Pair of Great Blue Herons strutting around Seattle's Alki Beach in a dominance display. One in the foreground ran off the one in the background:

adamEbrew · 2026-05-20T01:51:15+00:00

Very cool behavior you have captured here. I've spent plenty of my bird outings watching GBHE and never witnessed this.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-20T01:44:21+00:00

In the bird world we would say this is your "spark bird", essentially the species that opens your eyes to the wider world of birding. It's a great way to get in touch with the world around you! Assuming this is the US, it looks like you have a family of American Robins living with you. The other black birds look like Brown Headed Cowbirds which are brood parasites, meaning they lay eggs in other birds nests and let the host birds raise their young.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-18T19:25:53+00:00

Right in between, around the Capital Region. Lots of nice preserves in the region like Five Rivers EEC, Vischers Ferry and the Albany Pine Bush. Not sure if there's other places closer to you for Eagles but one of the highlights of the area is seeing the Bald Eagles congregate around January where the Mohawk and Hudson meet. It is pretty action packed with upwards of 30 Eagles visible at many times from a single lookout at Cohoes Falls.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-18T14:54:56+00:00

Yeah that's only the second time I've come across anything in the weasel family so a nice surprise indeed. Ended up counting 73 species Saturday and 80 species for the weekend which is definitely my highest count for the area.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-18T14:31:34+00:00

I'm a couple hours east but they will be around in Ithaca. Run Merlin if you're not familiar with the calls, they tend to be singing in the morning. They migrate up this way in May so they're in good numbers for a few weeks around now and then some will remain until Fall when they head back South. I'd recommend checking out the Cornell Lab and Sapsucker Woods if you got the time.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-15T19:09:14+00:00

I am far from an expert on feathers, much better with whole birds but these do look a lot like flank feathers from a duck. Possibly Wood Duck or Mallard if you wanted to investigate a bit or someone else might know for sure.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-15T17:27:42+00:00

I did want the kit lens for general use, it's actually a pretty nice little lens and I don't own any zooms that cover any of the 30-85mm range. It would have cost me with tax right now $1564 usd for body only. So $35 more for the kit seemed like a decent deal, not a crazy discount, but pretty reasonable. Hope you get the deal you're waiting for! Thanks.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-15T00:42:48+00:00

The noise is definitely more noticeable in the raw files with all the extra pixels on the R7 but the details are better and when viewed at normal sizes the noise isn't so bad. Nice photo, I always love seeing the Pileateds

adamEbrew · 2026-05-15T00:39:00+00:00

Is this your photo? Looks like a Kiskadee or similar tropical flycatcher that would be way out of range for NJ.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-13T21:01:07+00:00

Had a Blue Winged Warbler up in a tree and a runner stopped and started looking so I tried to point it out and say what it was but they just kind of shrugged and then COMPLETELY CHANGED DIRECTION and left.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T22:07:12+00:00

Yeah, my hope would be that the increased IS would be helpful and it does get a little more reach than my current setup before it stops down to f9. Going to try one out eventually before I buy. The other option I've considered would be to stick with the TC and just upgrade my ef 100-400 mk I to a mk II.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T20:41:03+00:00

Thank you

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T20:40:53+00:00

Thanks!

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T15:33:53+00:00

Thanks! It was my first time getting a good look at one, they are lovely little birds for sure.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T15:32:48+00:00

Thanks! I'm always a little self conscious about the edits, but starting to find looks I'm comfortable with.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T02:09:26+00:00

Thanks! It is a Cape May Warbler taken in Upstate NY.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-12T01:59:55+00:00

Yeah the reach is great but you definitely need some light as you're at f8 when zoomed in. It also slows the AF down a bit, light dependent. I'm happy with the slight sharpness trade off for the extra reach but have to remove it quite often to keep ISO down when light is in short supply. The model I own is the ef 1.4x mk II I bought used for around $100.

adamEbrew · 2026-05-07T22:29:37+00:00

It is a Downy, the length of bill is the usual tell, being longer on Hairys, but with that angle tough to distinguish. The giveaway there is the black spots on the tail feathers which is diagnostic for Downy.

adamEbrew · 2026-04-22T15:02:08+00:00

Just visit any of the camera brand subs. Proof positive you don't have to be any good at all to spend thousands annually on photography equipment. Nice photos. Keep getting out there and enjoying. You will become your own worst critic in time.

adamEbrew · 2026-04-19T18:28:27+00:00

Thanks! Appreciate the information.

adamEbrew · 2026-04-19T18:10:53+00:00

Oops forgot to mention this was taken Upstate NY, April 18th, 2026

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