Multiple Trips to the Bashakill Wetlands

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/640s Manual exposure.

Two weeks ago, I took two trips to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area with my brother. I was really hoping to see a lot of ducks and waterfowl that were still migrating through our area. We spent most of our time on Haven Road and on the trails around Haven Road. We were seeing a lot of different species of ducks. Mostly Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Wood Ducks, and Hooded Mergansers. We were also seeing plenty of Canadian Geese. I only managed a few photographs of the ducks because they were normally so far away. There were a lot of people on Haven Road walking around, so most of the wildlife kept its distance. 

Canon T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure.

After being there for over an hour, I noticed two big white birds in the water very far out in the distance. After I looked in my viewfinder I realized that they were Mute Swans. After about twenty minutes to my surprise, I noticed that they were flying towards us. They flew directly in front of me and then looped back around and flew back away from Haven Road.

Canon T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1000s Manual exposure.

I was using my Sigma 150-600 mm lens at the time, and I was hoping it would be the first time that I could test it out. To my surprise, I had a hard time focusing the camera on the swans when they flew by. I was quite upset because I thought that I just missed my best opportunity. After I had a chance to figure out what my problem was I realized that one of the slide buttons on the lens had been accidentally moved. So, the lenses operating system thought I was shooting on custom instead of the standard mode. I have not set up custom yet on the lens, so the camera was probably having a hard time focusing because the lens was not functioning properly. Some photographs were still good enough to include. I wish they could have been a little more crisp but I was still quite happy with the end result.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure.

I also managed to get a photograph of some Canadian Geese chasing each other. It was a long way off, but I will include the image slightly cropped in. I was also very pleased with the photograph that I took of a Red Wing Black Bird on a cattail. I really didn't think anything of the photograph when I took it but upon review of my images from those trips I was rather surprised. During those trips the Bashakill was great, and I was very happy that I was able to see everything that I did.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure.

We also took a shorter trip to Lake Superior State Park. I did manage to take some shots of ring neck ducks that were in the pond. They were doing their best to avoid me, but I did manage a few shots before they swam off. We also got to see a Bald Eagle do a fly over but I did not manage to get any photographs. 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/640s Manual exposure.

Overall the trips that we took two weeks ago were great and I was very pleased with the photographs that I was able to get. I hope everyone enjoys the photographs. Until Next Time.

More Bashakill Photographs

These are a couple more photographs that I took on my trips to the Bashakill Wetlands.  I included another photograph of the mallards.  There is also photographs of a tree swallow that was sitting on a bird house that was out in the water at the boat launch area.  It seemed like they were probably nesting in the house because they kept coming back to it.  So I snapped a few shots of them.

 Also there was a ton of painted turtles and musk turtles.  So I took a few shots of some painted turtles on a log.  I did not see any of the snapping turtles that I normally see thankfully.  Last year I walked right past one sitting on the ground.  I thought it was a large stone, until it moved.  It was probably about 40 lbs or so.

  I also took several photographs of red winged black birds on my trip, but most were not good.  Its not a great shot because the branches in front of her but at least the head is not covered and the image was clear.  For some reason my bird pictures were foggy.  I think it was because the grey background from the fog, and clouds.  So they were really unappealing.

 I hope to get out and do some photography while I am here at school, but I never seem to get a chance.  I am hoping soon the leaves will start growing and the spring colors will start to come out.  But the Rain has moved in this weekend and kept me from doing anything outside.  Hopefully next weekend will be better.

Bashakill Mallards

My trips to the Bashakill were not as good as I planned but they were fun.  Everyday there were plenty of waterfowl and other birds, but the fog in the morning and then bright sun in the afternoon made it a challenge.  I noticed that in my shots a lot of the water is overexposed but I still think they are good shots.  I decided I would post some of my mallard photographs because I got more of them than anything else.  Most of my photographs were of the female mallards but I did get a few shots of the male.  I had a hard time with the male because the green head for some reason was always real bright or discolored due to the bright sun.  Also because of the fog in the morning some of the pictures were very dull.  I was very happy that I got a shot of the female mallard flapping her wings.  I was surprised that I actually got the shot.  It could have been better if the male mallard was not cut off the edge of the photograph and the water was not overexposed but I like it a lot. 

Overall though I was very happy with my shots and I believe that the photographs show the true beauty of the female mallard, even though she lacks the color that the male has.  I will be looking over more of my photographs in the next few days and posting more of my photographs from my trips to the Bashakill.  Hopefully now that I am back at school I will be able to get out a little on weekends and try and do some type of photography.  Enjoy the photographs, and please comment or send me questions.

Last Week

I spent most of my week home at the Bashakill Wetlands.  It was pretty nice out but most mornings there was a fog that made it hard to photograph.  I still took thousands of photographs and I am narrowing it down to my best images now.  Within the next few days I will hopefully get a chance to post some of the photographs that I took.  Over the period of the week I saw many different duck species including, mergansers, mallards, and wood ducks.  Plus plenty of Canadian Geese.  I also saw some Swan's but was unable to get a photo.  Near the end of the week I saw a couple of Great Blue Heron's but was unable to get a good photograph.  Also I took many pictures of Red winged black birds and tree swallows.  Plus there was an abundance of turtles.  Also I saw my first snake of the year, which I believe was a ribbon snake.  Scared me when it brushed passed my feet.  Can't forget that I saw a couple eagles on my trips, but the number has drastically dropped since January.  I guess I was going to see a couple since there is a nest there, but I also saw a couple immature bald eagles that aren't nesting there.   It was a really odd sight to see some of these species so early, but it was extremely warm for this time of year.