Shorebirder

I kid. New Haven gets a bad rap, and it really shouldn't. Or is it "bad rep??" I just don't know. New Haven: Come for the pizza, stay for the crime! Last week I was out messing with my brand new camera body, the Canon R5, which at the time I had paired with my trusty ol' 400mm f5.6. I was walking back to the car at Fort Hale Park when I heard a "THWACK!" right next to me followed by the most awful gull scream you've ever heard. I looked down to my left and a Ring-billed Gull was flailing a bloody, broken right wing. Looking up I eventually located the culprit, a hefty adult (presumed) female PEREGRINE FALCON. It seemed odd that the falcon didn't remain on its prey, so I am assuming that it was startled by my human presence mere feet from its attack. I retreated down to the water's edge to presumably watch the 'grin return for its meal. The falcon seemed noncommittal though. It made a couple passes near the gull but for whatever reason ref...

Yesterday afternoon (5 Feb 2022) was cold and blustery, but the sun was shining and I was itching to use my new Canon R5 for the first time. So I went down to the West Haven Boat Ramp to try shooting gulls from the car. This site is reliable for close views of gulls without having to brave the elements, and the afternoon sun would be at my back. A first cycle ICELAND GULL was on site for a bit. Otherwise I practiced with the new camera and experimented with different settings, particularly different autofocus modes. At one point a distant Brant flock took flight across the harbor and I took the opportunity to shoot a few artsy (and I use that word very loosely) photos of the flock with East Rock Park in the background. While sorting through the images that evening I picked out a "BLACK" BRANT that happened to be perfectly lit and positioned for an identifiable photo. It's better to be lucky than good! original photo crop with "Black" Brant the bottom bird first ...