Eagles!

Can you count them all?

I counted over 150 at Conowingo that day. But most, like those in the image, were across the river, perched.

They'll be there all winter. If you go, take a big lens! And dress warmly.

We Have A Winner!

And once again it is not me.

This year in the DVOC photography contest I achieved a third place and an honorable mention.

My third place image was in the Natural History category, Snake!

My honorable mention shot was in the Birds category, Red Eye.

A pdf of all the winning images can be found here.

Bad Fish Picture of the Week

And a slightly better bird picture.

Bad Bird Photo of the Week

Gliding through the trees at Conowingo

Sun Dogs

The other evening I was traveling to a public star watch my astronomy club was having. Now one thing you do not want for an evening of star gazing is clouds. And there were clouds.

But if there are going to be clouds, at least let them be colorful.

Like these sundogs. Or was it one sundog that was fading in an out? All I know is that I pulled over twice to take pictures. Alas all I had was a digicam.

Snowy

This past Sunday I went to see a visitor from the arctic. I didn't have to travel quite as far as the bird did, a mere sixty miles for me. I didn't even leave New Jersey to see it. (Well, technically I did, as the GPS took us into Pennsylvania for part of the trip. But I didn't have to go that way.)

The bird was at the Merrill Creek Reservoir, below the main dam.

Way below. We first spotted the bird sitting in this rock outcrop, helped by a number of other birders all looking in the same direction. It was surprisingly obvious.

The bird was quite cooperative, sitting out in the open, and there were a number of folks taking pictures. but we were all over a hundred meters distant. So some folks tried using scopes as lenses; I with just my 400 mm lens (I gotta get a bigger lens, when will Santa ever deliver?).

As we made our way down a rather steep trail, a fox spooked the owl, and it landed on the boulder field behind the dam. At least that's the story we were told. We missed the excitement, the owl out of view as we started down the trail.

It is a gorgeous bird. And a life bird for me. Hopefully it won't be the last. Every few years, in cycle with the lemming population, the snowy's primary food source, there is an irruption of owls heading south. So far this year birds have been seen across southern Canada and the northern United States. And as far south as New Jersey.  Maybe I'll have that new lens for the next one.

Above

That big white blotch in the middle is the overexposed moon. The color rings are a lunar corona. A rare sight for me, it is devilishly difficult to photograph, the colors subtle and dim, the moon bright.

Curiously, I made these images on 11/20/2010, exactly one year ago. I had copied them to my hard drive and forgotten about them. I stumbled upon them yesterday. I wonder what else I've got filed away on my hard drives, waiting to be rediscovered?