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| Black Skimmers doing what Black Skimmers do best. |
Yesterday I went out on friend Sue's boat. We didn't leave until 2 pm because of the possibility of morning thunderstorms. However, we packed in a full day right up until dark.
First we went to Sandy Point which is an island in Little Narragansett Bay. The island is a nesting area for gulls, terns, and oystercatchers. After we left Sandy Point we continued across the bay to Napatree. It was joyous to take the boat ride there and not slog through the sand. Napatree was awesome. We saw Bonaparte Gulls, Red Knots, and many common species of shorebirds. The highlight of the day was watching two Black Skimmers skim their lower bill across the water to catch food.
After the birding we went to a spot where we easily got 15 pounds of quahogs each. If that didn't make for a perfect day, Sue's mother made me stay for supper which was a half dozen raw oysters each and a homemade lobster roll. I could not have asked for a better day.
If you read my last post you saw that I was waiting on a new camera. Friday was my first chance to point it at anything worthwhile. Needless to say I had multiple views of great birds. Some were close and some were far away. The close ones were nice, but the ones that were further away were more important. I wanted to see what 24 MP could do compared to the 18 on my old camera. The cropping power is amazing. The picture of the Bonaparte Gull sitting is a very cropped photo. They have a comfort zone and for whatever reason they keep a safe distance from people. The bird is twice as large in this photo than the original. Yet the photo is sharp, even with the so/so lighting. I couldn't be happier.
As for birds flying, this camera focuses so much quicker than my old camera. I couldn't have gotten any of the photos I got yesterday with my T5. As you would expect, I got plenty of duds of flying birds where they are not in focus. However, it only takes one good one to make it worth it, and I got far more than that.
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| Common Tern |
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| Young Gull begging for food |
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| American Oystercatcher |
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| Young American Oystercatcher |
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| Herring Gull family |
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Great Black Backed Gull. Obviously
wondering how my face can be so tan and
my feet so white. |
This photo and the next six are of the two Black Skimmers flying. It was obviously good practice getting flight shots.
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| Heavily cropped photo of a Bonaparte Gull |
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Not a sharp photo of a flying Bonaparte, but the bird is still
beautiful. |
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