Let's start with this Marbled Godwit I captured at my local shorebird spot on San Francisco Bay. I visit this location a couple afternoons each week from October to April (it's 5 minutes from my apartment), and I've learned how wintering shorebirds behave on every tide. That knowledge has translated into lots of interesting shots, and I'm really proud of the understanding I've cultivated. Shooting at feeder arrays or from permanent blinds is super fun but often less than challenging, and the photographers I respect most are those who can go into the habitat and generate beautiful images under completely natural conditions. This frame was collected just as the sun set, and I was lucky the bird was high enough off the water to give me the smooth and deep blue background. I was even luckier the soft out-of-focus breakers framed the bird so nicely!
Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/4000 at f/4, ISO 400
Next up is this Brandt's Cormorant from San Diego. I am a huge fan of super-detailed headshots, and this was my favorite portrait from 2018 (check out this gallery for all my headshots). It takes a really close look at this species to reveal the stunning blue eye and gular puch, so I was stoked when this bird stretched and squawked right in front of me. Cormorants are often overlooked in favor of flashier species, so I was really happy I could display this beautiful individual so well.
Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus
Canon 500mm f/4 IS v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/800 at f/8, ISO 800
Moving along, I present this Tricolored Heron from South Padre Island in Texas. Most of my shots are front lit and composed in predictable ways, so it felt really good to break out of my usual mold with this wider-angle silhouette. I was laying chest-down in about a foot of water, and I put my lens right on the surface of the Laguna Madre to get a thin plan of focus and maximize foreground and background blur. Getting soaked was totally worth it!
Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor
Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800
Birds of prey are a weak point in my portfolio, so I could hardly contain myself as I inched my vehicle forward to photograph this roadside Merlin in Southern California. She tolerated very close approach, and I took nearly 300 frames of her in the 5 minutes it took her to eat breakfast. Nature can be beautiful and brutal in the same moment, and I was incredibly thankful I was able to capture those conflicting sentiments in this frame. Taken on December 28, this frame barely made the December 31 deadline!
Merlin - Falco columbaris
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II
1/2500 at f/7.1, ISO 640
Lastly, I'll leave you with this pair of Spectacled Parrotlets from Colombia. With the perfectly clean background, this shot looks suspiciously like a set-up - a shot where wild birds are lured onto the perfect perch with food - but this was 100% natural. I spotted these birds from an elevated porch on the visitor's center at Rio Sonso outside Cali, and I leaned way out over the edge to get the perfect angle on them. The bamboo pole against which I braced myself nearly gave way, but I survived to get the shot and tell the tale. The left bird is the male, and it was really cute to watch him tenderly preen his female mate. Their interaction was photographic gold!
Spectacled Parrotlets - Forpus conspicillatus
Canon 500mm f/4 IS v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/320 at f/5.6, ISO 1600
So that's it! The curtain closes on my photo review and the year that was 2018. Thanks for hanging in through the fourth year of The Speckled Hatchback. I'm not sure what 2019 will hold, but I expect my upcoming trip to New Zealand will be a highlight regardless. Once again, I'll remind you to check out the full gallery of my 23 favorite photos from this year on my website. I'd love to hear which of those shots you particularly like!
Happy New Years! Good birding and shooting in 2019!
Big Ugly at Sumapaz NP, high above Bogotá, Colombia
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