"If you can't be with the one you love . . . (bird pics added)

[Steve Foss]

. . . love the one you're with."

We had bigger game in mind, but we ended up getting a few of the usual suspects. A fine day nonetheless, even though it started out at -31 degrees.

All with the 30D and Canon 400 f5.6L or Canon 500 f4L IS (no, not Ken's).

[yakfisher]

I like the first "chickadee" the best. Something about how he is walking down the branch, kinda like he is walking the catwalk for you. A little "I'm too sexy for this beek" playing in the background

[MN Shutterbug]

Nuthatch? Where? I don't know about the nut, but I like the chickadees.

[JayinMN]

Glad you had something show up today. I went down to ribs2 and there wasn't even a chickadee to be found! When I got home though my 30D was waiting for me. I guess it wasn't so bad after all..

I did go and get some sunflower seed for tomorrows journeys to bring those birds back.

[Steve Foss]

Cool on the 30D, man! I talked with a couple photogs who spent quite a bit of time at Ribs2 on Thursday and didn't see a single bird there. What's up with that, I wonder?

[jonny_redhorse]

some sweet chickadee shots Steve......never tire of seeing them.....I'm picking up another "sack-o-seed" today.....goofy deer have chewed up a few pounds that I tossed at a "station" at Carey Lake earlier this week...they are eating machines!...lol!.....Looks like a blast of snow heading our way in a few hours....our first storm/blizzard of the season...one would think that those chickadees will be looking for any kind of seed/food after the big snowfall....I won't be going down to the bog untill next weekend....no doubt will be spending a good portion of this weekend moving snow... ........ I have an "in" on 2 great grays south of Hibbing on Hwy 73 near "Cedar Valley"(south of the Floodwood cutoff)...been seen in the late afternnon feeding along the highway.....maybe get down that way after work this upcoming week....

[buzzsaw]

That last one is killer! I had heard you guys had a good Chickadee and WP day. I have my fingers crossed that today brings better luck for "more species".

It looks like somebody hit up CPS for the weekend.

[JayinMN]

I think a Shrike may have something to do with no chickadees around at ribs1. I don't know about ribs2 though, maybe those red squirrels there are a lot meaner then they look.

[Dbl]

Those last two are beauties!

[Steve Foss]

Buzz, nothing better today, and the guys aborted the rest of the trip after last shooting light this afternoon to scoot home ahead of the gathering storm. Everything was dialed in and prepped just right, but the pieces never fell together. Rest assured, negotiations for a sequel are already ongoing.

CPS lives to serve me. I'll be making a couple trips to the Bog next week with the 500 for some more fun.

[buzzsaw]

I just got the call and they were in the cruddy weather near Cloquet headed south. I got the report, they were pleased with your efforts.

ML

Buzz, nothing better today, and the guys aborted the rest of the trip after last shooting light this afternoon to scoot home ahead of the gathering storm. Everything was dialed in and prepped just right, but the pieces never fell together. Rest assured, negotiations for a sequel are already ongoing.

CPS lives to serve me. I'll be making a couple trips to the Bog next week with the 500 for some more fun.

[Steve Foss]

They both had good senses of humor. Very funny guys who were rewarding companions and excellent clients.

They asked me to remind you that there are no such species as seagulls.

I'll be back in there tomorrow to tidy up, and I told them that if they got e-mails from me with attachments they'd best delete them or risk boiling over at the fine snowfall/wolf images I got after they left. We'll see! And next time to you talk to him, ask him why Ely pine siskins hate his guts!

Here are a couple images of the setup.

Birds off the back deck

Macrofauna from the padded comfort of the front porch

[Birdsong]

I'm partial to the first and second downy, but can't get the thought of the sashaying chickadee grooving to 'I'm too sexy for my beak' out of my head. Almost as good as the photos yakfisher.

[buzzsaw]

Quote:

They asked me to remind you that there are no such species as seagulls.

OUCH!! I took Stan to see trhe plethora of Eagles in Iowa last year and I mistakingly used the term "Seagulls"... oops! To this day I continuously (for effect) call them "seagulls".

Stan is the master of bird perches, well actually Alan Murphy is, but Stan is pretty darn close.... the difference is that he doesn't post his images all over the net. I've seen his extensive collection of slides and digital files and it is very impressive.

I'm glad you guys had fun, a good group I'm certain!! Sad I missed it! Darn X-mas parties! I'll post some stuff tomorrow from my weekend adventures.

[Steve Foss]

Here are a bunch more from this morning. Gotta give that 500 a workout before it goes back to CPS next week!

Our favorite chickadee

Blue jay

Downy woodpecker

And hairy woodpeckers

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Keep the lens!!

[Steve Foss]

It's no sharper than my 400 f5.6L, but I like the extra 100mm and the IS, especially on a dark day like today.

[finnbay]

Nice shots! Really like the blue jay!

[fishinchicks]

Love the blue jay!

[IceChicka]

Great shots all of them, I do have a question to ask you Steve, on the head shot where the bird is behind the tree and head sticking out, how did u keep the bird in focus and have the tree blurry like that when they are so close together?

[Steve Foss]

IceChicka, when the subject is that close to the lens (about 15 feet), the depth of focus is very shallow. I was at f4, and the DOF was about an inch or less. If I'd been 200 yards away from the subject with the same lens at f4, the DOF would have been measured in feet. Just the way lenses work.

In this case the bird's head was a couple inches behind the bark, so when I grabbed focus on the bird's eye, the bark was far enough ahead of the DOF to be that blurry.

[buzzsaw]

Keep the lens and send back that 100-400 F/5.6 jobbie! The difference is noticeable.

Maybe thats not practicle at the moment, but it has to really get a guys mind going... especially at X-mas time!

[Steve Foss]

Keep the lens and send back that 100-400 F/5.6 jobbie!

Buzz, I haven't owned the 100-400 for going on a year. I have a 70-200 f2.8L, 400 f5.6L and 1.4 TC now for my telephoto shooting. The 400 f5.6L is as sharp as any of the top glass I've shot (300, other 400, 500 and 600.) Sure wish they made it with IS.

I wouldn't actually MIND keeping my hands on the 500, but I think Canon would blacklist me if I did that, and then I'd be stuck shooting Sony or Pentax.

[Dbl]

Hey, don't smack Pentax around, I shot those beauties for over 20 years!

[Steve Foss]

Like a LOT of us, I learned on an old Pentax K1000. Those were good old days.