28 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Birds, Blog
I’ve been out of touch for a few days, mostly due to lack of connection to cell towers and the internet. I led a half-day workshop for the Wings Over the Hills nature festival based in Fredericksburg, Texas, and had a wonderful time. I stayed with wonderful hosts, Susan & Errol Candy, and thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with them. I’ll write more about my Hill Country experiences from where I am in Houston the next few days.
For now, I’d like to “virtually” return to the Jones Alta Vista Ranch in Jim Hogg County of south Texas and flaunt some of what’s there on the ranch. Over the past few weeks I’ve guided some photographers there, introducing them to the ranch and introducing the ranch to the photography world. Each photographer who has visited has said they want to return, and we already have reservations booked as far out as 2017! Contact me to schedule a visit there.
Here are two photos of male Northern Bobwhites, taken from a sequence of photos of a squabble over a hen (nearby, out of sight). I think you can really see the expressions of their faces reflecting the intensity of the feud.
Be sure to click on the photos to see the full images and let me know what you think!
Squabble Over a Hen
Winner Chases the Loser Away
23 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Birds, Blog
Green Jays are no different than any other species, in the way that they have a “longing for belonging.” I enjoy observing them as they entertain me with their antics, and this pair on the Laguna Seca Ranch proved to be very entertaining. The one on the left seemed to be trying to convince the one on the right to accept him as a friend or mate. However, the intended friend (or mate) played the part of a coy character and would only let him get so close before hopping away or flying elsewhere. Be sure to click on the photo to see the complete image.
Green Jay Invitation
06 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Blog
ALERT: Anytime you visit deep south Texas, you may come across some of these green characters! I saw plenty of them today while guiding photographers on the Laguna Seca Ranch in Hidalgo County.
This morning I made photographs of two of the three Green Jays on this little perch with my Canon 7D Mark II, 300mm f/2.8 lens and 1.4x extender. If I hadn’t had the extender on, or if I had been using my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I may have been able to capture the image my eyes saw, of the three of them in a tic-tac-toe formation.
You may notice the birds have wet tails. It rained yesterday and during the night, so everything was very wet when we began photographing. The skies were heavily overcast most of the morning and, except for me, the photographers all used fill flash.
Tomorrow we plan to work on some flight shots early, then move to the raptor blind to see what kind of action we can find!
Green Jays (Cyanocorax yncas)
