Bird trip today. Not one damn bird. Plenty mushrooms.

Uh, am I the only one who finds it scary that in an hour and a half you didn’t see a SINGLE bird?


In New Jersey!!?


Not only that, it was in a bird sanctuary.


That is very scary.  I’ve noticed when I drive at night (even in the countryside) that there are significantly fewer bugs colliding with my windshield.  I love your photos! 


Jack -- the contrast in these images seems different from your usual shots.  Were you trying out a new setting on the camera?

I took a ton of mushroom pics is the reservation this summer.  The weather has definitely been good for fungus this year.


A huge storm hit last night.  Is is possible that the birds were aware of the impending storm and were hunkering down in anticipation?  I know many animals can sense changes in the atmosphere.


angelak said:
Jack -- the contrast in these images seems different from your usual shots.  Were you trying out a new setting on the camera?
I took a ton of mushroom pics is the reservation this summer.  The weather has definitely been good for fungus this year.

 I had the wrong lens and the wrong light. I took the long lens in hope of getting birds. The mushies were close to the trail and were in shade. The camera compensated for the low light by shooting at a slower lens speed. I didn't bring the monopod so that didn't help.


Beautiful photos. Mushrooms in autumn feel very Halloween. My favorite though is the toad. Very magical.


The toad photo was unusual. People in the group I was in, spotted the toad and pointed it out. By the time I aimed the camera, its coloration caused it to "disappear." I no longer saw it but aimed the camera in the general direction it was and snapped one. When I got home and cropped the photos, there it was.


Come to think of it, that has happened to me several times with birds. My eyesight is not that good - I am blind in one eye. People will point out a small bird in a tree. I will see it and then it will move. If I take a couple of photos with the long lens, I can sometimes find it on the computer screen when I get home. That is not "art" as when I am trying to frame a landscape or such. Still, i get to see the bird.



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