven't done it yet, but probably will this summer. Photo blogs/forums should have recommendations for reliable companies. I think there's somewhere in seattle, too. If you think you're going to want to rent lenses regularly, such as for birding vacations, stick with canon and nikon; most rental places seem to have all or most C and N stuff available, but little or none of the other brands. Canon vs Nikon vs the others: All else being equal, buy what your friends are using. You're paying for a system, not just a camera, and you want as much access to that system as possible. Both Nikon and Canon make a range of good bodies, and have large ranges of lenses from cheap fair ones to expensive excellent ones, and lots of accessories, both name brand and third party. If you use what your friends use, it can greatly increase the number of lenses and accessories available to borrow! Try bodies out and see what fits your hands. If it isn't comfortable to hold, you won't use it enough to make it worthwhile. I have small hands, but when I tried a Canon Rebel vs a 20D, the bigger 20D was so much more comfortable that I immediately dropped the Rebel as a possibility despite muttering ouch at the price difference. A couple tradeoffs between point & shoots and SLRs that I haven't seen mentioned explicitly: Raw vs jpeg. Only a few P&Ss let you shoot raw format. Once you've shot raw, and spent a little time processing it, you will never want to waste time and shots on a jpg again. Much more latitude to adjust white balance, exposure, and more after the fact. If you do get a P&S, get one that can do raw if at all possible. Sensor size: * Given the same number of pixels, a bigger sensor will have bigger, better, pixels than a smaller sensor. A bigger pixel can gather more photons, which means less image noise and more shades between black and white. Fewer pixels at a similar sensor size is why Nikon is currently ahead at image noise game (that will flip flop--repeatedly. Canon and Nikon with Olympus yapping at their heels are poster children for why the lack of a monopoly is a Good Thing.) [It was a slightly different tradeoff for film--with film, the grain size (pixel, sort of) was constant, and a larger frame gave you more 'pixels'.] * Big sensors do wide angle more easily than small sensors; small sensors do macro and telephoto more easily than big sensors. This is why P&S cameras have 25x zooms and SLRs don't, why many macro/nature photographers like the 'crop' bodies such as the Canon 50D compared to the 'full frame' 5D, and why many landscape photographers are still using medium format. * Small sensors have more depth of field (depth of what's in sharp focus) other things being equivalent. Bigger depth of field is often an advantage, and often a pain. If you want to blur out a background to make it less distracting, you need a small enough depth of field, and P&Ss often can't do it. A few years ago I cobbled up a film/sensor size comparison chart that may amuse some of you . The 2/3" size is typical for the high end p&s such as a G11, lower end p&s are even smaller. 127 film was a standard consumer size back in the day, Instamatics were sneered at for their tiny 126 film size, 645 and bigger was common, and even into my time, there was some residual arguing about whether 35mm film had acceptable resolution for printing even though the SLR convenience and versatility was very desirable. Versatility won--for some kinds of photography. -- Allyn Weaks allyn AT tardigrade.net Seattle, WA Sunset zone 5 Pacific NW Native Wildlife Gardening: http://www.tardigrade.org/natives/ Not counting bacteria, one out of every four species isn't a parasite. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Tree Swallows at Steigerwald From: Lyn Topinka <pointers AT pacifier.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:56:15 -0800 hi ... visited Steigerwald Refuge this afternoon ... weather on/off clouds, sun, and occasional "biting rain" (mini hail ???) ... pretty busy bird-wise altho the hawks, harriers, and eagles seemed to be missing ... highlights for us were my FOY tree swallows and both varieties of Yellow-rumped Warblers ... and I always enjoy finding the Meadowlarks ... also could hear the Pileated but never saw him ... spent quite a while however watching a Downy and 2 Bewick's Wrens running up and down a couple of trees ... Lyn Vancouver, Washington Lyn Topinka http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com http://RidgefieldBirds.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Osprey in Seattle From: Mike Wagenbach <wagen AT u.washington.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:35:43 -0800 Saw my first osprey of the year today, being harassed by a crow over Highway 520 at the south edge of Portage Bay. It may not be very warm, but it must be spring. Mike Wagenbach Seattle _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear and posting From: "Joseph V Higbee" <jvhigbee AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:29:41 -0800 Couldn't resist putting my 2 cents in! Buy basic SLR and an inexpensive zoom telephoto lens and get started. If you like what you are doing you will develop your own technique to add to the basics you will glean from all the articles you will read about your new love. Once you get to that point you will have some experience to make choices for yourself about what will work for you. Quite often as you continue you will upgrade equipment, and that's better done after you know what it does and how it works. "f8 and be there" is more important than any other thing. Having some knowledge and good equipment make it more enjoyable for some of us but getting 'out there' is still what it's all about. I would like to mention pbase at $23 a year for a posting option. It allows for blogging and is much more customizable than many realize. I personally questioned some things but having done some comparison find my fears were unwarranted. Joseph Higbee Spanaway, WA Mailto: jvhigbee AT hotmail.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: photography thread From: "Dianna Moore" <dlmoor2 AT coastaccess.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:24:35 -0800 Hi Tweets....I am in the "mundane" class of photographers but have been in the company of some who now make nature photography their life. One of those is Rob Palmer (the cover of Audubon for Jan/Feb). Last week he and Nick Dunlop were out on the beaches of Ocean Shores, Grayland and the Long Beach peninsula with Dan Varland participating in the 4th annual get-together of all "his" raptor surveyors (they were here last year too). Afterwards we got to see many of those first photos in a power-point presentation on the wall in Dan's living room, and now some are appearing on Rob's web site www.falconphotos.com/galleries under New Images. Under "Biography" he lists his current equipment...and I can attest to the remarks I have seen in this thread...if you want really good photos, you need good equipment, but you have to know what you are doing with it! Dianna Moore Ocean Shores, Wa. dlmoor2 AT coastaccess.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: TWO GOLDEN EAGLES, RIDGEFIELD NWR, SATURDAY From: Carol Ledford <uskestrel AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:25:19 -0800 (PST) Today (Saturday, the 13th), Will Clemons and I birded the River S Unit at Ridgefield NWR (~4 mi. west of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington), as did Clay Davis and Kathy Davis.  After Will and I left around 3:00, Clay and Kathy saw two adult GOLDEN EAGLES flying over the south end of Rest Lake. Ridgefield Weekly Bird Sightings:  www.ridgefieldfriends.org/WildlifeReport.html. Carol Ledford Gresham, Oregon   _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: SAS trip to Montlake Fill this morning From: Evan Houston <evanghouston AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:15:20 -0800 (PST) Hi Tweeters, I led a Seattle Audubon field trip to the Montlake Fill in Seattle, WA this morning. My nice group of participants enjoyed a nice variety of Fill regulars. The only non-winter species observed was Tree Swallow, though lots of singing was going on from at least 10 different passerine species, and nesting activity was also observed. Highlights included: Killdeer - on a nest in the dime lot, incubation exchange observed Cedar Waxwing - 1 by SW pond strafed my head and landed at the top of a tree about 10 feet above us for amazing views Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 gave our group great extended looks near the Corp. yard Bushtit - pair w/ female gathering nesting material Brown Creeper - pair hanging out at large tree in SE portion of Surber Grove, perhaps they'll attempt to nest? We were happy with the lack of rain, but could have done without the chilly breeze and chop on the lake. A cumulative group list from eBird.org , with approximate numbers, is below. A great map of the Fill is at: http://constancypress.com/publications/inmynature/fill/ Good birding, Evan Houston Seattle, WA eBird list: Location: Union Bay Natural Area (Montlake Fill) Observation date: 3/13/10 Notes: SAS trip to Fill from 7:30 to 10:30 weather was partly cloudy but a bit breezy and chop on lake nothing too unusual, but lots of nice looks about 10 participants with group Number of species: 49 Cackling Goose (Taverner's) 2 short stubby bills and steep foreheads and darker breasts and good comparisons w/ nearby small Canadas Canada Goose 15 some large, some Lesser Gadwall 10 American Wigeon 100 Mallard 20 Northern Shoveler 15 Green-winged Teal 15 Ring-necked Duck 5 Lesser Scaup 1 female in lagoon gave nice looks Bufflehead 10 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 15 Great Blue Heron 12 lots of herons, how many will nest nearby? Bald Eagle 4 2 juvs + up to 2 ad., ad was working on adding stick to nest Red-tailed Hawk 1 American Coot 50 Killdeer 3 a likely pair interacting on Dime Lot (one submissively positioning on ground while other chased it around, another on nest, and nest exchange observed Mew Gull 1 Glaucous-winged Gull 5 Rock Pigeon 2 Anna's Hummingbird 6 Downy Woodpecker 1 female Northern Flicker 5 Steller's Jay 2 American Crow 25 Tree Swallow 5 Black-capped Chickadee 12 Bushtit 10 1 pair was collecting nesting material Brown Creeper 2 pair in Surber Grove, will they nest? Bewick's Wren 10 Winter Wren (Western) 2 Marsh Wren 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 nice singing American Robin 15 European Starling 15 Cedar Waxwing 2 awesome look after it landed right above our heads to feed in a berry tree Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 1 Spotted Towhee 5 Fox Sparrow 1 nice looks Surber Grove Song Sparrow 10 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 outstandingly good looks at 1 bird White-crowned Sparrow 3 Dark-eyed Junco 3 Red-winged Blackbird 20 Brewer's Blackbird 2 m-f pair at helipad w/ male "singing", may have been more House Finch 10 American Goldfinch 5 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Western Bluebirds, et. al. From: MEYER2J AT aol.com Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:55:24 EST Hi Tweets: While cruising the Snoqualmie Valley, a group of us saw 3 Western Bluebirds at Chinook Bend, between Camp Kory and Carnation. A Northern Harrier was seen off of 60th St., on the north side of Hwy 203, Carnation. This bird previously made it into the Eastside Audubon 2009 Christmas Bird Count. A Peregrine Falcon put on a beautiful flight show at Snoqualmie Falls today, March 13th. Finally, a pair of Bald Eagles courted and sparred with one another in a bare tree near the Tolt/McDonald Park suspension bridge. Just a peek into their private lives. Joyce Meyer _meyer2j AT aol.com_ (mailto:meyer2j AT aol.com) _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Re: camera gear and posting From: "Bonnie Block" <bonblock AT centurytel.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:40:46 -0800 Definitely agree with you here. There is no point in buying thousands of dollars worth of gear--until you have a good working knowledge of your equipment--and you have taken it as far as it will let you go. There is a lot of "personal" experimenting that comes along with learning bird photography. You definitely will make many choices of upgraded gear depending on how your shooting style develops. But start off reasonably--and as Joseph says--it is all about getting out there and enjoying nature. BTW--I also use pbase and have for many years--works well. Bonnie Block www.fieldandfarmphoto.com www.pbase.com/herderdog From: Joseph V Higbee Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:29 PM To: Tweeters Subject: [Tweeters] Re: camera gear and posting Couldn't resist putting my 2 cents in! Buy basic SLR and an inexpensive zoom telephoto lens and get started. If you like what you are doing you will develop your own technique to add to the basics you will glean from all the articles you will read about your new love. Once you get to that point you will have some experience to make choices for yourself about what will work for you. Quite often as you continue you will upgrade equipment, and that's better done after you know what it does and how it works. "f8 and be there" is more important than any other thing. Having some knowledge and good equipment make it more enjoyable for some of us but getting 'out there' is still what it's all about. I would like to mention pbase at $23 a year for a posting option. It allows for blogging and is much more customizable than many realize. I personally questioned some things but having done some comparison find my fears were unwarranted. Joseph Higbee Spanaway, WA Mailto: jvhigbee AT hotmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2743 - Release Date: 03/12/10 23:33:00 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear and posting From: "Joseph V Higbee" <jvhigbee AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:29:41 -0800 Couldn't resist putting my 2 cents in! Buy basic SLR and an inexpensive zoom telephoto lens and get started. If you like what you are doing you will develop your own technique to add to the basics you will glean from all the articles you will read about your new love. Once you get to that point you will have some experience to make choices for yourself about what will work for you. Quite often as you continue you will upgrade equipment, and that's better done after you know what it does and how it works. "f8 and be there" is more important than any other thing. Having some knowledge and good equipment make it more enjoyable for some of us but getting 'out there' is still what it's all about. I would like to mention pbase at $23 a year for a posting option. It allows for blogging and is much more customizable than many realize. I personally questioned some things but having done some comparison find my fears were unwarranted. Joseph Higbee Spanaway, WA Mailto: jvhigbee AT hotmail.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: camera gear From: John Puschock <g_g_allin AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:52:37 +0000 John and all, Perhaps "cheap" wasn't the best choice of words. Maybe I should have said "$3,000 or less". I should have also been a bit more precise with "point-and-shoot" and qualified that as a point-and-shoot used with a spotting scope or a point-and-shoot a with larger optical zoom, i.e., a zoom that's equivalent to a 400mm or better. I believe there's at least one Tweeters member who shoots with something like that and has a Flickr account, though I may be wrong, so I'll let them speak for themselves if they wish. But my main points were that quality equipment doesn't necessarily guarantee quality photos and after a certain point, there's diminishing returns for money spent. Where that certain point is, however, depends on the skill of the photographer, what their objective happens to be, and what subjects they'll be shooting. Regarding your challenge, I'm up for it, though as you say, it would be to demonstrate the incremental benefits of better gear. I'd use my 30D and 400mm, though with auto-focus on if I may ;) , which had an original retail value of about $2500. The question wouldn't be so much if the pro equipment got better photos, it probably will. It would be if the pro photos are worth the extra $7500, and the answer to that question will vary from person to person. John Puschock Wedgwood, Seattle g_g_allin AT hotmail.com http://www.zbirdtours.com & http://www.birdtreks.com Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:03:15 +0000 From: johntubbs AT comcast.net To: g_g_allin AT hotmail.com CC: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Subject: Re: [Tweeters] camera gear Hi John and everyone, I agree generally with what John says here. One of my frustrations at times has been when people see a big lens and say, 'wow, with that equipment, you must get great pictures.' No...it's the combination of the equipment and the knowledge of the photographer. However, for bird photography, to say that a great photographer using 'cheap equipment' will get good bird pictures is absurd. Let me pick a good point and shoot camera without appropriate features and give it to Art Wolfe - and I will bet my house he will get virtually zero usable bird photographs unless the bird is sitting on his windowsill (or he's digiscoping with a highly capable scope and probably a scope mount). He certainly isn't going to get usable photos of a Golden Eagle 500 feet up a cliff in less-than-optimal light. Ditto with a hyperactive warbler 50 feet away in a thicket popping in and out of dappled light. You certainly don't need the absolute top of the line equipment to do bird photography, but without a certain minimum set of capabilities, even excellent photographers are going to find themselves frustrated with the results because of the nature. Every photographer needs to learn how to use the capabilities of their equipment to get the most out of it, and the lack of appropriate knowledge isn't limited to people with high-end gear. I've run into photographers who went out and bought a Canon Rebel for general photography because they wanted a 'changeable lens' camera, and after talking to them it was clear they didn't even understand the difference between aperture and shutter priority, let alone some of the more advanced features of the gear. In general, my experience has been that people who spend in excess of a couple grand for camera equipment also spend a lot of time learning how to use