It's been a fairly busy summer, but I've been able to get out from time to time to shoot. These shots were taken at a variety of sites: my backyard, Kiawah Island, SC, Huntington Beach State Park (Murrells Inlet, SC), Brookgreen Gardens (Murrells Inlet, SC), the Audobon Swamp Gardens at Magnolia Plantation (Charleston, SC), and the Knight Rain Forest at Discovery Place (Charlotte, NC). As the Gallery name indicates, the theme of my shooting is still focused on birds, but I've thrown in a couple of other shots that I found interesting.

I'm not entirely certain on the identification of the some of the species, and used my Sibley's and Kaufman's guide books as best I could. Please email me with any corrections. All of the images shown here, and all those in galleries since May, 2002 were taken with the Canon EOS-1D.

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Short-billed
    Dowitcher at Dusk

    
Image # 00610

    
Huntington Beach State
    Park

    
Murrells Inlet, SC
 

    
Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x
    II Teleconverter

    
ISO 200, f/8, 1/500 second

    
Evaluative Metering at
    0

    
Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley
    Sidekick
 

We were fortunate to have the sun setting just before the tide came in, and there was a fair number of shorebirds feeding in the mud-flats in the wonderfully warm dusk light. My original identification was "Long-billed Dowitcher" but after consulting with several more knowledgeable people, decided this is more likely to be a Short-billed.

     
 

    
Belted
    Kingfisher in Flight

    
Image # 00589

    
Huntington Beach State
    Park

    
Murrells Inlet, SC
 

    
Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x
    II Teleconverter

    
ISO 200, f/8, 1/2000 second

    
Evaluative Metering at
    -2/3, 550EX/BB at -1 2/3 EV

    
Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley
    Sidekick
 

I've not had many opportunities to shoot this species, and given how fast they are, had great difficulty even finding them in the viewfinder at 1200 mm, let alone follow and keep them in focus!

Male Eastern Bluebird with Grub Image # 00463 My Backyard Mooresville, NC

Canon 600L/f4 IS, 2x II Teleconverter ISO 800, f/8, 1/500 second Evaluative Metering at 0, 550EX/BB at -1 2/3 EV Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

I had a great time watching this male going back and forth finding food for his chicks. On a technical note, I used a demo of the program Neat Image to clean up this ISO 800 image.

     
 

    
Great Egret
    in Tree at Dusk

    
Image # 00506

    
Kiawah Island

    
Kiawah Island, SC
 

    
Canon 600L/f4 IS and 1.4x
    II Teleconverter

    
ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125 second

    
Evaluative Metering at
    -1/3

    
Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley
    Sidekick
 

I had my whole familiy with me for a beach vacation at Kiawah, and my son Sam and I went out after dinner one evening, and found a number of egrets high in the trees just as the sun set.

Golden Orb Spider Image # 00522 Audobon Swamp Gardens Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

Canon 100-400L, 1.4x II Teleconverter, at 560 mm ISO 400, f/8, 1/40 second Evaluative Metering at +1 EV Bogen Monopod/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

Prothonotary Warbler Image # 00530 Audobon Swamp Gardens Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

Canon 100-400 and 1.4x II Teleconverter, at 525 mm ISO 800, f/8, 1/160 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Bogen Monopod, ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

My son spotted this little bird as we were walking around the swamp. It was pretty dark in there, and he didn't stay in one spot for very long, so I was happy to get any shot at all.

Royal Tern in Flight Image # 00594 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/8, 1/1600 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 EV, 500EX/BB at -1 2/3 EV Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

I was pretty happy to get a few shots of these beautiful birds, as I didn't see many of them, and they were flying pretty fast (once again very hard to find at 1200 mm).

Brazilian (Red-crested) Cardinal Image # 00562 Knight Rain Forest at Discovery Place Charlotte, NC

Canon 100-400L IS at 400 mm ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/200 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 EV, 550EX at -1 2/3 Bogen Monopod/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

This is a "semi-captive" shot. This fairly large exhibit allows the birds to fly around freely in a heavily vegetated area, so although the photo was taken in captivity, it was still fairly difficult to see, find, or get a decent shot of many of the species they had there. Neat Image was also used to clean up the noise in this ISO 800 image.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron Image # 00541 Audobon Swamp Garden Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/8, 1/1250 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

Green Heron in Flight Image # 00590 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/8, 1/1000 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3, 550EX/BB at -1 2/3 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

This was taken the same morning as the belted kingfisher and royal tern flight shots. The EV comp of -2/3 was by mistake, as I had been shooting some white egrets just before. Fortunately, at ISO 200, I was able to bring out shadow detail fairly easily in Photoshop.

Black-bellied Plover Image # 00611 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 2x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/8, 1/400 second Evaluative Metering at 0 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

This was taken at dusk, the same evening as the short-billed dowitcher shot above. The light was just wonderful, and the sun behind me produced a nice catch-light, with no fill-in flash needed. Also, many thanks (as usual) to Peter May for the correct identification of this species.

Barred Owl in Tree Image # 00626 Raptor Aviary at Brookgreen Gardens Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 100-400L IS at 400 mm ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/100 second Evaluative Metering at +1/3, 550EX at -1 2/3 EV Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

This is another "semi-captive" shot. This was an outdoor area, with a mesh-net way up above the trees preventing the birds from escaping, but within this fairly large area, they were free to fly around.

Bali Mynah Image # 00561 Knight Rain Forest at Discovery Place Charlotte, NC

Canon 100-400L IS at 400 mm ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/200 second Evaluative Metering at 0, 550EX at - 1 1/3 EV Bogen Monopod/ArcaSwissB1/Wimberley Sidekick

Also taken in the "semi-captivity" of the Knight Rain Forest.

Great and Snowy Egrets at Dusk Image # 00613 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 1.4x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1600 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwissB1/Wimberley Sidekick

Also taken at dusk, I liked the pose of these two species, and they aligned their heads just long enough to give me a shot or two.

Willett eating a Crab Claw Image # 00598 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 1.4x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/800 second Evaluative Metering at 0 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwissB1/Wimberley Sidekick

I'm not sure if he ever managed to get this down, but it was fun watching him.

Lily Pad Flower (?Species) Image # 00630 Brookgreen Gardens Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 100-400L IS at 300 mm ISO 200, f/16, 1/320 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Bogen Monopod/ArcaSwissB1/Wimberley Sidekick

Just to prove that I'm still capable of taking pictures of something besides birds and bugs! These flowers looked glorious in the beautiful late morning sunlight.

Great Egret Landing at Dusk Image # 00614 Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

Canon 600L/f4 IS and 1.4x II Teleconverter ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320 second Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Gitzo 1329/ArcaSwissB1/Wimberley Sidekick

This seemed like a fitting image to close this gallery. It was taken as the sun was about to drop below the horizon, and even though I usually prefer having the birds facing or flying towards the camera, this shot with the bird facing away feels appropriate for a parting shot.