Although Algonquin Park is noted for its abundant wildlife, most of us don’t put Hummingbirds on the list of creatures to look for in the park, however they are there every summer in abundance. Of the more than three hundred Hummingbird species found around the world, only one species is found in Ontario (and most of North America east of the Mississippi River) and that is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Humming birds are an amazing example of God’s great design. Their primary wing feathers are connected to their bodies only by the shoulder joint which allows for the wings to rotate almost 180°. This results in their ability to hover motionless and they are also the only know bird that is capable of flying backwards. While hovering, their wings beat at approximately 55 beats per second. Muscles make up about 35% of their body weight and during late summer they double their body mass (up to about 7 grams) in preparation for a migration route that takes them more than five hundred miles, non-stop, across the Gulf of Mexico. A truly amazing feat!
Yesterday we spent the evening with friends enjoying diner at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park and were able to take pictures of some of the many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that frequent the feeders around the lodge. Normally when its raining and the light is not very nice, the camera gear gets left in the car, however sometimes it is worth the effort to take a few shots. All of the images in this post are of a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The male is distinguished by it ruby-red gorget (which the females lack) however the poor lighting conditions prevented the red feather iridescence from being prominently displayed.
Sitting in the rain.
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Shaking off the rain drops.
All puffed up for a portrait.
A final pose.
Recently I have been experimenting with taking video clips of birds in an effort to record some of their behavioural activities. There is a bigger than expected learning curve with everything involving video, however hopefully practice will improve both the quality of the video and the editing of it. In the mean time I trust they are of enough interest to warrant your viewing of these early attempts!
One of the benefits of purchasing a Canon 5D Mk III was the ability to capture HD video as well as the usual still images. This was somewhat intriguing as I’d never owned a video camera, nor taken any video other than with an iPhone.
The hope is to attempt to obtain video clips of the objects we photograph, which in the case of birds and wildlife will provide more behavioural information than is possible to convey with still images.
Here is the first attempt at such a video, which was taken with the 5D & 500mm lens and Gitzo tripod. The video was edited with Photoshop CS6 which now includes a relatively easy to use video editor.
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The video was taken in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario Canada.
Regular photographs of the Black-backed Woodpecker can be viewed in the Woodpeckers Gallery
Time seems to be conspiring to pass more quickly this time of year and as a result it has been far too long since the last blog post. In order to get something posted, this will be a short blog however the hope is that it will whet your appetite for more Moose & Loons in the upcoming weeks.
Last month I had the privilege of joining my good friends Arni, Eleanor and Joyce in Algonquin Park for three days of photography, during two of which we participated in a Moose Photography Workshop with Michael Bertelsen who owns and operates Algonquin Park Photography Tours & Workshops. I had met Michael a couple of years ago at Hall’s Road in Ajax, Ontario where we were photographing birds and it was a pleasure to catch up with him again. Michael has been conducting tours in Algonquin Park for some fifteen years now and his familiarity with the park and expertise and knowledge of Moose was indispensable, not to mention his customized ‘photography boat’ which featured four swivel chairs and lots of room to shoot from any direction while on the boat. We left the dock at 5:00 a.m. and headed for an 18km ride to where the Moose could be found…..and Moose we found; about twenty of them over the two days!
The purpose of this blog is not to show all the best Moose images (that will come) but rather just a couple that were taken very near sunrise. The importance of being ‘on location’ before the sun rises can not be over estimated. There are a scant few moments while the sun peeks above the horizon that provide photographic opportunities like none other. It is also a time you can shoot into the sun and achieve interesting effects with back and rim lighting.
This first image is a good example of the rim lighting effect possible when shooting into the early morning sun.
