Billings Area, May 18th

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I took the morning and headed Northwest of Billings to see what birds I could get onto my list, and to enjoy the weather.

The area around Molt, MT is a great place to drive or bike and just enjoy the solitude. Wildlife is abundant while people are not. There are also many places that could make some ideal landscapes and or scenes, more of those to come in the future, I hope.

Rim Country, May 17th

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Sorry for the delay on getting this posted. I spent a ton of time out shooting and that means a ton of time editing.

I spent the better part of the afternoon hiking in the Rim Country area. It was a day for the birds, pun intended. I was able to add a few birds, and got to put in some pleasant miles on an overly warm afternoon.

Billings Area, May 16th

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Well due to some extenuating services I was not able to make my trip to the park. I did however get a chance to spend a large amount of time shooting in the Billings area. With the end of May fast approaching I need to get through my 100 birds quick, and this weekend sure helped with that.

The list from today was so long that I will not even begin to try to publish it.

There are over 200 images online, so take a look and see what I was able to see.

Enjoy

Billings Area, May 14th

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I got a tip that there was a Great Egret out West of Billings. So the first chance I got, I was driving West. Upon arrival I saw three real birders (Yellowstone Valley Audubon). The Egret was right where my tipster had suggested it was, scope distance.

The three real birders were nice enough to let me use their scope, saving me some time, THANKS.

The birds position was not great for a positive ID, other than white Egret/Heron.

I made a quick loop around some of my favorite shooting spots, figure why not check them out while I was in area.

Made my way back for one more look and to try to snap a few distant images.

Well after stacking a 2X and a 1.4X on the 300/2.8L IS and adding a 50D to the back of it (1344mm), I was ready to try for a few images of the "Great Egret."

High wind and bright sun did not make for the best quality images, and add to that the great distance that I had to cope with and I was just praying that I could make a crop that would work for a positive ID.

I set up the tripod low to the ground, weighted the lens and tripod down, and used my body to block all the wind I could. I used Live View to manually focus and then shot some 250 images. I knew that I would be lucky to get a handful that would work for ID's, the atmospheric distortion was bad.

I have the ID images online and the bird turned out to be a Snowy Egret, a rare migrator through Montana, and not a bird that was on my list previously.

Thanks tipster and thank you stacked TC's.

Enjoy

Billings Area, May 13th

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You never know when something will jump out at you. Today as I was walking back from a brief photo shot across campus I noticed that the cold wind that had me bundled deep in my Arc'teryx jacket was also ravaging the flowering trees on campus. The dark clouds, ISO 100, and f/13 let me make these often photographed flowers come to new life.

I hope you enjoy something a little different from me.

Enjoy

Billings Area, May 4th

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A fun morning with a few additions to my list of photographed birds.

The mornings list:
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
American Coot
Mallard
Osprey
Canadian Geese
Muskrat
Downy Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Ring-necked Pheasant
And others...

If you are in the Billings area get out and at least watch the spring unfold, shoot it if you are inclined to do so.

Enjoy

Billings Area, May 3rd

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Went out this afternoon to check on some of my favorite spots.

Great list of birds but I can not find my notes, so I will say the stand out was a Belted Kingfisher (no photos).

Enjoy

Billings Area, May 1st

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So the other day as I was walking home from shooting the RMC football teams "Strong Man Competition" and just had to stop and shoot some flowers.

This is shot with a 300/2.8 and a monopod, not the ideal for this type of shooting (great for sports).
No reflectors, flash, etc.
Really just snapping photos.
I say that to encourage you to get out and shoot some flowers this spring.

Enjoy

Billings Area, April 25th

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I decided not to make another two day trip down to the park, lots of work and felt a cold coming on.

Instead I went out shooting around Billings from 5:00am - 10:00am and from 4:30pm to 8:00 pm.

And am I glad I did, the off the top of my head list for the day includes:
Skunk
Raccoon
Pronghorn Antelope
Mule Deer
White tail Deer
Prairie Dog
Hair
Great Blue Heron
Sandhill Crane
Short Earned Owl
Long Billed Curlew
American Avocet
Mallard
Common Merganser
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Golden Eagle
Ring Necked Pheasant
Horned Lark
Western Meadow Lark
Ring-billed Gull
American White Pelican
Red-Tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Northern Harrier
Merlin
Osprey
Canadian Geese
American Robin
Mountain bluebird
Bald Eagle
Sharp Tailed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Red Winged Black Bird
And a few others that I have not yet made an ID on.
And many more that were too quick to get a good photo to make an ID.

A great day of birding for a non birder :)

I have leads on a few more species and may just make my goal of 100 photographed & ID's birds before the end of May.

I still have a few birds that I need help making an ID of:
http://www.shumwayphotography.com/gallery/3568122_dMJdd
Thanks

Enjoy

Billings Area, April 13th

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I found out that I had Monday off very last minute. The timing did not leave me enough time change plans and head to YNP. So I spent most all of the day out and about in the Billings Area. I ended up with a few decent images and leads and permission to shoot in some areas that could be very rewarding. Saw my first Northern Harrier, photographed many Western Meadow and Horned Larks. A quick list from the day includes:
Pronghorn Antelope
Mule Deer
White Tale Deer
Hybrid Deer
Great Blue Heron
Northern Flicker
European Starling
Hairy Woodpecker
Greater Sage Grouse
Sharp Tailed Grouse
Pheasant
Prairie Dog
Black Tailed Prairie Dog
Wester Meadow Lark
Horned Lark
Uinta Ground Squirrel
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
and a few other critters that I can not remember right this moment.

Not a bad list for my own "backyard."

There was great cloud cover much of the day, it was warm and had a bit of a heavy breeze.

Thanks for looking

Enjoy

Billings Area, April 6th (PM)

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I love the winter; but I also love the changes that come with winters end. And birds returning to the open areas all around me are one of those special things that help me to come with the end of ski season. On the sixth I went out shooting at both ends of the day. And in the evening I had the chance to observe many birds practicing that age old ritual of attracting a mate. None seemed overly successful; but that did not keep them from trying.

Enjoy.

Billings Area, April 6th (AM)

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Shout the good news... Western Meadow Larks once again fill the sage fields at sunrise.

Went out again trying to pinpoint this allusive Sage Grouse Lek, looks like another dud, and came home with photos of Larks, Flickers, and White Tail Deer. Oh well I was outdoors, in Nature with a camera. The morning started off brisk, 20's, but quickly made its way to the 40's. The light was interesting and I am happy with a number of the images I captured.

Enjoy

Billings Area, April 5th

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Well it was another semi productive afternoon of shooting. I find that getting a few images and spending time in a relaxing environment is almost always time well spent. The birding is starting to pick up and things should be greening up any day now.

Enjoy