Bashakill Wetlands and Mongaup River

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 50, f/32 @ 4 sec Manual exposure

Last weekend I spent Saturday evening on a trail along the Mongaup River. I was trying to photograph the fall scenery as well as anything else in the woodland. I started by taking photographs of the Mongaup River, trying to capture the fall colors and some motion blur. The photo is more of a water motion blur photograph than a typical fall color photograph, but I was happy with it. Towards the end of the evening, I sat on a rock along the river and watched the sun go down behind the trees. The beautiful yellow rays of light were coming in through the trees, but I was unable to capture the true essence of the scene I was seeing.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 @ 1/60 sec. Manual exposure

I was also very fortunate to find one lone mushroom on a log that I was able to photograph. I also liked the way that the photo turned out. I have not done much mushroom photography, but I think that I will try it more in the future.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Sunday morning, it was a much darker dreary day. It was supposed to rain, and I wanted to get out before it started. So I went out to the Bashakill Wetlands at about 7 am.  I walked the stop sign trail where I had photographed the egrets the week before, hoping that I would see them again. I made it to the place where the egrets were, but they were not there. I decided that I would sit on the raised platform like the previous week, and wait to see what I could find. It was very peaceful because I did not see any other person at the Bashakill that morning. I think the weather kept everyone away. After about an hour sitting in the raised stand, I heard a Great Blue Heron. It came flying in and landed in front of me. I was lucky enough to capture a few photographs of it coming in. Then it actively was fishing in front of me for a while. I was unable to use my 1.4x teleconverter because of the lighting situation. But my Sigma 150-600 did an excellent job without it. It was fun watching the Heron fish for a while. Then I realized that it was getting agitated by something. Then I noticed something else behind the Heron in my viewfinder.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Initially I thought it was a muskrat or beaver. But after looking closer at the picture, I realized it was some river otters. They seemed to be fishing in the same spot as the Heron. The one photograph shows the Heron staring right at the river otters. I had not seen river otters at the Bashakill before so, it was a great treat. I had sat in the stand for about 3 hours, and mother nature rewarded me for being patient. Even though it was a dark overcast morning, it turned out to be a great day. At around 11 am, it started raining, and I decided to call it a day.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Overall last weekend turned out great, and I look forward to spending some more fall weekends taking photographs. Until Next Time.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150 - 600mm f/5- f/6.3, ISO 1250, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure