Friday, November 22, 2013

Bunche Beach: Late October 2013

Wrapping up my last wildlife observations in the month of October, it was my good fortune to meet up again with Frank Constantin at Bunche Beach Preserve on the 20th.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

The tide was accommodatingly low as a flock of Black Skimmers were intent on remaining photogenically landlocked through most of the morning. The birds primarily loafed with an apparent need of rest from loafing.


The Bottlenose Dolphin above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

A particular highlight on this visit was the best observation I have had yet of Bottlenose Dolphin. With a few images captured of them at close range on this visit to the Preserve, a small pod would head toward the Sanibel Causeway tollbooth. From a distance of a mile the dolphins were seen to make stunning hunting maneuvers that produced waves that might mistakenly be thought produced by an ultra fast speedboat in a turn. A memory of them certainly not to be forgotten.


The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

A few flybys of other species were observed as I made frequent adjustments to the camera's exposure bias to compensate for the light and dark subjects and backgrounds. I have yet to embrace Artie Morris's manual exposure technique which would potentially allow for more keepers.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

As I reviewed the images presented in this article, I noted how oversharpened some of the images appear (to my personal taste). I need to ween myself off the "sharpen" button which is lazily pressed in Phototshop, and use the "smart sharpen" button which often allows improved realism.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

In keeping with my desire to give the wildlife a wide berth (sometimes spoiled by birds that will walk or fly within feet of me), I am compelled to crop an original image to one degree or another. If I like the pose of the creature, I will sometimes not hesitate to crop the image extensively. However, by doing this it will degrade the image quality.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.


The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

It was a very enjoyable time observing the wildlife at Bunche Beach Preserve as always.


The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in October 2013.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos :)
    It is a great focus!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stupendous collection, Bob! The shots of the terns with fish are super. I admire your skills. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW, what can I say?!
    This is first class photography, some pics are rally worth a prize!

    A suggestion, if I may....
    You might be interested in publishing some of them here:

    <a href="http://focusingonwildlife.com/</a>

    Great photographers publish brilliant posts and each week we have a photo competition!
    The guy in charge is Ken Billington.

    Kind regards

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing beautiful pics! Brilliant!

    Kind regards
    Maria

    ReplyDelete