Looking at Autumn: Expectations versus Reality

This is how each year's fall colors are described by tourism advertising.    

  Beautiful, isn't it? It's not a lie, it really happened on an exceptional morning in the New York Catskills in October 2010.  Colors are rich and the three geese just happened to drift into position.  Add to the equation a month or two of perfect rain and sun, so the trees were in prime condition.  It doesn't hurt if our location is largely maples to yield warm reds and oranges.  Isn't that how our memory conditions our expectations?  Can you still enjoy fall in a dry year such as now, that being 2024?  Let's explore our options.

A good ingredient for meeting expectations is adding reflections to create a second subject that flips the principle subject and gently ripples the image surface.  This one was on Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia.

It's not quite up to any heightened expectations in terms of rich colors, yet the  mirroring satisfies and stimulates the mind.  It is the reality of November 2023 in DC.  This is my first suggestion to capture autumn when it is not rich with colors.Next, let's introduce another approach to capture an engaging composition.  Below is a a landscape of the deep gorge in Canaan Valley, West Virginia.

It's the twisted tree in the foreground that begins your exploration of the scene. Otherwise, it is just distant, and boring.  Creating this composition was not easy.  Why?  It was necessary to lie on the ground to keep the tree's trunk separate from the dark grasses and weeds.

Lesson:  If the image isn't working, keep shifting around looking for a simpler result.How about forgetting leaf color.  Autumn is often a time for fungi to send up fruiting bodies, also known as mushrooms.  One nearly sure example is a puff ball.

 There is a truism in the sketching community "Draw what drew you."  In the image above, the tiny maple tree captured my attention.  It is a random alignment of two subjects growing close together. So, what else can the photographer find that has brilliant fall color?  Hiking in a nearby state park, there were some red bittersweet berries that had yet to be found by hungry birds.  The withered leaves added character.

It was a fine day to hike and this was my only capture of anything saying "autumn".  It helps to slow down when hiking.  It's not a race, after all.  Going a little further off the normal, here is an idea.  Think of community harvest festivals.  No brilliant red maples yet?  How about orange pumpkins?  Always bright  subjects.

 This began as an outing with Urban Sketchers that introduced a new idea to my subject list.Next is something that surprises most. Cemeteries,  very old ones specifically.  I look for nineteenth century or older with stories to discover.  This stone in Etna Cemetery is dated 1818.  Nice yellow tree frames the stone and fallen leaves surround.

Another plot suggests how hard life was in the nineteenth century.  There are six stones beginning with a very young child, followed by three progressively older siblings and ending with both parents.  An entire family gone in the same year.

Hard times.On the same day, we continued to find Morris Chapel Cemetery near Brooktondale.  The day was beautiful with blue skies and colorful yellow leaves. It was lacking the care of the previous cemetery, yet some of the stones were amazingly clear after 183 years. 

The inscription reads:                          HARMON              son of Hezekiah & Lovice                           HOOKER               died  December 25,1841                 aged 23 yrs, 16 days There is always to opportunity to be playful.

Stop what?  Maybe the falling leaves that I need to shred and load into compost. Finally, you need not have high-end cameras.  The best one is one you always have.  The images above and below came from my phone's camera.  Here's what I discovered walking the riverside trail along the Corning Headquarters building. Looks like another beautiful day. Hope you can enjoy a little outside time.
Paul 

   

An Autumn Challenge- Capturing the Belted Kingfisher's Flight

My photo interest in the Belted Kingfisher goes back to April 2016 when I found an often-frequented fishing perch on the edge of the large Catherine Marsh that stretches between Montour Falls and Watkins Glen.  This image was the first time that I succeeded in  anticipating the dive toward a fish.  It's not perfect, but still an inspiration. The problem in collecting multiple captures begins with the bird never really giving a hint that it's going to attack. Secondary is that from year to year the perches shift locations. Now, that perch location is choked with duck weed.

In 2020, I again found a good perch area and captured some good inflight results like this.

Camera technology is also improving with faster shutter speeds and eye tracking auto focus.

The real enabler is finding a reliable perch where I can be "unseen".  Got that this autumn. I can even comfortably sit in my SUV.  Here's the dominate bird.

 I say dominate because I've frequently seen warfare with a second kingfisher.  Today I was limited for time, yet got this composite of the bird launching an attack.  Note how the wing positions show a sequence from unfurling the wings,  a strong down stroke, and a recover upwards.  These three are just 1/20 seconds apart.  Just luck.

What's next?  Well, I can dream of a longer sequence with even better light and perhaps facing me a little more.  

Enjoyable to see this so clearly.

Paul Schmitt

The Second Season- American Goldfinches in August

Spring and early summer nesting get most birding attention, and rightly so. However, right now in August, the American Goldfinches are putting on a fun show.  This a favorite image of mine. The male goldfinch has lost a single seed to the breeze.  No problem.  There's abundance aplenty.

The Goldfinch is a very small bird at about 5 inches long and only 13 grams.  The male has brilliant lemon yellow feathering with deep black on forehead and wings.  The female, seen later, is notably more subdued. Both male and female are very vocal in early summer but mostly quiet once nesting begins.