it. Reiterating what I said in the first post, camera equipment comes in a huge range of capabilities and related expense. With appropriately skilled photographers (which I emphasized in the first post), the better the equipment, the higher the percentage of good shots will be had. What is your personal tradeoff between capabilities and budget? How much time are you really going to spend doing photography and how does that factor in? Several years ago, I documented the first nesting of a species in central Oregon in 40 years. Even with a 16-meg camera back, shooting in RAW and applying skilled post-processing, it was all I could do to get usable images out of the marginal images captured. Anything less than the gear I had with me on that trip would have resulted in an interesting sighting report that would have been met with skepticism because it was a highly unexpected sighting by one person and would not have been documented photographically. For anyone who wishes to dispute the incremental benefits of better gear, I would propose an in-the-field experiment. Let's take someone with an off-brand, non-autofocus 100-400mm slow zoom and an older 5 or 8 megapixel digital SLR, handheld, out to the Samish Flats while the Peregrines are still hunting Dunlin. Their counterpart will have a 500mm prime Canon with a 1.4X teleconverter fast autofocus lens on a tripod with a Wimberley head and a 16-megapixel camera back with four or eight frame multiple shot mode. We'll shoot in-flight images for a morning and do a comparison of the best ten or fifteen shots after editing and basic post-processing from each photographer at the end of the morning and compare results. I know who my money's on. John Tubbs johntubbs AT comcast.net www.tubbsphoto.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850552/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: BlueBirds At Theler and Eurasian Wigeons in Port Orchard From: John Riegsecker <jriegsecker AT pobox.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:46:58 -0800 After a half dozen failed attempts, I finally saw the Bluebirds at Theler Wetlands today. There were two of them sitting on a barbed wire fence and I managed to get one shot with one bird in the air and the other poised for flight. Also, for about the fourth week in a row there were 6 Red Crossbills in the small trees. Every time I visit Theler I look for the Domestic Graylag x Canada Goose hybrid. About two weeks ago he found a mate. Returning home through Port Orchard I stopped at the east end of town to look at the large number of Wigeons that always congregate there. They were right up at the shore. There were also three male Eurasian Wigeons in the flock. At one point something frightened them and the entire flock took to the air. I zoomed my lens back to 70 mm and took some shots of the birds in flight. I counted 235 in one shot, and I'm sure I didn't have half of them, so I'm guessing there must have been about 400 - 500 wigeons. -- John Riegsecker, Gig Harbor, WA jriegsecker at pobox dot com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: photography thread - new camera format (micro four thirds) From: Charles Swift <chaetura AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:29:38 -0800 I don't know if this has been mentioned but there is a new camera format known as "micro four thirds" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system) that might be of interest to birders. These cameras are intermediate between p&s and dSLR in a number of respects (see wikipedia article above). The main advantages are better performance and interchangeable lenses (vs. p&s) and weight and size (vs. dSLR). (The size/weight benefits have been realized by removing the mirror and using instead a live view LCD and/or electronic viewfinder system, they also have larger sensors that p&s). Currently only Olympus and Panasonic are making these but you can imagine others are working on them (I believe Samsung has a similar camera system coming out soon). Since this is new technology it's still relatively expensive (compared to say p&s superzoom or low end dSLR) but it could become affordable relatively quickly (esp if others, e.g. Canon & Nikon enter this niche). Currently there is not a large selection of lenses for these cameras but that should increase in time. I believe there are adapters available to accommodate a variety of older lenses but I think they work only in a manual focus mode. Apparently this format is catching on in Europe and is thought to now account for 10% of market (of people moving up from p&s). Another possible advantage of these cameras is they are said have great potential for digiscoping. A number of digiscopers have been trying them out with reports coming on the digiscoping email list ( http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/DIGI.html). This plus the size/weight advantages could make this a great option for birders (hikers, travelers, etc.) in the future. Here are reviews of some of the Olympus and Panasonic models currently vailable: http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-6501_7-111-113.html?tag=rb_content;contentNav -- Charles Swift Moscow, ID chaetura AT gmail.com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear From: johntubbs AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:03:15 +0000 (UTC) Hi John and everyone, I agree generally with what John says here.  One of my frustrations at times has been when people see a big lens and say, 'wow, with that equipment, you must get great pictures.'  No...it's the combination of the equipment and the knowledge of the photographer.  However, for bird photography, to say that a great photographer using 'cheap equipment' will get good bird pictures is absurd.  Let me pick a good point and shoot camera without appropriate features and give it to Art Wolfe - and I will bet my house he will get virtually zero usable bird photographs unless the bird is sitting on his windowsill (or he's digiscoping with a highly capable scope and probably a scope mount).  He certainly isn't going to get usable photos of a Golden Eagle 5 00 feet up a cliff in less-than-optimal light.  Ditto with a hyperactive warbler 50 feet away in a thicket popping in and out of dappled light.  You certainly don't need the absolute top of the line equipment to do bird photography, but without a certain minimum set of capabilities, even excellent photographers are going to find themselves frustrated with the results because of the nature.  Every photographer needs to learn how to use the capabilities of their equipment  to get the most out of it, and the lack of appropriate knowledge isn't limited to people with high-end gear.  I've run into photographers who went out and bought a Canon Rebel for general photography  because they wanted a 'changeable lens' camera, and after talking to them it was clear they didn't even understand the difference between aperture and shutter priority, let alone some of the more advanced features of the gear.  In general, my experience has been that people who spend in excess of a couple grand for camera equipment also spend a lot of time learning how to use it.  Reiterating what I said in the first post, camera equipment comes in a huge range of capabilities and related expense .  With appropriately skilled photographers (which I emphasized in the first post), the better the equipment, the higher the percentage of good shots will be had.  What is your personal tradeoff between capabilities and budget?  How much time are you really going to spend doing photography and how does that factor in?   Several years ago, I documented the first nesting of a species in central Oregon in 40 years.  Even with a 16-meg camera back, shooting in RAW and applying skilled post-processing, it was all I could do to get usable images out of the marginal images captured.  Anything less than the gear I had with me on that trip would have resulted in an interesting sighting report that would have been met with skepticism because it was a highly unexpected sighting by one person  and would not have been documented photographically. For anyone who wishes to dispute the incremental benefits of better gear , I would propose an in-the-field experiment.  Let's take someone with an off-brand, non-autofocus 100-400mm slow zoom and an older 5 or 8  megapixel digital SLR, handheld, out to the Samish Flats while the Peregrines are still hunting Dunlin.  Their counterpart will have a 500mm prime Canon with a 1.4X teleconverter fast  autofocus lens on a tripod with a Wimberley head and a 16-megapixel camera back with four or eight frame multiple shot mode .  We'll shoot in-flight images for a morning and do a comparison of the best ten or fifteen shots after editing and basic post-processing from each photographer  at the end of the morning and compare results.  I know who my money's on. John Tubbs johntubbs AT comcast.net www.tubbsphoto.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Puschock" To: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 1:56:37 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: RE: [Tweeters] camera gear Howdy all, While equipment certainly helps, I have to say, at the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, that the eye and technique of the photographer is still the most important element in getting good photographs.  