November 29 -- The 2nd Outing With the Canon 7D MK II

I went back to the Overton Wildlife Management Area here in the Moapa Valley yesterday the 29th, spending 10 hours there -- and having all 17,000-plus acres virtually to myself. (Hunt days at the WMA are on even days, so today, the 30th, it's a no-no for non-hunters to enter there. And I can hear the gunfire sitting here at the RV park.) I had a grand time, and if possible had even more fun at the WMA than the previous time I spent there. The bird photos were taken with the MK II, and for the landscapes, which are included to give you a "feel" for the place, I used my "new" landscape camera the 7D MK I, which replaces the 40D which has been relegated to "backup" status. The lenses used are the 500 f/4 with a 1.4x TC, and the landscape lens is the 17-55 f/2.8 IS. So once again, come along for the hike, which took 10 hours... ;o)

The scene is set with this photo, taken in the Overton WMA looking west to the Valley of Fire in the center distance, with its signature red rock. Many of the fields in the WMA are half-flooded this time of year, providing good habitat for, as an example, Wilson's Snipe; I saw at least 20 of them yesterday, usually as they were flying away from me (they blend in very well with their surroundings) --

 

Here's a Sharp-shinned Hawk -- at least I'm pretty sure it is and not a Cooper's Hawk; look at those thin "sharp shins", i.e., "legs", and there was a larger Cooper's in the same tree just below this one. Camera exif ISO 200, f/10 @ 1/500 sec -- 

This next photo is a tad blurry -- there were a lot of branches in the way, always a challenge for any camera to focus through -- but here's the juvenile Cooper's Hawk that was sharing the same tree as the Sharp-shinned above, which was to its left and above when I took the photo. ISO 200, f/10 @ 1/500 sec. I shoot almost exclusively in Aperture Priority, just because.. I do. :o)

I KNEW the Sharpie was about to take off, so I switched over from AI Servo to AI Focus and put the focusing point ahead of the bird, in the direction I thought it was going to fly. And it did...But the subsequent shots weren't as sharp, as the Sharpie flew into a screen of branches, so I'm glad I got the is one from the sequence -- ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/800 sec -- 

Next up is a whole mess o' Red-winged Blackbirds in one of the WMA's agricultural fields. There must've been at least -- let's see, 1, 2, 3...500 in this flock. ;o) ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/320 sec -- 

Here's the same flock a bit later, wheeling around in the air in a fairly tight formation above the agricultural field. How they can do that and not crash into each other I do not know... ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/400 sec -- 

Next up is "just" a juvie White-crowned Sparrow, but in great light and a complimentary bg, ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/640 sec -- 

Here's a Kildeer poking around the mucky mudflat, which also had a small flock of Least Sandpipers. ISO 200, f/9 @ 1/640 sec. -- 

I managed to get focus on both of these Kildeer, not all that easy to accomplish as they're at different distances from the camera. And for those prurient few out there, the female was raising her behind so the male could mount her, which they did just after this photo was taken... ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/640 sec -- 

Marsh Wrens rarely come out in the open, preferring to stay hidden in marshes or cattails. For whatever reason, this Marsh Wren gave me about 30 seconds of its time, out in the open for all to see, and after it fled back into the cattails I thanked it for giving me some of its valuable time.. ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/500 sec --

I think scenics like this put the WMA in perspective, and gives the viewer a "feel" for the area...This is a crossing of the Muddy River, which goes through the wildlife area. Fun to drive through FAST -- well, you can't really go THAT fast... 

Honeybee Pond, the northernmost of the "ponds" at the WMA, which depending on the time of year can be the size of small lakes. Lots of water birds can be found here -- Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Cormorants, ducks, Canada Geese... 

The next photo was taken near Honeybee Pond, which is just out of the photo to the right, and is looking east to the Moapa Valley mesa (see the "M" for Moapa), with Virgin Peak, er, "peeking' over the mesa on the right. It's just an awesome area scenically, and when you throw in clouds, my my....

Next up is one of those Great Blue Herons I mentioned that can be found at Honeybee Pond, though this one is in a "wet" area just north of Honeybee. ISO 100, f5.6 @ 1/800 sec. --

Song Sparrow, ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec -- 

This is one of my favorite areas at the WMA -- I call it Butter Butt Lane as it invariably has lots of Y 

Yellow-rumped Warblers that sally forth from the branches to fly-catch. Spotted Towhee, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and the occasional Hairy Woodpecker can be found here, too -- 

Coming up is Butter Butt Lane, looking south. The fall colors now on display at the WMA are gorgeous -- 

Also taken along Butter Butt Lane, with the autumnal colors reflected in the pond, and trees with fall color in the background -- 

Getting back to the 7D MK II -- it can even focus on a bird WAY out there. I accomplished the same thing with the 7D MK I, but not with the same degree of success. Most cameras would have trouble focusing on a white dot with a multicolored background -- not the MK II. Snowy Egret, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec -- 

A Sage Sparrow popped up in a "sage-brushy" habitat when I pished -- sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, but it seems like Sparrows are more apt to respond to it than other birds. ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/500 sec -- 

This inquisitive Orange-crowned Warbler came pretty close to me -- I almost had to back up with the 500 plus 1.4TC as the minimum focusing distance for the pair is about 20 feet. ISO 200, f/9 @ 1/800 sec -- 

Pintails on parade!  BIF shot, ISO 100, f/6.3 @ 1/800 sec -- 

Pintails on parade, part II... Same settings as the previous photo  as this was part of a 10fps burst mode sequence -- 

A Snowy Egret in-flight, with a desert mountain backdrop. You can even see its tongue here... ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec -- 

Autumn colors at the WMA, with desert mountains in the background -- 

Here's a Say's Phoebe that I captured just as he was poised to fly -- but decided not to after I snapped this photo. ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/640 sec -- 

The next was taken just before sunset, and the sun had just gone behind low-lying clouds, so as an experiment I upped the ISO setting to 1000, and snapped away at the Red-tailed Hawk. Didn't turn out too bad!  ISO 1000, f/5.6 @ 1/500 sec -- 

It was now 10 hours after I started -- what a day! And I am convinced more than ever that the Canon 7D MK II is THE perfect camera for me, and "camera lust" has been assuaged for at least another 5 years... 

November 28 -- I Find Tundra's Worthy Successor -- Another 2004 Tundra...

And that is one VERY big worry off my mind... As I related in an earlier post, I'd gone to a Dodge dealership in Henderson, Nevada and was less than impressed with the customer service there, so I wasn't really looking forward to going through that all over again, possibly ad infinitum. I was talking with my dad who's in San Pedro at his condo when he said "Have you checked out CarMax yet?" Well no, I hadn't, and I remembered there was a CarMax lot in Henderson, close to the Dodge dealership and Auto Mall row, so I looked online, plugged in the zip code for Overton, typed in "2004  Toyota Tundra" just out of curiosity -- and came up with nothing, though there were later models available. But I have a loyalty to the "old" body style, of which my DOA Toyota Tundra was the last year before the Tundra was "super sized", so I thought that was that as far as CarMax was concerned. Then my dad called me back and said he'd found a 2004, 4WD Tundra with everything I asked for -- except a "cowcatcher", as the front grille guard is called, but I can add that later -- and it was only $19,000 with no haggling! I went to the CarMax's Buena Park website, and knew the truck was for me -- V8, bedliner, camper shell, extra-cab, running boards, tow package -- and SUPER clean, judging from the 33 photos I viewed. CarMax had all the info on it for viewing -- only 1 owner (probably an older person who was meticulous about the truck), 84K miles, no outstanding recalls, meaning the owner had taken the Tundra in when a recall came up (and there was a recent one concerning the airbags), no accidents, just everything sounding perfect all down the line. But it was in Buena Park...So I call the CarMax there and get the manager, who said no problem -- they'll send the Tundra to their Henderson lot at no extra charge, and it should arrive there sometime next week. And I'm not locked into buying, and can return it within 5 days of purchase and get my money back if not satisfied. The website even has a calculator that computes the cost of license fees, sales tax and other additional fees depending on the state you buy in -- and buying in Nevada is at least $1,000 cheaper than buying in California (now what doesn't that surprise me?). So I'm all set to check out the truck when it arrives in Henderson next week; it really is the "best case scenario" after having my Tundra declared totaled by AAA, my car insurance company. It's still hard to believe, the "road" I've gone down since having the deer hit my truck on my way to Portal -- I'm buying the house of my dreams in  possibly my favorite location of all, I will probably have a worthy replacement to my Tundra, and Discovery I will be replaced by Discovery II in late January, so I can get some mileage on "her" before I take Tundra II and Discovery II up the Alaska/Canada Highway starting in June. I was just watching the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings" and thinking to myself, I too am on a journey, and I have no idea how it will turn out but as in the movie trilogy there is a Happily Ever After, though the going may be rough..I'll be heading back over to the Overton Wildlife Management Area this morning, for more testing of the Canon 7D Mark II and to do a bird count to be submitted to eBird through my BirdsEye app on my iPad Mini. I still can't believe that I can do that one day, and if I want to (and I invariably DO) do the same thing the next day...

