Gorgeous nature that we love (and hate)

zackiedawg

zackiedawg

Member
Staff member
Thought I'd share some of my wetlands excursions lately, since I haven't in a while. ; All shots taken with my DSLR-A550 and Minolta 300mm F4 APO G lens, which has been my fun new wildlife toy, due to the gorgeous 9-blade-aperture bokeh and amazing detail sharpness. ; As usual, I'm posting links to the larger 1024x pixel versions below as they will better show the sharpness without the resizing artifacts.

Tricolor heron, up really close:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126269492/original

Baby alligator, at water eye level:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623281/original

Anhinga drying off:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623272/original

Red-winged blackbird:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623265/original

Great egret in flight:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623241/original

Green heron, really really close:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/126623234/original

Male grackle:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127288933/original

Momma heron and her three screaming kids:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127288945/original

Young purple gallinule:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127631833/original

Ruddy daggerwing butterfly:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127631826/original

Black-bellied whistling duck in flight:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717430/original

Cardinal:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717450/original

Well, I did include 'hate' above - some may not be too fond of birds, maybe scared of alligators - but generally those aren't hated. ; This guy though...he's always universally despised. ; That's right - the norway rat, aka brown rat aka sewer rat aka common rat. ; Poor Remy...has to resort to eating birdseed:
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http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/127717451/original

Hope you enjoyed...even the hated one! ; :)
 
great shots Justin. I was looking at that lens for nikon but just not enough reach for me. You have so many birds there that we don't. I have never seen heron chicks. only immature night crown
 
Thanks all. ; HW - we definitely have diversity on our side down here. ; And we pretty much see young versions of everything, because they all come down here for the winter for a little zug-zug! ; I usually stick with the 200-500 for birding and wildlife - but at my two favorite locations, you could get some excellent wildlife shots with a 100mm lens...you can get THAT close!
 
That's how it started for me...most places I shoot, it's the reason I got the 500. ; But this place is nuts...these two wetlands reserves - I'm serious, if any of you are birders and are ever visiting down here, give me a ring and I'm taking you to these spots. ; It's birder nirvana.
 
I keep looking at bigger lens as I need more reach as I have to crop but I know that will never happen unless I hit the lottery. When I go to the refuge Justin alot of people have big lens like nikons 600mm f4 and even then they have tele converters on them. I see alot of canon 500 f4 too
 
I must admit, I still find myself always thinking about a nice 600mm F4...I don't know that I could resist one if it appeared at a fantastic price - though it'd cost as much as some cars and be about as convenient to carry! ; I've considered buying a teleconverter for the 300 F4 too - it can handle a 1/4x with no problem. ; The Tamron remains my go-to when I really need the range, at least for now.
 
I thought of that also. the 300 f4 with a 1.4 but then my reach is only 630mm which is shorter then the tamron as you know. So to get more reach I gotta spend a small fortune and even used a 600mm is gonna be 6k or more. Now if I could only go without food for a year
 
Yep...I the guy I bought my 300mm from also had the 400, 500, and 600mm...He bought the 600 used but in 'like new' condition with the full case, caps, manuals, filters, etc. for $7,000. ; Wasn't ready to get rid of it yet...but I told him to let me know on any of his big primes before selling or trading them...he lives just a few miles from me, which gives me a good first chance!

Thanks Chris for the compliments, BTW!
 
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