Although compositionally you may wish the Moose was on the other side of the frame so she was looking into the frame rather than out of it; the mist coming off the water, the rim lighting around the head and through the water drops makes for a good image. From a technical perspective, it is important to underexpose the exposure suggested by your camera’s light meter when shooting into the sun. If you don’t, the camera will expose for the predominantly dark scene resulting in over exposure of the light areas which would destroy the rim effect and blow out the detail in the lighter parts of the scene (in this case the water drops and the mist). If memory serves me well, this shot was taken at two stops less than what the meter was suggesting.
The next image is what we often refer to as an environmental shot, meaning that although the Moose is the object within the image, it shows the Moose in its natural environment which is always important, and nice, to see. Unfortunately, my tendency is to dwell so much on the object of the photo shoot that I completely forget about the environment and consequently come home with many gigs of images that all look the same, with the object filling the full frame. Often environmental images make for the highest visual impact and therefore become the best images from an outing.
As the sun moves higher into the sky through the morning hours, the light becomes more intense and harsh, which is why most photographers do not go out after mid-morning or before mid-afternoon. Shooting into the sun becomes much more difficult to do effectively as the light intensity fluctuation between the lights and the shadows becomes extreme. This past Friday morning my wife and I were canoeing in Algonquin Park and photographing Common Loons. While were just finishing up for the morning with a pair of Loons, Deb heard the unmistakable sound of a Loon taking off. Fortunately it was heading in our direction but unfortunately we were looking almost directly into the sun. I quickly grabbed my other camera body with a longer lens and was able to get a couple of unexpected frames as the Loon completed its long take off and flew right beside us on its way to a better fishing location.
You can see how much harsher the light becomes later in the morning, in this case around 8:00 a.m. For this sequence, I exposed three or more stops less than what the meter was suggesting. It was a treat to be so close to an in flight Loon as it passed by our canoe. This next image is a little off level, however if it was leveled some of the reflection of the Loon would be lost and I felt it was more important to include as much of the reflection as possible at the expense of a level horizon!
The interesting thing about all four images posted today is that were all taken from the water, which means a little more planning is required to make it all happen, but the results are well worth the effort.
For many years now, every time Deb & I head into Algonquin Park for a day trip, we have been on the look out for the uncommon and equally elusive Black-backed Woodpecker. We had struck out every time until this past Victoria Day Weekend when Ellesse & Jeff and Deb & I were fortunate enough to see a pair while on our annual Spring trip to the park to see moose. Unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures of the woodpeckers, so Deb & I returned two days later just after sunrise and were blessed once again to find the Black-backed Woodpeckers and this time their nest as well. It was a real treat to watch them for a few hours and observe their unique behaviour as they tended to the nest and the eggs they were taking turns incubating.
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The above two ‘peekaboo’ shots are of the male, who is identified by the yellow/orange crown, while the female crown is black. The above two pictures, although compositionally similar, are taken from opposite sides of the tree resulting in differing back grounds and completely different lighting (front lighting in the first and back lighting in the second). Over all my preference is for the second shot, but by way of practice, when given the opportunity always photograph the subject from as many different angles and lighting configurations as possible. You will often be surprised by the results, even when breaking the unwritten rules of photography!
Black-backed Woodpeckers are a medium-sized woodpecker averaging about ten inches long with a wing span of seventeen inches. As their name suggests they have entirely black backs with a white chest and barred flanks. Their beaks are relatively long and they have a prominent white cheek mark. Another interesting fact regarding this bird is that they have only three toes.
The following images are of the female Black-backed Woodpecker.
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Black-backed Woodpeckers carve out a new nest every year in April or May, generally in a dead tree or a burnt tree. Although they typically live in the coniferous trees of boreal forests, they are known for preferring areas recently damaged by forest fires. The nests are generally located fairly low to the ground. The female lays three or four eggs which are incubated by both parents for 12-14 days. Interestingly the male alone incubates the eggs during the night. Once born, both adults feed the chicks which fledge after about twenty-four days.
As already mentioned, Black-backed Woodpeckers only have three toes and it was harder than expected to get a good shot demonstrating that. This next shot shows the bird sticking his foot out seemingly just to show off his three toes for the camera!