A good photographer with cheap equipment is almost always going to get better results than a less-skilled photographer with top of the line equipment.  You certainly don't need the best and latest equipment to get great photos.  I know a part-time pro photographer that uses a Canon 40D and the 100-400mm Canon lens. No offense intended to anyone, but it seems to me there's been too much emphasis on equipment over the past few years.  I'm still surprised by the number of photographers that I see in the field with the latest pro equipment.  There's nothing wrong with using a Canon Rebel (a few people on the interwebs claim that some of the Rebels have image quality as good as the 7D, though they're saying this as a knock against the 7D) and something smaller than a 500mm f/4 lens.  As others have said, you have to determine what you want to do with the camera.  If you just want to confirm identifications or take pictures for your own personal enjoyment and you aren't too picky, a point-and-shoot, either by itself or used for digiscoping, is probably the way to go.  Keep in mind that it's difficult to bird while carrying around a huge lens on a tripod.  One reason I use a 400mm f/5.6 is that I can hand-hold it and leave it hanging from my shoulder when not in use.   That frees up my hands to quickly lift my binoculars when needed. I'd only recommend getting the really expensive stuff if you find yourself limited by what you already have.  If you're convinced you want to get into the "art" aspects of bird photography but aren't already invested in a SLR system, get a decent lens and one of the cheaper DSLR bodies and see how you like it.  Nikon may be beating Canon in image quality at the prosumer price point, but for the budget-conscious, I'd still recommend Canon.  I believe they have a better selection of affordable (relatively speaking) lenses. One more thing: if you're sharing your photos with others, editing is crucial.  I often say the only difference between a good and bad photographer is that the good one knows what pictures to get rid of.  No one wants to see 10 pictures of the same bird, with the only difference being that its head is tilted slightly differently in each one.  Pick just one or two of your best. If you're still reading this, you may want to check out my blog.  I had been using a 30D but recently got a 7D, and I've started reviewing it.  Go to http://zbirdtours.com/blog and click on "Canon 7D" on the right side to see the entries.  I've been slacking off on writing more entries, but I'll be doing some more soon.  I promise.  John Puschock Wedgwood, Seattle g_g_allin AT hotmail.com http://www.zbirdtours.com & http://www.birdtreks.com Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Tufted duck still here From: Rainer Wieland <rawieland AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:14:17 -0800 Drano lake. Saw it at 2;30 from highway 14 hear boat dock. Rainer Wieland Portland, OR Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Mystery Chickadee From: "Josh Hayes" <josh AT blarg.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:07:41 -0800 Joe writes: >A strange "black-capped" chickadee has been visiting my backyard this winter. "Strange" as in it *looks >*different and it *sounds *different*. * >Its look differs in that its nape and upper mantle feathers are extensively white, unlike the grayish-green >napes/mantles of regular bc chickadees. Otherwise, it's just about the same as all the others. >Its sound is what makes me wonder...it's "dee dee dee" call has a dramatically different tone. In fact, I can >identify this individual chickadee with 100% accuracy when he comes by without even so much as a glance. The >rhythm is the same, but the tone is much drier, more like "dah-dah-dah" instead of the usual "dee-dee-dee". Joe, if you were closer to North Seattle I'd say you stole my weird chickadee! I had one exactly as you describe - my son got all excited about this "weird chickadee" he was seeing - in my back yard a couple weeks ago. He was resident for about four days, and yes, his call was almost a cross between a chickadee "dee dee dee" and a nuthatch "yank yank yank". I figured it was just partially leucistic, but now I'm wondering what the heck is going on. Do the local chickadee species (BC, CB, and Mountain) interbreed at all? I'm not sure that provides any kind of explanation either, though. Just a crazy idea from a crazy guy. -Josh Hayes in North Seattle Josh at blarg dot net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Photos of banded juv Cooper's Hawk in Arboretum From: Kevin Purcell <kevinpurcell AT pobox.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:04:45 -0800 Thanks for the report Clare. I don't band the Cooper Hawk's. That's Jack Bettlesworth to spends a lot of time and energy doing that. I did assist him with banding in the Coops in Volunteer Park that's mostly observing, locating, photographing and occasionally handing a band or carrying a trap. Jack runs his research project and collates all the data. And we exchange emails fairly often (with other IDed or partially ID Coop tags). On Mar 13, 2010, at 1:02 PM, Clare McLean wrote: > While reviewing my shots taken this morning, I realized I > photographed a silver-colored band on its leg. If you'd like to have > a look, photos are here: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/claremclean/sets/72157623488745735/ This shot shows the al band on the left leg. So if it's one of Jack's it's a female. http://www.flickr.com/photos/claremclean/4430310898/in/set-72157623488745735/ > It was working with a small branch from a coniferous tree; is it too > young to be collecting nesting material? I didn't see any other bird > with it. It still has a yellow eye so I suspect it's a yearling and certainly won't have mated before. The female selects the nest site. Some do mate in juvi plumage but this seems rather young. But perhaps the nesting instinct is kicking in. > I wonder if this is one of those banded by Kevin Purcell in > Volunteer Park? I encourage everyone who observes or photographs a Cooper's Hawk around King County to check for a large blue tag on a leg (along with the usual aluminum band). It's interesting in photographs how many people miss the tag (or Photoshop it out!) even though it's in the shot. The blue VID (visual ID) tag has two numbers or letters on it (perhaps with a separating bar) and uniquely identifies the bird. This tag is readable in photographs or by direct observation with binoculars or a spotting scope. It's important to note the leg the blue VID tag is on even if you can't get the letters -- that indicates the sex of the bird. The same for falcons banded by the Falcon Research Group that will carry a black VID tag. Without seeing the blue VID tag it's not possible to know if this is one of the Coops Jack banded (let alone if it was one of last year's fledglings). It may be a juvi from another nest around here or it might have been banded elsewhere and has arrived in Seattle. > I have also seen an adult Cooper's zooming down the alley between > 19th and 20th aves East between Mercer and Roy twice in the past > month or so. I suspect I may have seen this bird twice now. From Volunteer Park this week (including Sat March 13) I saw a juvi Coop dynamically soaring (it was breezy) over eastern side of VP eventually heading south out of sight. On Monday I saw the bird thermally soaring at perhaps 100 feet and heading south from the park. It could be the same bird. Clearly a bird to keep an eye on though I suspect it's chances of mating are not great. There are others on the hill. I've seen some adult(s) (IDed as one of Jack's Coops) hunting around Broadway in the last 10 days. > In other words: Cap Hill/Montlake is good urban habitat for Cooper's > Hawks! I think Cap Hill is a good place for raptors of all sorts. With lots of mid-sized prey in this "productive" urban area it attracts both wintering and summer birds. Last winter there were several Merlin, Cooper's, Red-tailed Hawks and a least a couple of Sharp-shinned Hawk along with the occasional Bald Eagle. In migration Turkey Vultures, Rough-legged Hawks and a possible Swainson's Hawk last fall. The shape of the hill (a ridge running north and south that tapers down to the cut) generates "orographic lift" from winds from both the north and the south-west so enabling a lot of "dynamic soaring". That's what the Coop I saw today was doing. And the urban coverage of the hill generates a significant thermal so it's regularly used by raptors moving north and south. -- Kevin Purcell Seattle, WA kevinpurcell AT pobox.com http://kevin-purcell.blogspot.com http://twitter.com/kevinpurcell _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: re: camera equipment From: "Nate Chappell, Trogon Tours" <nchappell AT trogontours.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:18:14 -0800 (PST) Hi everyone,   I follow tweeters threads regularly but this is my first post here.  Some of this may have been covered in previous posts but I do a lot of bird photography (I lead bird photo tours and workshops) so I thought I would give some of my thoughts on camera equipment. I use Canon and am familiar with all of their larger lenses as well as being somehwhat familiar with the Nikon and other brands available.  