Photographing Violets (revised)

Photographing Violets -- © Dave Spier

In the past, our front yard under the big shade trees was loaded with wild blue violets, but this year there are very few. At first I thought it might be a result of last year's drought, or too many fallen leaves left on the lawn over the winter, or who knows what. Now that the violets are in full bloom I've found them again, but they've "migrated" to other parts of the lawn, but still in partial shade under trees. I suspect the ants dispersed the seeds and started new colonies. I had hoped to further experiment with photographing the flowers, but the weather isn't cooperating. I may have to make do with this series of images from 2006 when the violets "peaked."

The initial backlit shot of the backlit group of blue violets... 
Note the distracting bright background.

Aside from a straight-on documentary shot that I may start with, I'm partial to backlighting for its artistic potential. The second photo is actually the first grab-shot to set the scene. I'm flat on the ground with the camera on a special "tripod," actually little more than two crossed boards in a "T." The obvious problem is that the bright, sunlit background is very distracting as it competes for the viewer's attention. The simple solution is to set the camera on self-timer, then walk around to the other side of the violets and cast a large shadow into the background. (The alternative is to have a friend help you.) Usually holding a jacket or shirt to the side works well to create a shadow, and sometimes a notebook or clipboard will suffice for more intimate closeups. The result is the third image. Had I been more alert, I would have noticed the bright grass blades on the right side. Being my yard, I easily could have clipped them. Oh, well. The final image (the opening photo at top) somewhat "solved" the problem with a little cropping. On the down side, there's a backlit violet leaf at lower left. Somewhat distracting, but again, oh, well.

Casting a dark shadow across the background eliminates bright clutter. 
(Even if it's out of focus, the original backdrop competes and distracts.) 
This shadow mimics situations encountered in real life when everything comes together naturally. 
In retrospect, a bit of fill-flash [or a weak reflector] would have added a touch of detail 
to the dark petal areas. 

In case you didn't notice it, look closely at the second photo along the top edge right of center. Notice the two pieces of lint on the sensor? I was using the original 5D which had a serious problem with attracting dust and lint to the sensor, even with the sensor turned off when changing lenses. (To somewhat deal with the issue, that particular camera body, with a cleaned sensor, is now dedicated to the 17-40mm, my widest-angle zoom, to take advantage of the full-frame for landscape work.)

Technical details: The first three images were shot on aperture priority with a Canon 100mm macro at 1/6 sec., f/16 and ISO 100, initially spot-metered. There was no exposure compensation and no fill-flash. Color space is Adobe RGB (required by my main agent at the time). In addition, my default white balance is "cloudy" because I prefer warmer tones for my style.

A straight-forward documentary shot of wild blue violets, 
not necessarily the same clump as the other photos. 
Note the distracting clutter in the background at this typical viewing angle. 
Manual exposure at 1/125th sec., f/16 and ISO 100 
using a Canon 5D with 100mm macro and macro twin-flash...

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

© Dave Spier

Okay, it's a lousy photo. Normally I would delete it and go on, but it brings up an interesting point about birding. I was walking the trail beside the Canandaigua Outlet in Three Mills Park northwest of Phelps, NY. The weather was overcast and birds in the tree tops were mere silhouettes at best. A small, nervous bird, constantly on the move, caught my attention. It acted like a kinglet, and I might have passed it off as a Ruby-crowned, the expected species (although I'd use "kinglet sp." for eBird, or maybe "passerine sp." because I wasn't even sure it was a kinglet). I managed a few shots with the flash on, but most were basically under-the-rear-end views, not much help in ID'ing. I did get lucky with what turned out to be a side view and an out-of-focus or blurred head/front shot, although I didn't realize it until I was leaving the park and bumped into another birder. We looked at the photos and voila, a Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), the first for this park according to the eBird bar chart.

I always carry a camera, except maybe in the yard when I'm doing other things. It's not my biggest lens, but something manageable (a 300mm + 1.4x), and it's mounted on a gunstock with a strap so I can carry it on my shoulder and whip it into position at a moment's notice. I now make a habit of keeping an external flash on the camera, even though it makes it more difficult to use if I'm wearing a hat (usually a baseball-style camo cap). A small, compact point-and-shoot camera with a long zoom might be a better solution, but I don't have one. Besides, my light-weight T2i (DSLR) is highly responsive and, when I do things right, gives sharp, low-noise photos.