The images in this post were taken using both 1D Mk III and 5D Mk III bodies and 400/5.6 and 500/4 lenses in various lens body combinations. It was a very dark gloomy day, with the exception of about twenty minutes of sunlight over the time we were at the nest site. This resulted in higher ISO’s than usual, with some of the images in this series taken at ISO 4000. Fortunately the newer cameras function extremely well at ISO’s that were unusable with the technology available just a few years ago.
As mentioned above, we found the Black-backed Woodpeckers while in the park looking for moose. Here is one of them taken with the 5D and 70-200/2.8.
The Belted Kingfisher is one of approximately one hundred species of Kingfishers world-wide however it the only Kingfisher found commonly throughout the entire North American continent. It is an easily recognizable bird owing to its relatively large head and bill along with a shaggy looking crest. One of few birds that nests underground where it lives in a burrow dug out of the side of a river bank. Interestingly, it always burrows in an uphill direction such that in the event of flooding an air pocket is trapped at the top of the burrow allowing it to survive until the flood waters recede. Kingfisher tunnels have been recorded up to eight feet in length. Its diet consists of many things including crayfish, amphibians, small mammals, birds and even berries however it is primarily a fish specialist. The Belted Kingfisher perches above streams or hovers in flight above the water looking for fish to dive for.
For bird photographers, the Belted Kingfisher often appears on the top of what is euphemistically known as the nemesis list, or list of birds that has generated the most difficulty, frustration and angst to photograph. Although Belted Kingfishers are very common along rivers and streams in North America, they tend to be very skittish and don’t allow people close access, thus making them difficult to photograph. My good friend and fellow bird photographer Arni Stinnissen and I have enjoyed a friendly rivalry over the past few years to capture some quality images of Kingfishers, and most certainly Arni’s results have been far superior to mine as you can see in his Kingfisher Gallery. Last month, while vacationing in Florida, Deb & I had the opportunity to watch a Belted Kingfisher fish for about thirty seconds approximately one hundred feet from where we were standing on the shore of Lake Kissimmee. Fortunately I was able to get a few shots of the Belted Kingfisher diving. Although the distance from the bird precluded the quality of images one would like, they do capture the diving behaviour of the Kingfisher which is something rather unusual and I trust you will enjoy seeing.
The Kingfisher was hunting along the shoreline of the lake and as there were no perches in the area, she would hover about thirty feet above the water looking for fish.
The female Belted Kingfisher is slightly larger than the male and is also one of the few species of bird where the female is more colourful than the male. The female is easily differentiated from the male by the rufus stripe across the chest below the slate blue belt that is found in both sexes.
Once a fish is spotted the Kingfisher dives very quickly striking the water at a high rate of speed propelling it well below the surface.
Note the clean lines of the entry zone, which will help make the next few slides make more sense as they record the Kingfisher launching itself out of the water at the end of its dive. Although I’ve seen Kingfishers dive many times before I had no idea how they launched themselves out of the water so the following images proved very educational. The next slide shows the appearance of the tail and wingtips as the Kingfisher prepares to use a strong wing beat to propel her body straight up out of the water. You can tell this is an exit shot by the waves around the impact zone and the seaweed in the air above the bird caused by the prior impact.
The energy expended to launch the bird vertically from the water must quickly exhaust the bird, so I doubt they can make many dives without a rest.
The vertical distance required must be high enough for the bird to take flight.
And off she goes, in this instance without any food.
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It was a blessing to be standing in the right place at the right time to record this Belted Kingfisher diving and as a result learn a little about how they ‘eject’ themselves from the water after a dive. It was also a pleasure to ‘kind of’ cross a longstanding bird off the nemesis list, not completely though, as I still need to get some print worthy images of this intriguing bird.
The above sequence was taken using a Canon 5D MkIII with a 500 mm f/4 lens, not a set-up typically used for birds in flight, however the 5D autofocus seemed to track the bird well.
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