Canon's 300F4 and 1.4 teleconverter are an excellent option and a bit cheaper than the Nikon version -which is also excellent. You can purchase the Canon 300F4 lens and teleconverter for about $1,600 and they produce sharp images.  My wife uses this combination and is quite happy with it.  The Canon 100-400 zoom is also a good option and costs roughly the same.  It's not quite as sharp as the 300mm combined with the 1.4 however.  The main advantage is the zoom ability, this may be important to people who also want to do some landscape work and/or photograph larger mammals.    If you don't want to spend too much on a camera body the Canon Rebel XSI is a good option for Canon, it can be had for about $500.  Another good option would be to buy a used or refurbished Canon 40D.  This camera performs better in lower light than it's successor the 50D which has more megapixels but isn't a very good performer in low light.   So a good birding option that produces high quality images would be a used 40D or new Rebel XSi with the 300F4 and a 1.4 teleconverter for a total of about $2,200.  It's lightweight enough to be handholdable for most people as well.  I personally use a Canon 1DMkIII and 500mmF4 lens which have a combined price of about $10K. This equipment can also be handheld with some practice but it's much heavier.  I have just purchased a 7D which from everything I've read is quite a step up from the 40 and 50D's but also costs about $700 more at $1,600.   As far as off brand lenses for bird photography if you are interested in getting high quality images the only brand I would really recommend is Sigma which has some nice offerings.   If anyone would like to take a look at some of my images I have galleries from all over the world and here in the Northwest at www.trogontours.net/galleries .    If anyone has any equipment related questions feel free to email me at nchappell AT trogontours.net .   Best regards, Nate Chappell www.trogontours.net _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: camera gear From: John Puschock <g_g_allin AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:56:37 +0000 Howdy all, While equipment certainly helps, I have to say, at the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, that the eye and technique of the photographer is still the most important element in getting good photographs. A good photographer with cheap equipment is almost always going to get better results than a less-skilled photographer with top of the line equipment. You certainly don't need the best and latest equipment to get great photos. I know a part-time pro photographer that uses a Canon 40D and the 100-400mm Canon lens. No offense intended to anyone, but it seems to me there's been too much emphasis on equipment over the past few years. I'm still surprised by the number of photographers that I see in the field with the latest pro equipment. There's nothing wrong with using a Canon Rebel (a few people on the interwebs claim that some of the Rebels have image quality as good as the 7D, though they're saying this as a knock against the 7D) and something smaller than a 500mm f/4 lens. As others have said, you have to determine what you want to do with the camera. If you just want to confirm identifications or take pictures for your own personal enjoyment and you aren't too picky, a point-and-shoot, either by itself or used for digiscoping, is probably the way to go. Keep in mind that it's difficult to bird while carrying around a huge lens on a tripod. One reason I use a 400mm f/5.6 is that I can hand-hold it and leave it hanging from my shoulder when not in use. That frees up my hands to quickly lift my binoculars when needed. I'd only recommend getting the really expensive stuff if you find yourself limited by what you already have. If you're convinced you want to get into the "art" aspects of bird photography but aren't already invested in a SLR system, get a decent lens and one of the cheaper DSLR bodies and see how you like it. Nikon may be beating Canon in image quality at the prosumer price point, but for the budget-conscious, I'd still recommend Canon. I believe they have a better selection of affordable (relatively speaking) lenses. One more thing: if you're sharing your photos with others, editing is crucial. I often say the only difference between a good and bad photographer is that the good one knows what pictures to get rid of. No one wants to see 10 pictures of the same bird, with the only difference being that its head is tilted slightly differently in each one. Pick just one or two of your best. If you're still reading this, you may want to check out my blog. I had been using a 30D but recently got a 7D, and I've started reviewing it. Go to http://zbirdtours.com/blog and click on "Canon 7D" on the right side to see the entries. I've been slacking off on writing more entries, but I'll be doing some more soon. I promise. John Puschock Wedgwood, Seattle g_g_allin AT hotmail.com http://www.zbirdtours.com & http://www.birdtreks.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850553/direct/01/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Photos of banded juv Cooper's Hawk in Arboretum From: Clare McLean <clareishere AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:02:37 -0800 While reviewing my shots taken this morning, I realized I photographed a silver-colored band on its leg. If you'd like to have a look, photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/claremclean/sets/72157623488745735/ It was working with a small branch from a coniferous tree; is it too young to be collecting nesting material? I didn't see any other bird with it. I wonder if this is one of those banded by Kevin Purcell in Volunteer Park? I have also seen an adult Cooper's zooming down the alley between 19th and 20th aves East between Mercer and Roy twice in the past month or so. About four years ago, I observed what I think was successful fledge of 2 or 3 juvies from a nest in Interlaken Park. In other words: Cap Hill/Montlake is good urban habitat for Cooper's Hawks! Any feedback welcome. Thanks! Clare McLean Seattle, WA clareishere AT hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_2 _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: A bunch of turkeys From: Larry Schwitters <lpatters AT ix.netcom.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:56:58 -0800 Tweeters, Well at least 5, maybe six. Walked into them about 11 AM today in the Issaquah Highlands, SE of the fire station on NE Park Drive, and 1/4 mile east of the large paramecium shaped detention pond that still has lots of Buffleheads. Just east of the power lines there is a small piece of forest they haven't cut down yet. I'm sure they'll get to it. Have there been a lot of Wild Turkey sightings in King County? Larry Schwitters Issaquah _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Tweeters Buy a loaf, save a grouse. From: Martin Muller <martinmuller AT msn.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:51:34 -0800 Great posting! Thanks. Martin Muller martinmuller AT msn.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: bird photography: how/where to post photos? From: Lee Rentz <lee AT leerentz.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:21:34 -0800 I have found that a blog is a great way to express oneself with words and photographs. I use wordpress.com, and there are no costs involved because the site is supported by advertising. There are many templates to choose from, and there are statistics available concerning the number of visitors to each post. The bandwidth allowed is enormous, and as long as you make appropriate-sized jpegs, the limits should allow you to post for years. If you have a lot of friends and acquaintances interested in what you have to say, you will get a lot of hits. Alternatively, the tags and categories and content will automatically attract a lot of visitors. If you want a place to post and archive your photographs as full- sized jpegs, Flickr.com provides that service for $25 per year. Lee Rentz Shelton, WA http://leerentz.wordpress.com On Mar 12, 2010, at 12:20 PM, Bill Anderson wrote: > On a related note to the discussion on photo equipment, how/where > do you post photos for others to view? Looking at the posts of > others, it appears that my two options are to join a photo hosting > site like Photobucket or to create a personal website. > > I like to write, so I am inclined to explore an option which would > allow me to post commentary as well as photos. A friend from the > motorcycle side of my hobby world suggested creating a blog where I > could link in photos from a photo hosting site. My favorite photo > sites I have seen on Tweeters are the websites of professional > photographers. Are these expensive to start and maintain? How > many photos will such a site hold? > > Feel free to reply privately to me if this tread is too far off > topic for Tweeters. > Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Othello Sandhill Crane Festival From: Jim Ullrich <jim AT wbugigharbor.