Here are some more highlights of Travels of Discovery so far --

Cameron Falls, Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada

 Waterton Lakes From Bear's Hump Trail

The revival of horse races at Osoyoos, British Columbia! (Thanks to my friends Gaye and Lee Horn for taking me there)

Brrrr!  An early-season snowfall at Fishing Bridge Campground, Yellowstone National Park, mid-September 2013 as seen from the door of Discovery

Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone NP

Bison -- please, NOT buffalo -- in Yellowstone NP's Lamar Valley

Another of my top fave locations -- Capitol Reef Nat'l Park, October 2013

Thanks once again for coming along for the ride with me; there's much more left to see and do...

November 27 -- I Take My New Canon 7D Mark II For A Spin At The Overton Wildlife Area

First impressions are always suspect and due to change, but spending Thanksgiving Day at the Overton Wildlife Management Area down the street from the RV park where I'm staying left me in no doubt, less than 24 hours after I received the camera from Amazon, that this is one heckuva tool, and especially for bird photography. I tried various setting and bird subjects -- perched, flying in a mass, single birds-in-flight -- and at ISO speeds ranging from 100 to 800. The results, well, they're here for you to see...

One of the best features that the Mark II has may sound minor to most, but it's important to me, and that's the "mode dial lock". Without it, if you bump the dial, your "AV" setting may find itself at "P" mode without you realizing it. With the 7D Mark I, it was a later option that I had to pay $100 for; with the MKII, it's included. Yay Canon!  Yellow-rumped Warbler, ISO 200, f/9 @ 1/640 sec --

The MKII will REALLY help me to identify birds in the field, especially when using it with the 500 f/4 prime lens, my lens of choice for birding and day hikes for its phenomenal image IQ. Savannah Sparrow, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/640 sec -- 

Next up is a Western Grebe in mid-preen, shaking itself off, ISO 400, f/10 @ 1/1000 sec. I took over 1000 shots (!) yesterday, but part of the reason for that was because the default settings for the MKII is one RAW and one JPEG per shot, and I didn't realize it until afterwards. So it's now set to only RAW -- 

Here's a Pie-billed Grebe, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/500 sec. Yesterday was a good day to test the "boundaries" of the MK II as it started out sunny, then got cloudy as the day went on -- 

American Wigeon, ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/500 sec -- 

The next was part of a sequence of 12 shots of a Northern Harrier in-flight -- and the MK II held focus on all 12 shots. With the MK I, I was lucky to get a 50% hit rate...ISO 400, f/7.1 @ 1/1000 sec. And this is about an 80% crop, with the Harrier being at least 100 yards away from me...

Next up is a 50% crop of the Harrier sequence, to show more of the landscape. ISO 400, f/7 @ 1/1000 sec. All of these shots in this gallery were taken with the 500 f/4 prime lens and 1.4x TC, giving it an effective reach of 700mm, or with the 1.6x crop factored-in, 1200mm film.

Common Goldeneye, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1328 sec..

Least Sandpipers, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Savannah Sparrow, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Canvasbacks -- This is the first time I've captured this particular duck in pixels. ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec --

This next photo is seen here at the original distance, no crop, while the following one is cropped at least 80%. But look how tack-sharp the Cormornant is -- it's almost 3D!  Double-crested Cormorant, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/800 sec.

Double-crested Cormorant cropped at least 80% from original photo -- 

Male Northern Shoveler, ISO 200, f5.6 @ 1/640 sec. The MK II has 65 possible AF points, and it's possible to use all 65 points in the settings, for tack-sharp images of moving objects. 

Western Meadowlark, ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/1328 sec -- 

I believe this next to be a Lincoln's Sparrow, please correct me if I'm wrong... ISO 800, f/10 @ 1/160 sec. 

American Goldfinch, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/1000 sec -- 

Red-winged Blackbirds in an agricultural field, ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/1328 sec --

Lesser Goldfinch, ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec -- 

Merlin, ISO 400, f/7.1 @ 1/1600 sec -- 

Female Phainopepla in an autumn leaves background ISO 200, f/8 @ 1/500 sec --

Red-tailed Hawk, ISO 400, f/6.3 @ 1/2656 sec -- 

And finally, a White-crowned Sparrow, ISO 800, f/8 @ 1/2000 sec -- 

First impressions are that the Canon 7D MKII is certainly superior to its predecessor, the MK I, and extremely versatile. I'll keep my 7D, just consign it to my landscape lens for scenics...