My Texas Vacation

kdog

Sadly, our move to the desert has pretty much been a bust for wildlife photography for me, which is why I haven't been around much lately. Oh, the wildlife is here all right. It's just that with the wide-open spaces, you can't get close to them. Sometimes a hawk will fly right overhead just to torment you, but of course it's long gone by the time you get your camera out. You just can't win.

However, I was able to catch up on my birding a bit with a family beach vacation to South Padre Island a couple of weeks ago. This was not the peak migratory season, but sure beat the heck out of the desert. I was pretty rusty, but managed to get a couple of shots.

#1 Dawn breaks in South Padre Island


#2 A Snowy Egret is looking for breakfast


#3 scores a morsel


#4 the reddish egret...


#5 focuses....


#6 but comes up empty handed.


#7 tricolor heron on the hunt


#8 Great Heron demonstrates a ballet move,


#9 then moves on.


#10 unknown spectator in the peanut gallery


#11 The Terns show up and assess the situation...


#12 one good tern...


#13 deserves another.


#14 fresh from the sea


#15 got himself a bigun


#16 Spearing one on the bill...


#17 requires an in-flight "flip" to consume it.


#18 The skimmers arrive at dusk (ISO 1600, 1/320s, 400mm, pan)


#19 Oops. a 1/5 second exposure seems to be a tad slow....


#20 The sun sets on the bay


Thanks for looking.
-joel

bhowdy

Great series Joel. I liked #19 .... Seems that I have similar capabilities!

Super shots of the terns feeding. Thanks for sharing with us.

PrescottPhotog

kdog wrote:

However, I was able to catch up on my birding a bit with a family beach vacation to South Padre Island a couple of weeks ago. This was not the peak migratory season, but sure beat the heck out of the desert. I was pretty rusty, but managed to get a couple of shots. -joel

Hey Joel, I would say.. not to rusty, great great set. I enjoyed all the birds very much but the first and last shot really do it for me. Just super.. I love the ocean, the sunrise and sunsets and the mesmerizing sounds frin the surf in between.. he says while living in the high desert..

dlplumer

Well I am another desert person living in Tucson, and I can certainly relate to how difficult it is to find and get close to wildlife. These shots are all superb, and I especially like the last one

Maestro

I just got back from Padre too and you did a much better job capturing the action than I did. I love the tern photos! I saw that reddish egret out by the convention center nature trail, but I couldn't get a shot of him/her. Well done!

BTW, your unknown spectator is a Willet. They are very common along the coast.

Jwill

Awesome shots. I'm diggin the wings in #8, and #14 starts making me think in 3D - all those little droplets, the bird and the fish all so sharp... super!

BigAl

Super series Joel The snowies are the winners for me, but the terns also deserve more than a mere mention! I agree with Stephen that the wader is a Willet, but the patterns on the primaries are not quite what I'm looking for

I wondered what had happened to you.

kdog

bhowdy wrote:

Great series Joel. I liked #19 .... Seems that I have similar capabilities!

Super shots of the terns feeding. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks, Bob! I could start a whole gallery of my "creative" mistakes.

BTW, nice gallery you have! I just wish your ISP was a little faster.

Awais Yaqub

Beautiful job ! weldone

kdog

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Hey Joel, I would say.. not to rusty, great great set. I enjoyed all the birds very much but the first and last shot really do it for me. Just super.. I love the ocean, the sunrise and sunsets and the mesmerizing sounds frin the surf in between.. he says while living in the high desert..

Hey Chris, thanks a bunch. SPI has amazing sunrises and sunsets. Here's one just for you.

dlplumer

That's it. I am going. :ivar

grimace

Stunning shots!!

Great subjects, wonderful lighting, perfect detail and sharpness.

anwmn1

Okay - why can't you plan trips like this when we meet up here in AZ??

I want some bird shots too!!


Good stuff my friend. I have never been down there but it looks beautiful. I look forward to hearing about your vacation.

kdog

dlplumer wrote:

That's it. I am going. :ivar

Hey, Dan. Thanks for your comments! SPI is only 16 hours from you. It was over 22 for us. I think it's well worth going to at least once, although we're not planning on making it a regular thing. Maybe Rocky Point next time, although I'm not sure how good the birding is there. In your thread that I commented on, you ask where to stay. Unfortunately, about all I can tell you is where not to stay. We were at probably the oldest condo resort on the island. At one time I'm sure it was very nice, but now it's pretty much falling apart. The Holiday Inn Express next door looked nice, as did the Travelodge. Renting a condo like we did is nice because you have a kitchen and lots of room. There are realtors that handle those, and I can give you a name if you like. Another thought is to check prices in Port Isabella. It's right across the bridge, and probably has lower rates. About all you wouldn't get is to be able to walk out onto the ocean beach. Actually, that was handy for catching the sunrises. The bay side is pretty awesome too, and that's where you catch the sunsets.

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

Maestro wrote:

I just got back from Padre too and you did a much better job capturing the action than I did. I love the tern photos! I saw that reddish egret out by the convention center nature trail, but I couldn't get a shot of him/her. Well done!

BTW, your unknown spectator is a Willet. They are very common along the coast.

Hey Stephen, I guess we just missed each other. And yes, the reddish and egrets were taken at the Convention Center "boardwalk". The skimmers, and the second sunset were taken at the windsurfing beach, just to the north of the CC. The terns were shot at several locations including the CC, from a boat, and at the Laguna Madre Atascosa wildlife preserve. I had an Osprey there fly so close over my head that I couldn't focus on it. Never did get a good shot of it. That's a crazy huge place, and would be worth spending a lot of time there.

Thanks for the bird ID on the Willet.

Cheers,
-joel

PrescottPhotog

kdog wrote:

Hey Chris, thanks a bunch. SPI has amazing sunrises and sunsets. Here's one just for you.

Thanks Joel.. rub it in..

Excellent captures.. I also love the flip and catch in mid air..

kdog

Jwill wrote:

Awesome shots. I'm diggin the wings in #8, and #14 starts making me think in 3D - all those little droplets, the bird and the fish all so sharp... super!

Thanks, Jwill!

kdog

BigAl wrote:

Super series Joel The snowies are the winners for me, but the terns also deserve more than a mere mention! I agree with Stephen that the wader is a Willet, but the patterns on the primaries are not quite what I'm looking for

I wondered what had happened to you.

Howdy, Al! Thanks for checking in and the nice comments. It's good to be back with some pictures to post. I have noticed that birds of the same species frequently look different "downunder" than on this continent.

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

grimace wrote:

Stunning shots!!

Great subjects, wonderful lighting, perfect detail and sharpness.

Thanks, Adam. Coming from you, that means a lot.

-joel

kdog

anwmn1 wrote:

Okay - why can't you plan trips like this when we meet up here in AZ??

I want some bird shots too!!


Good stuff my friend. I have never been down there but it looks beautiful. I look forward to hearing about your vacation.

Thank you, Aaron! You would have liked this trip a lot. So much to see and do down there. We're due to hook up again soon. I'll be in touch.

-joel

kdog

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Thanks Joel.. rub it in..

Excellent captures.. I also love the flip and catch in mid air..

Thank you, sir! As for the sunsets and sunrises, I can keep them going all night.

Harryb

Outstanding set of images Joel and I've missed you around here.

kdog

Harryb wrote:

Outstanding set of images Joel and I've missed you around here.

Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it and have missed all you guys are well.

bfjr

#2 scores a morsel and you score a FLIP !!

Photosbychuck

Great Photos!
I got a few crain shots while I was at the beach also.
But wow, I did not catch any with fish in there mouth GREAT JOB!
The sunset shots are nice also.


Take Care,
Chuck,

raptorcaptor

Very nice set Joel! I haven' been able to do too much photography lately either!

jwear

looks like a good time and good shooting