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:23:49 -0800 Hello Tweets: With the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival right around the corner, please visit www.othellosandhillfestival.org and plan to attend Birder extroadinair, Jim Danzenbaker's lecture on "How to Choose and Use the Best Optics for You". He will be speaking on Saturday March 27th at 10AM. Jim is a noted Eco-Tourism Naturalist, leading trips all over the world. Jim started birding when he was 6 years old, following his father John Danzenbaker on many trips. If you google John Danzenbaker on the web, you will read about his birding history and Lifelist of 7,535 species of birds. The family has continued to maintain Johns' Lifelist and that in itself is a fun story that Jim Danzenbaker can share with all of us at the Festival in Othello..See you there !! Jim Ullrich_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: BirdNote, last week, and the week of March 7, 2010 From: Ellen Blackstone <ellen AT 123imagine.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:04:23 -0800 Hello, Tweeters! Last week, BirdNote aired: * Flicker Attack -- Are they drumming, drilling, or excavating. It makes a difference! http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1719 * Treasure Chest of Hummingbirds http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=621 * Robins and Berries in Winter http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1443 * The Golden Pendulum - Montezuma Oropendola http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1049 * Montezuma Oropendola's High-Security Nesting http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1050 * Lewis's Woodpeckers and Pine Forests http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1724 * Master Gardeners Can Help - Create a backyard sanctuary http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=625 -------------------------------------------- Check out the photos accompanying next week's shows: http://bit.ly/aPec6g ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BirdNote is a two-minute audio program, airing on several public radio stations and available by podcast: http://tinyurl.com/y24e8n. You can listen to the mp3, see a photo, and read the transcript on the website. All episodes are in the archives. Shows may vary by station. Ellen Blackstone http://www.birdnote.org Seattle, Washington _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Edmonds Morning Report (3-13-10) From: Carol Riddell <cariddell AT EARTHLINK.NET> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:00:28 -0800 Hi Tweets, I don't usually set my alarm on Saturdays so the local male flicker kindly took it upon himself to drum on my chimney cap at 7:45. I leaped out of bed, went to the deck and watched him for a few minutes. The neighborhood male Anna's was already sucking down sugar water at the small feeder I have in a vine maple tree and towhees were scratching in the safflower seeds and bark. So I decided to head down to the waterfront and see who else was about. It was a blustery March morning on the Sound. Wind was from the south and it was cold. No one was on the pier but me and Ted Peterson. We saw two Common Loons. One was a fly-by and the other was floating on the water in breeding plumage. We saw all three cormorants and both Canada and Brant Geese. Pigeon Guillemot was the only alcid we could see. The marsh was at flood level, probably from the heavy rains of this week. So there were wigeons and teals floating about, along with a Hooded Merganser drake on Willow Creek. The Red-breasted Sapsucker was tapping away in the hatchery and a kingfisher was seen along Willow Creek from Point Edwards. The heron nests are still vacant and the only heron seen this morning was on the waterfront. Public Pier Canada Goose Brant (8) Mallard (2 fly-by) Surf Scoter Bufflehead Common Loon (2) Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Brandt's Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant Great Blue Heron (1) Mew Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Pigeon Guillemot Rock Pigeon Marsh Canada Goose American Wigeon Mallard Green-winged Teal) Hooded Merganser (1 male) Bald Eagle (1 ad.) Red-tailed Hawk (1) Glaucous-winged Gull American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Bewick's Wren Robin Starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Spotted Towhee Song Sparrow Oregon Junco Red-winged Blackbird House Finch Hatchery/Point Edwards Canada Goose Gadwall Northern Shoveler Bufflehead Bald Eagle (1 ad.) Anna's Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher (1) Red-breasted Sapsucker (1) Steller's Jay Crow Black-capped Chickadee Robin Starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Spotted Towhee Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird House Finch American Goldfinch Good birding, Carol Riddell Edmonds _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Dungenendss lighthouse yardbirds From: jbroadus AT seanet.com Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:33:14 -0800 Finished up our week at the New Dungeness lighthouse yesterday. Had a good blow with hard rain on our last night there, but the morning was clear, cool, breezy and beautiful. The coast line itself was socked in, so we had few hikers. Coolest sightings were a flock of 90 plus dunlin that were feeding on the lawn, marching across the grass drilling and aerating it. Of course, that lawn is on sand, so after a rain it must have lots of dunlin feed near surface. Also black bellied plovers, two picnic table glaucous winged gulls, constant eagle traffic, and a feeding frenzy between eagles and ravens. Nightly traffic from coyotes. Flock of about 30 black brant came on bayside shore each evening. one group of 10 harlequins, several groups of red breasted mergansers acting spring-silly. The color banded loon showed up again, and this time in good light we could see silver on right leg. Also, yesterday, first sighting of two pacific loons. small pod of orcas with one adult male yesterday, also harbor porpoises on bay side. Received a call from fish and wildlife to scope from the lighthouse tower to look for a grey whale in distress, but didn't see it. Very busy shipping lane with all sorts of container ships, three coast guard cutters, one destroyer looking grey thing, one aircraft carrier, number 74, and two submarine sightings for the week. I think we had .30 inches of rain all week - and that was pretty much all on Thursday night/early am. we saw on the news it rained in Seattle but it was dry out on the spit - not always sunny but often it cleared off in the afternoons . Clarice Clark Puyallup, WA. 98371 mailto:jbroadus AT seanet.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: It's an.....OWLET! From: "Valerie Elliott" <VElliott AT msn.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:34:04 -0800 Yesterday at work (McChord Field) I got 2 FOY species - wood ducks (3 males, 1 female) and western bluebirds (2). At quitting time the sun had come out, so I decided to walk the mile loop at Nisqually NWR. Not much going on, but what was there was good - an actively swimming muskrat, a swimming otter with a fish in its mouth, common and hooded mergansers, common goldeneyes, several duck species, and others. I checked out the owl nesting tree. One adult was present alongside a fully downed, intensely staring yellow-eyed owlet! I saw only one owlet and there appeared to be ample room for more than one, if there was more. It should again be interesting to watch this one grow up. Valerie Elliott Olympia, WA._______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: digiscope, was Re: camera gear (long discussion on Canon equipment) From: Mike Wagenbach <wagen AT u.washington.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:18:28 -0800 Karen, I haven't used it, but this is reported to be an excellent scope: http://www.buytelescopes.com/Products/2026-Pentax-pf-80ed-spotting-scope-wfield-case-straight-body.aspx For your purposes, it is almost unique in that instead of one zoom and maybe a couple of proprietary bayonet-mount eyepieces that you can put on other scopes, it can take any of hundreds or maybe thousands of available 1.25 inch astronomical eyepieces. They say "the eyepiece is half the telescope" (actually, most eypieces have more lenses in them than the rest of the scope, so that's more than true), so you can choose the one you REALLY like. Pentax XL eyepieces are reported to be good, and are also waterproof (well, water-resistant, almost nothing is really waterproof if you go deep enough), but if you are really dedicated to digiscoping, you might want to research the Scopetronix MaxView eyepiece, which is a low power plossl eyepiece that can be threaded securely onto your camera using T rings, if it has filter threads around the lens, for better alignment and less vingnetting (and less chance of dropping the camera in the mud). http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=scopetronix&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4106017675&ref=pd_sl_16v0lqtfhq_b A caveat is that I'm not sure Scopetronix is still in business. (there's a 100mm Pentax, too, if this is not pricey enough for you) Mike My god! It's full of galaxies!! http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-2004-07-a-print.jpg _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Rufous hummingbird, Sequim. From: bruce paige <BBPAIGE AT NIKOLA.COM> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:12:11 -0800 At 7:10 AM, a FOY male rufous briefly checked our feeder near Graysmarsh farm, Sequim. