Sherburne NWR

[rtbaum]

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is located about a half hour northwest of my home. Up until today, I had never really spent the time to truly visit. I decided to visit after learning that it is a major staging area for sandhill cranes. I departed before sunrise to try to locate the roosting area before they had left to feed in area fields. I am confident that I located the area, but was unwilling to approach the actual zone were they roost at night, for fear of causing unnecessary stress to the birds. The sound when exitting my car was incredible!!

http://www.savingcranes.org/images/s...nison_Call.wav

The audio file gives some idea, only imagine with several thousand individuals.

My wife and I did manage to be in position as flock after flock flew overhead



The entire migration from roost to feeding area took about 1/2 hour. It was then time to cruise the backroads to locate flocks in the fields



Tonight, at sunset, they will all return to the roost.

We then continued exploring the refuge for other targets. We located the 7.5 mile wildlife drive which passes through alternating prairie, marsh, and oak savanna. Although autumn is well advanced in Minnesota (Land of 10,000 lakes...and currently no mosquitos), we can still find color and wildlife abounds.



Prairie Cordgrass



Bald Eagle was taking off to confront another bald eagle



Immature Bald Eagle



I post this shot to show a nest



I believe this to be a woodcock, I am open to other suggestions



This bird I do not know, I throw myself upon those more knowledgeable

[kdoc856]

Hi, Randy

I especially like the top image- you nailed the focus, caught the flock in a very dynamic grouping, and against a very complementary background. The focusses on some of the others is a bit soft, one reason why shooting extreme telescopic subjects drives me crazy, personally. The autumn grass color is gorgeous.

Bald eagles are one of my very favorite animals in the world, and we are just getting a fair number coming back to Ohio. I havent caught any sharable images yet. I only have a good 80-200 mm with a good 1.4 TC, but it's no match for a good 400 mm. I'd love to see any of your eagle shots-please keeping blasting away.

[rtbaum]

Most shots were taken by my wife, I did the settings, got us into position, and let her blast away. I wanted her to gain familiarity with the kit, all my master plan to escape chores like raking up the leaves

[kdoc856]

Awesome that your wife likes to shoot. Mine has an uncanny photographic eye, no patience for the technical parts of photography, but likes to accompany me on shoots. I think of her as hunting with a genius "pointer".