Kinglets are tiny gray birds with olive-green touches and a lighter belly. The golden-crown is named for a yellow streak outlined in black on the top of the head. This is accented with a white stripe above the eye and bill. The similar Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) has a gray head, white eye-ring and under the best of conditions, a red patch on the crown of the male. Learn more on the All About Birds website which has photos, voice recordings and a range map. There's also a range map on eBird, but there are gaps in the Canadian coverage due to fewer birders.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet was unexpected because it prefers conifers, and there are none in the park. Its breeding range spans the Canadian boreal forest all the way to the Rockies and the Pacific. There's a year-round range down the west coast and an eastern year-round range from the Canadian Maritimes down through the Appalachians. Most of the continental U.S. is potential winter range. I have seen this species in deciduous trees, but usually there are conifers within sight. (This was also the case in our yard, where we have a mix of both deciduous and "evergreens," on the one occasion that a golden-crowned stopped on its way through.)

female Ruby-crowned Kinglet (October, in our yard) for comparison

Three Mills is a small Ontario County park, not much more than a few acres of wooded floodplain along a major creek in the northern Finger Lakes region of New York. However, for its relatively small size, it's a gem with a variety of good bird habitats. It was donated by the Ontario County Federation of Sportsman's Clubs and mainly provides fishing access - until more birders discover it. The flowing creek stays open during the winter and attracts waterfowl, including Common Mergansers. I also drive the nearby roads, particularly Falkey Road along the south bank of the creek. The fields just to the south and along Stryker Road sometimes have Snow Buntings in the winter.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect on Facebook (two pages for Dave Spier, personal and photo, and The Northeast Naturalist).

Bald-faced Hornets

This is an insect you want to know in order to avoid it.  When they're out collecting food, I can get fairly close without upsetting them, and by moving in slowly I've gotten some decent macro shots of hornets scraping the pulp of fallen pears on the ground.  Fruit juice seems to be a favorite food of adults.

Bald-faced Hornets (Vespula maculata) are related to Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps and Potter Wasps in the family Vespidae.  At a more general scale, they are in the order Hymenoptera with bees, ants, ichneumons and other wasps.  Hornets are large and black with white markings on the face, body [thorax] and tip of the tail [abdomen].  

Only the queens overwinter.  In the spring each survivor starts a small nest with one layer of cells an inch or two in diameter.  As the new workers emerge, they take over nest building and add larger tiers [layers of cells] underneath, then cover these with an outer, gray, paper-like material made from wood pulp.  The round-topped nest usually hangs from a branch, but I've also found them close to the ground in bushes.  In fact there's one next to the trail around my property and I've had to flag and "close" that section so the grandkids don't use it.  As the nest expands, it tapers toward the bottom where the entrance/exit hole is located.  Hornets are most dangerous when you are close to their nest. Unlike bees, hornets can sting repeatedly.

 

 

 

In late summer, the males emerge to mate with future queens.  As temperatures dip well below freezing in the fall, the males die along with the female workers and old queens and any immature larvae still in the nest.  Young queens spend the winter underground or in deep leaf litter.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com  Also you can connect through my Facebook photo page at Dave Spier (photographic naturalist) or my personal page, Dave Spier (northeast naturalist).

Photos from this particular blog also appear in an album on my picasaweb site:
https://plus.google.com/photos/113480357145545980499/albums?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1#photos/113480357145545980499/albums/5207669759008927041

Wildflower photos request

(This is not an image for the project.
See the links for actual examples.)

Wildflower photos request (pass along) - sorry, no pay

Do you like to photograph northeastern wildflowers and can accurately identify what you find?  This project is not for pro's because there is no pay, but I pass it along in case you're interested.  The company, MyNature Apps, is requesting help in creating a digital identification guide, and there is more info on their website and more examples posted in latest their blog.

Here are some of the Wildflower App photo guidelines:

1. To repeat, there's no pay for images -- just a personal credit page for each person who contributes over 25 species. This will be featured with your own write up and a photo of you -- kind of a "meet the photographer" page. Your name will also be listed on a seperate credits page with a list of species you contributed. Your name or copyright should not appear on the image.

2. All wildflowers of the Northeast and East based on Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (plus any regional species not in the guide) are needed, but please check the current master list of species already "collected" (and updated weekly) to avoid duplication. The final goal involves roughly 1200 species, of which approximately 260 species have been photographed (as of 8/14/12).

3. Submit a complete set of vertical images at one time, i.e. no partial sets. (Otherwise, it's a logistical nightmare.) What's needed for each species are the following: the species' leaf (closeup), flower head (closeup) and whole-plant profile. (The whole-plant profile is an image of the entire plant from ground level up to the tip.) Multiple images of leaves are needed if they vary. For compound leaves include the whole leaf plus a separate image of a leaflet. For species with racemes, spikes, panicles, cymes, umbels, corymbs, and whorls, include images of the whole flower cluster plus images of an individual flower in that cluster. You can have as many images as you want for each plant feature. If there are 5 different leaf configurations on one plant you can have an image of each. Likewise you can show a front view of a flower, a side view... whatever makes the ID process easier. You don't have to be a master photographer but fairly decent.  Seedheads and fruit are not important, but it's okay if a seed pod/head or fruit can be included in an image of the leaf or flower head.  The main objective is to feature the flower and leaf as clearly and large as possible. The leaf is usually the main key in ID'ing. Think of it from the perspective of the end user who may have little (or no) experience with plants; they just want to know what they found.

4. All shots are vertical at a ratio of 2:3 (w:h) and resolution of 8"x12" @ 72 dpi [i.e., 576 x 864 pixels].

5. Diffuse/cloudy lighting is generally best for showing a lot of detail without harsh contrast and shadows in the wrong place.

6. Examples are posted at: http://www.mynatureapps.com/2012/08/specie-images/ with basic information at http://www.mynatureapps.com/2012/07/help-wanted-wildflower-photographers/

I may be able to answer a few questions or pass them along.  Please, serious inquiries only.  There is contact info on the websites, or you can email me first at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com

Picris hieracioides

This is an invasive, alien weed and I generally pull it out when I have time. It resembles a tall, multi-headed dandelion with rough-hairy, almost bristly, stems and leaves. Indeed it is a relative and like dandelions, comes from a foreign land. This one is native to the mountains in southern Spain and northern Portugal. In addition to growing in my yard, I find it proliferating along roadsides, often intermingled with its close relative, blue Chicory. The combination is colorfully attractive. All these plants are in the Aster (Daisy) family and generally considered invasive weeds.

I learned it's name as "Hawkweed Picris" from a botany professor, but the rest of the world now seems to call it "Hawkweed Oxtongue." Sorry, that just doesn't have the same ring (or is it just habit)?  The scientific name is Picris hieracioides. The genus name (Picris) comes from a Greek word for bitter, referring to the plant's roots. Members of this genus are called "oxtongues." The species name indicates its close resemblance to hawkweeds, genus Hieracium.

We've described the flowers as dandelion-like, but look closely and notice that the tip of each yellow ray has five "teeth." With age, the blossom becomes a fuzzy seed head. Without adequate sunlight, though, the plant never reaches the flowering stage and remains a basal rosette of leaves (on the ground).

The lower stem leaves are long, lance-shaped and wavy-edged, or they have short teeth separated by scalloped sinuses (see the last images before the photo notes). The upper leaves are shorter, alternate, long arrow-shaped and hug the main stem. Side branches arise from the points of attachment [axils].

Picris is a biennial, taking two years to reach maturity in sunny, open yards, fields and roadsides, and sometimes it survives another year or two as a short-lived perennial. It is related to Chicory (genus Cichorium) and both are in the Chicory subfamily (Cichorioideae).

Picris is found in isolated pockets across the Northeast into Canada, but primarily in New York and Pennsylvania. There is a disconnected invasion, again highly localized, in the Northwest from Washington to Alaska and another in Hawaii.

Photo notes: To make a leaf stand out, cast a shadow into the background. Use a tripod and a cable release [or the self-timer]. After aiming and setting the exposure [manual works best], move to throw your shadow into the background. After taking the shot, check the result and adjust as needed. I've also used notebooks and shirts to create shadows where I need them.
Lenses for this project were the 18-55mm kit lens and 100mm macro on a Canon XT.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com Connect with me on Facebook. In addition to my personal page (with the Gaillardia flower at the top), there is a photo/artist page, Dave Spier (photographic naturalist).

Red Admiral update

Red Admiral update -- © Dave Spier

I had forgotten about the massive spring migration of Red Admirals until June 14 when I noticed a very tattered and faded adult on the trunk of a dead Quaking Aspen. I assumed it was something on the order of a lone survivor.

Two days later I received an email from a birding friend describing spiny, jet-black Red Admiral caterpillars with yellow marks on the flanks. They were feeding on Stinging Nettles and a new life cycle was progressing as "planned." He also described a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak eating the caterpillars! (Remember the concept of a food chain?)

Fast-forward three more days and I find a beautifully-colored, fresh adult Red Admiral in the field behind our house, and I was finally able to get a descent shot of the underwing pattern, slightly marred by several leaves in the way.