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Snipe hunt at the Edmonds marsh (3/12) From: Bill Anderson <billandersonbic AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:42:50 -0800 (PST) Today's high water level in the marsh gave me hopes that the elusive snipe would be forced to higher, more open ground.  I saw 3-4 snipes fly into the marsh about 25 yards from me, but I was not quick enough to shoot their arrival and landing.     Eventually I phtographed two of them wading in the water and feeding no more than 20-25 yards from my position on the western viewing platform.  Even at such a relatively close range, they were hard to photograph as I was shooting through grass and reeds.   I did get photos of identifying features, such as the light stripe at the top of the head.  Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Buy a loaf, save a grouse From: Adam Sedgley <sedge.thrasher AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:11:26 -0800 Hi Tweets, With the Greater Sage-Grouse being in the news recently, it reminded me of a local bakery that is doing great work to protect habitat for Greater Sage and Sharp-tailed Grouse in Washington State. *Great Harvest Bread Company * in* Lake Forest Park* buys socially and environmentally responsible wheat directly from Wade Troutman, a wheat farmer near Bridgeport in Eastern Washington. Wade sets aside 30 to 40% of his land to protect habitat for the grouse. The bakers at Great Harvest use only this wheat in a special loaf called *"Wade's Wheat"* ($5.50). They don't have it all the time but be sure to ask - they always know when the next shipment is coming. I am not frequently in the Lake Forest Park area so when I was driving through today, I made sure to drop by and pick up a couple loaves to put in the freezer. To learn more about this relationship, please visit http://irisncw.org/Success-Stories/Bread-and-Crop.html To hear a special BirdNote radio program, "Wade Troutman and the Sharp-tailed Grouse", please visit http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1673 *Of course, I have no vested interest in the success of Great Harvest Bread. * -- Adam Sedgley S e a t t l e, WA sedge.thrasher [at] gmail [dot] com_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Mystery Chickadee From: Joe Dlugo <browncreeper99 AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:36:37 -0800 A strange "black-capped" chickadee has been visiting my backyard this winter. "Strange" as in it *looks *different and it *sounds *different*. * Its look differs in that its nape and upper mantle feathers are extensively white, unlike the grayish-green napes/mantles of regular bc chickadees. Otherwise, it's just about the same as all the others. Its sound is what makes me wonder...it's "dee dee dee" call has a dramatically different tone. In fact, I can identify this individual chickadee with 100% accuracy when he comes by without even so much as a glance. The rhythm is the same, but the tone is much drier, more like "dah-dah-dah" instead of the usual "dee-dee-dee". So my hunch is that this chickadee is from elsewhere. Anyone have any ideas? Joe Dlugo Lacey, WA_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: sno-falls peregrines From: dave templeton <crazydave65 AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:20:14 -0800 hi all: the 2010 hatching season is officially under way. i observed the pair mating at about 1615 today, march 12, 2010 on the near side of the bowl below the falls, not too far from the newly christened peregrine falcon viewing area. the male rode a thermal up about a thousand feet in what appeared to be a victory lap. showoff. through binoculars from that lower location it was not possible to see if there was anything on the other side of the river, but a look through heavy glass at the oldest nest site, the one nearest the falls and visible from the upper walkway revealed a single egg. the falcon landed there at about 1645 and settled in on that egg. some of her body and tail movements seemed to suggest she was ready to lay another egg, but the weather was so abysmal, i confess to being a slacker who went home to warm up, so whether there is a second egg remains to be seen. regards, t -- dave templeton fall city, wa crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today; it's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: RE: Black Turnstones in Commencement Bay in Tacoma From: "Amy Schillinger" <schillingera AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:50:48 -0800 Tweeter, et. al, We saw a lone Black Turnstone on my Alki fieldtrip with Rainier Audubon on February 13th along with a good amount of Sanderlings. Amy Schillinger Renton, WA schillingera AT hotmail.com From: tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces AT mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Hans-Joachim Feddern Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 1:12 PM To: Rob McNair-Huff Cc: tweeters AT u.washington.edu Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Black Turnstones in Commencement Bay in Tacoma Rob, Black Turnstones do winter in Commencement Bay and can normally be found on the log booms on the opposite side, below the Cliff House. We saw them most days last fall, while looking for the Black-Tailed Gull. Also wintering on the logs to a lesser degree, are Least Sandpipers and 2-3 Spotted Sandpipers. I have also seen the Turnstones along Ruston Way though. Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA. the fedderns AT gmail.com On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Rob McNair-Huff wrote: Twice over the last week I have observed 15-20 Black Turnstones on the rocky shorelines of Commencement Bay in Tacoma along Ruston Way. This species regularly makes its way through Tacoma every spring, but I need to check my records from the last few years to see if they are indeed early this year. It feels like they are two or three weeks ahead of last year. Happy birding! Rob McNair-Huff Tacoma, Wash. rob AT whiterabbits.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear From: Scott Carpenter <slcarpenter AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:31:34 -0800 Canon does have an equivalent lens -- the 300mm f/4 IS L, plus the equivalent 1.4x teleconverter. The "IS" means it is image stabilized, which is extremely useful, especially in the Pacific NW with our many low light days. Nikon's equivalent of "IS" is "VR" -- vibration reduction. For about $3k in the Canon world, you should be able to get an EOS 7D body + 300mm f/4 L IS + 1.4x TC. In general, Nikon seems to currently be winning the image quality battle on the crop (non full-frame) cameras. This is likely due, in large part, to the fact that Nikon's cameras have less megapixels. I know many photographer, pro and serious amateurs, who wish that Canon would follow suit and focus more on image quality than cranking up the megapixels. As the megapixels increase, the image quality decreases, especially as the ISO goes up. Another minor point to be aware of is that Nikon's crop cameras are 1.5x, while Canon's are 1.6x. This means the Canon bodies have a bit more reach/magnification, but the Nikon's likely have better image quality all else being equal. The extra reach on the Canons (1.6x vs. 1.5x) will make the bird appear 14% larger, all else equivalent. I personally own Canon equipment, but am not sure what I would buy if I was starting out today. I know people who own both, and prefer Nikon. I highly recommend researching lenses first, and then once you decide which lens appeals to you, figure out which body you are going to get. Your lens should be top of the line for a while (unless it is an old model); the camera body will be outdated in a few years, if not sooner. Once you commit to a specific lens mount (Canon, Nikon, etc.), it can be expensive to switch. Like many birders, I own the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens. It is an ok lens, given the price and lack of other IS options at 400mm, but I find that it takes a long time to focus (with a 40D), and struggles tracking birds in flight. It really struggles to produce sharp images at f/5.6, but significantly improves at f/8. I find that when I use it, I usually have it at 400mm 95% of the time. If you think you will use it at 400mm most of the time, Dennis's setup of a 300mm + 1.4x may be better, as it would likely result in sharper images and a lighter weight lens. Prime lenses (fixed focal length) are almost always sharper than zoom lenses. For Canon lenses, the weight difference between the 100-400mm and the 300mm is substantial, especially if you plan to hike around with it for several hours. As for the Canon 600mm, I've worked with four different individual lenses. One was terrible (Canon agreed), the other two were ok, and one was/is incredibly sharp. As a Canon tech rep told me, some individual lenses will be sharper than others. I recommend keeping this in mind as you choose where to buy yours lens -- you may want to make sure the vendor will