At the time I captured the image below, the female was on the nest and the male was collecting seeds to feed her. He will do that for about two weeks while she incubates the eggs.  Then he will feed both chicks and the female.  Close to the time when the young are fledged, she will join in the feeding.

Let's first look at the male.  The rich lemon yellow body immediately captures attention along with the black forehead and wing primaries.  He's about 5 inches long, as is the female.  At 13 grams, they are about equal to an AAA battery.  In mid August, this male was collecting seeds to feed his mate sitting on eggs.  Later, he will be busier feeding chicks.

When I began following goldfinches in June, they were singing often, perhaps keeping connected as they foraged.  Now, they are silent.

The female builds the nest.  This year, I was able to find a female gathering nesting material.  Various sources say she uses plant fibers, spider webs and, especially, thistle down.  Here, her beak is full of down.  Some sources say the nest is tightly built and weather resistant. Never found one. While identical in size to the male, her colors are subdued and there is no black forehead.

While I did previously note that the male feeds his mate incubating the eggs,  yesterday I did photograph a female feeding on seed heads in our garden.   It was a warm, dry morning so I consider the temperatures allowed her excursion. 

They do love Cone Flowers.  We leave the stalks standing through the winter and often see goldfinches picking on them.

Second to Cone Flowers are both Monarda didyma and M. fistulosa.  Here's a showy male on M. fistulosa.

I have lots more images of these golden visitors, but keep telling myself to curb the impulse to overdo my enthusiasm.

Hope this encourages some to find a bit of late summer joy.

Paul Schmitt

How Time, and the Nesting Season Flies

The birds that nest around my home are a favorite part of summer, It begins with their song long before the furious rush begins to feed their chicks.  It's already over for my beloved House Wrens. Let me explain.

My Mom said I was skipping school one morning in May. I was in third grade.  A pair of  House Wrens had built their nest in the clothespin bag that hung above the porch railing, close to our kitchen window.  She said the wren chicks were close to leaving the nest.  I sat at the kitchen window with a view of the nest, and as predicted, the little wrens formed a line along the porch railing begging for food.  I was hooked.  

Now, we've had House Wrens nesting for 35 years. Sometimes, the pair becomes very accepting of our presence. Other times it seems to be a new pair and we are scolded. This year's pair is accepting.  I have learned that the adults often sing when they bring food to the box.  Later, I will explain why this is important.  

Seven days ago, this wren brought a dark caterpillar, and the chicks were too small to appear in the nest hole. 

Initially, the adult enters into the box.  The exit is very fast and a challenge to capture. They have 3 to 5 beaks to fill, so there is not time to waste.

 

Actually, as the chicks grow, the pace gets frantic. Sometimes, I've timed the visits at under a minute with both adults active.

Occasionally the adult is inside for a while. It is usually housekeeping.  Specifically, the chore is removing a fecal pellet.  Again, hard to get the timing.

Soon,  feeding is often outside.  

Now, the hole gets crowded.

Surely, this was what my Mother saw on the evening before she decided to keep me home.  I clearly recall that she explained how I was going to learn more than my third grade teacher could offer.  However, her words were a bit sharper than I'd care to repeat. 

A day later the box was empty, and I was hearing the adults singing to the fledglings in the bushes out front. The early singing before delivering food is conditioning the chicks to exit the box when it is time to leave the box. I've also seen this in woodpeckers. 

A day later now, and it sounds like the wrens have dispersed. How quickly the nesting season disappears. 

Thanks, Mom.

Paul Schmitt

The Return of Our Eastern Bluebirds

After a two year absence, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds have returned to the nest box in our grassy backyard.  In 2021, this male posed on a dead stick above the nest box before dropping down to deliver food to the chicks.

I had been seeing small flocks of them on my neighborhood walks.  There were at least three juveniles along with an adult.  In the last week, there was increased activity, especially near the box and a male entering with food.  So, I set up my pop-up blind on the evening before hoping for some warm morning sunlight to bring out their colors.

Shortly after 8:30 am, the male arrived with a juicy green caterpillar.  Amazing color.

Bluebirds are very fast, so a prime objective was to capture a bird in flight.  (There is a pretty high strike-out rate.  Couldn't afford to do this in my film days.)   Shutter was at 1/2000 second, and I was wishing for even faster.  Whew!

There was another behavior displayed.  Recalling that weeks before, a juvenile Bluebird was seen following an adult, there was the possibility that some of these first brood juveniles would join in bringing food to the chicks.  Here is one of the first brood arriving with food.

On several occasions, a juvie did pop in while an adult was inside feeding. It appeared that it backed away and  probably ate the catch.   

On other instances, the juvenile exhibited real curiosity such as when this youngster peeped into the side opening to observe.

There were also some squabbles contesting access into the box.

Mixed in with these comings and goings, there were also pauses and diversions of attention such as when this adult Robin arrived on the perch attached above the nest box.  

The vivid orange breast was too rich to ignore and the pose so notable.  I welcomed the intrusion since the bluebird harvest of bugs had slackened.

I am thinking that in about 7 to 10 days, the new brood will be crowding the entrance opening just before they fledge.  Wishing for a nice warm morning light to once again photograph.

Thanks for letting me share this experience.

Paul Schmitt