Corrections, questions and comments always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com

Photo notes: both with 70-300 macro zoom at 300mm, 1/200 sec., ISO 400, external 580 flash
tattered adult on aspen - Canon 5D body, f/22, fill flash at -2/3
fresh adult in the shade - XTi body, f/19, flash accidentally set at +1, overexposure corrected by editing RAW capture

Bee-balm

Bee-balm -- © Dave Spier

I’ve discovered a "new" bird species – the yellow-crowned hummingbird. Okay, before the birding community gets too excited, it was just a ruby-throat with pollen on top of its head. While visiting our Bee-balm flowers, the bird’s head was brushing against the stamens and being dusted with yellow grains of pollen. Unwittingly, the hummer would carry this to the next flower where some would reach the pistil (female part of the flower), thus assuring cross-pollination. Isn’t nature clever? By the time I got my camera, the pollen had rubbed or blown off.

Bee-balm (Monarda didyma), also called Oswego Tea, is a bright-scarlet member of the mint family. Related to bergamots, the showy flowers grow in dense whorls at the top of a square stem with opposite pairs of pointed leaves. The leafy bracts under the flower head are also reddish. This native plant grows wild on rich, moist soil, often along wooded stream banks, but it has been tamed for garden use. It’s a favorite nectar source for hummingbirds.

You can make an aromatic tea by steeping fresh or dried leaves and flowers for 10 minutes, or you can mix it with other teas. Enjoy…

If you live or travel in the vicinity of Savannah, NY (southeastern Wayne County), stop at the Montezuma Audubon Center (on the west side of Route 89 about 1.7 miles north of the village) and see how the hummingbird/butterfly garden is doing. The Bee-balm is on the east end of the garden. There’s usually a hummingbird feeder hanging on the wooden fence that hides the propane tank behind the garden. From one of the picnic tables, you can watch both the garden and all of the feeders on the north side of the building.

Do you plant any native flowers for hummingbirds or butterflies? To find out what else we can do to help wildlife, visit Wild Ones or contact me at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com If you're in central New York, there's a chapter at http://www.hgcny.org/

Photo notes: Canon 300mm/f4 on 8-mp XT body; exposure = 1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 400. Our Bee-balm just started blossoming this year, so I pulled a file photo taken July 5 at 3:44 pm in the afternoon when our garden is still in full sunlight.  Original cropped to 1923 x 1354, then resized for the blog.

Winter at Montezuma Audubon Center

Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) by Dave Spier

It’s been pretty quiet and predictable at the Montezuma Audubon Center (MAC) the last few weeks. Below-normal temperatures and a steady influx of snow with periodic breaks has limited trail access to the use of snowshoes. (Bring your own or rent a pair at the center.) Mostly, the same birds have been coming to the feeders each day, but there’s a good mix of Mourning Doves, Downy Woodpeckers, goldfinches, redpolls, House Finches, titmice, a chickadee and one or two White-breasted Nuthatches. One day a male Red-bellied Woodpecker added a touch of color, not from its salmon-colored underside, but its flaming-red crown and nape. I was able to photograph it through the window in the north-end door that overlooks the bird feeders.

[edited in February] The steadily growing length of daylight will begin to trigger changes in wildlife. The weather was better the day after Groundhog Day, with lots of sunshine.  We didn't see a woodchuck, but this is the time when males leave their burrows and search for females before returning underground to await spring.

Winter photography is a matter of staying warm. Dress in layers (always good advice for any outdoor winter activity), but also keep your camera warm by putting it under your coat until needed. If you have one of the larger DSLR cameras with a zoom lens that’s too big to fit under your outerwear, at least carry a spare battery inside a pocket. Cold weather quickly saps battery life. Also carry Q-tips or wipes to remove condensation from the viewfinder when you accidentally breathe on it. Before returning indoors, put the camera inside a plastic bag to control condensation, or so I've read.

If your camera has exposure compensation, read your camera manual to learn how to use this feature. Intentionally overexposing a snowy scene by one or two stops usually gives you a more realistic image. Otherwise you’re likely to end up with gray (instead of white) snow. Turn this camera feature off when you’re done playing in the snow, or your regular photos will be overexposed.

On Wednesday, February 9, I led a morning nature walk at the MAC, but the best part seemed to be the snowshoeing that everyone enjoyed. We trekked through the walnut grove and turned north on Warbler Walk into the hemlock-hardwoods.  Contact northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com


In other news, Sarah Fleming took over from Doug Gorby as Regional Biologist for Ducks Unlimited, which is involved in many of the wetland restoration projects on the Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Savannah. Doug moved to Ohio.

The Montezuma Audubon Center (Route 89 north of Savannah, NY) is in need of volunteers to help with publicity and programs, cataloguing books, caring for the reptiles and other indoor activities. A gardening committee helps with planting native vegetation to benefit wildlife (including attracting more birds) in the spring. For information write to montezuma@audubon.org

For more information about birds and birding in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, visit the website http://montezumabirding.webs.com/ and for additional birding content, visit http://eatonbirds.webs.com/ (the official website of the Eaton Birding Society, based in Geneva, NY).