be willing to work with you if you get a bad copy of a lens. The Canon 100-400mm has a reputation as a lens with quality control issues (i.e., bad individual lenses). I do not know what the scoop is for Nikon lenses. Scott Carpenter Portland, Oregon On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:55 AM, Dennis Paulson wrote: > Hello, tweets. > > The posts by John Tubbs and others (even if by mistake) are of interest, > especially the stark contrast between a point-and-shoot camera like the > Panasonic Lumix and many others with shockingly large zoom ratios (up to > about 25x now) that are usually <$1000 and a very high-end mind-numbingly > expensive Canon (or Nikon) setup. > > Several of us in the local birding community are using gear that costs > *only* about three thousand dollars - Nikon D300 camera (now D300s) with > Nikon 300 mm f4 lens + 1.4x teleconverter (TC-14E II). This gives you a 420 > mm lens, and with the 1.5x multiplication factor because the sensor is > smaller than a 35 mm slide, gives you the equivalent of a 630 mm lens on a > film camera. This is a very sharp camera and lens combination, and the > telecoverter works beautifully with the lens. The D300 is forgiving in low > light situations, as you can set a pretty high ISO (up to 3200) and still > get sharp photos. No, they won't be the quality of the equipment that John > mentioned, but they're pretty darned good. I'm sure there is a Canon > equivalent. > > Dennis > ----- > Dennis Paulson > 1724 NE 98 St. > Seattle, WA 98115 > 206-528-1382 > dennispaulson AT comcast.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival From: "Dianna Moore" <dlmoor2 AT coastaccess.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:05:57 -0800 Hi all...The 2010 GH Shorebird Festival will be held April 30th, May 1st & 2nd. The brochures went to the post office today, Friday, so those of you on the mailing list should be receiving them in the next few days. The web site is up and current for this years events, and can be accessed at www.shorebirdfestival.com This year our Keynote Speaker is Craig Lee, the founder and director of National Audubon's International Alliances Program, who will talk about protecting the migration routes. He is a particularly fitting speaker as shorebirds are the consummate north/south hemispheric travelers. Please check out our brochure or the web site and come join us; we have some excellent events scheduled, outstanding people to help you enjoy your visit to the harbor, and then there are all those birds! We hope to see you at the festival. Dianna Moore Registrar/Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival dlmoor2 AT coastaccess.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: (Tweeters) Camera gear From: "David Richardson" <daver AT nwlink.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:04:37 -0800 I don't want to belabor the camera issue but like Bill Anderson, photography is my main birding interest. (chances are that without an image I may not know what it is and thanks to all of you who help me with the answers!) I have come down to a Canon 50D (was a 20D until I realized what can be done with the higher ISO settings available) A Canon 70-300mm IS that "lives"on the camera and a Sigma 150-500mm (under $1000) that has good but not great autofocus and good but not Canon quality Optical Stabilization. Good enough for hand held shots if you have the tripod collar on it. That's it except for a good Lowepro backpack that handles the big lens. It's worked for me here, in a canoe in California and in the eastern Belize forest. You get what you pay for but this is a great (non pro ) setup. David Richardson Sammamish DaveR AT nwlink.com www.MyCameraSees.com E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (7.0.0.514) Database version: 6.14550 http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: camera gear From: Jim Greaves <lbviman AT blackfoot.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:54:08 -0700 Cost is always a consideration, and I've attempted to keep mine low by NOT buying camera brand lenses. Tamron, Vivitar, Sigma have always made good "third-party" lenses, Vivitar the oldest among that group, I think. Tamron's 500 mirror is as good as or slightly better than the Nikon of that era (according to Pop Photo review), and at half or less the cost AND weight, at the time. During the SLR period, I never tried Canon, opting first for Mamiya-Sekor and Olympus for film, then Nikon for film, and being on limited budget, staying with low-end Nikon digital D70... I started out in wildflower hunting and photography, so wanted macro capability, which led to my choices. I've found a smaller lens to be "best" of all worlds for most bird photography, the heaviest of the small ones I've used being the 400mm Sigma macro (5 ft min focus, AT 3 lbs). Rarely even used its auto-focus mode, since birds tend to not be the only thing in the view-finder... I've used "macro" lenses since 1980 for both film and now digital (their built-in 1.5x approx. multiplier factor a real boon), except for the fairly recent acquisition of older version of Nikon 600, a "slow" lens at 5.6, and close focusing to "only" 15 feet, but at a quarter or less the price of the MUCH heavier and MUCH costlier f4 with auto everything... except auto intelligence! I bought Tamron 300mm 5.6 and 500mm 8.0 (mirror), both macros (4 ft and 6 ft min. focus respectively), when they were "new" around 1980. I still use them; still as sharp as the day I bought them. The Sigma I got in mid 1990's, but weighs more than the other two combined (around 3 pounds). Before there was image stabilization, I discovered that removing center post from an old tripod, attaching to camera (or lens, depending on how I wanted to balance it), then supporting the post in my armpit (or across or under my forearm, now my preferred method) gave me much better low-shutter speed capability, as well as INCREDIBLE stability while following flying birds, since at least one of the vibration angles is reduced to near zero while panning [horizontal], the other [vertical] can be much reduced with the tripod-post-arm... Secondary advantage is the ability to set it on ground and by lying down and using elbows, make it as stable as if on a 4-point tripod, or sitting on ground, rest it on knee and stabilize it with arm to focus. Practice is the key - 30 years has made me more comfortable with this than pushing a 5-10 pound tripod around, limited by its height and distraction spent changing angles while pan-focusing. I don't have to think about the tripod-post since it's essentially an extension of my right arm, and if bird is not moving and I can't at least sit down and use knee as brace, once focused, I can brace the locking handle with my left hand and hip and fire away...(the handle is reversed so it sticks out front, rather than towards me as it would on tripod). And, the weight savings can allow a one-pound flash unit to be attached for fill flash... I've been able also to use a 600 5.6 manual Nikon lens, hand-held (!!!), to shoot flying and stationary birds using my Konica-Minolta 7D, bought for its internal IS... The whole arrangement weighs less than a good tripod - but nothing beats a tripod for those super-sharp shots of moderate to long distance objects... Anyway, the tripod-post (with or without IS camera, and even with 600mm lens) is FAR superior to expensive or jerry-rigged gun stock gadget, which limits the stable point to the shoulder, assuming you have a large pectoral muscle to brace it against which I do not, and it has no other limiting factors, like having to have a trip release attached to forward over-large handle... I can send anyone who's interested a couple of photos of what I developed using the old tripod-post, showing the 400mm and Konica-Minolta [hence IS, with flash], all under 5 pounds... Hope this helps - Jim Greaves, Thompson Falls MT _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Re: Black Turnstones in Commencement Bay in Tacoma From: Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:12:00 -0800 Rob, Black Turnstones do winter in Commencement Bay and can normally be found on the log booms on the opposite side, below the Cliff House. We saw them most days last fall, while looking for the Black-Tailed Gull. Also wintering on the logs to a lesser degree, are Least Sandpipers and 2-3 Spotted Sandpipers. I have also seen the Turnstones along Ruston Way though. Hans Feddern Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA. the fedderns AT gmail.com On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Rob McNair-Huff wrote: > Twice over the last week I have observed 15-20 Black Turnstones on the > rocky shorelines of Commencement Bay in Tacoma along Ruston Way. This > species regularly makes its way through Tacoma every spring, but I need to > check my records from the last few years to see if they are indeed early > this year. It feels like they are two or three weeks ahead of last year. > > Happy birding! > > Rob McNair-Huff > Tacoma, Wash. > rob AT whiterabbits.com > _______________________________________________ > Tweeters mailing list > Tweeters AT u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters >_______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters