Texas Photo Blinds

January 7th Report: Pedernales Falls SP

2012-01-18T20:45:00.001-06:00

This one has been a long time in coming. Sorry. Been busy. Mostly with trying to keyword all of the images from this visit and figure out which ones are going to turn into prints. I wish I had that problem all the time...

It was an outstanding morning of shooting in the blind. As I mentioned over at Jim's Assorted, Usually Photographic, Ramblings, I left home late and thought I had missed the best of the opportunities. Over 660 images (and one full card later) I can assure you that I did not.

I won't go through the whole laundry list of birds I saw that day. If you want to see it, I'll gently nudge you over to my eBird list for the day. Some of the highlights...

- Seeing a pair of male Ladder-backed Woodpeckers in the blind area at the same time for a while. To have two woodpeckers of the same species, especially males, co-exist for any length of time was remarkable.

- Seeing my first Eastern Towhee. I've seen more than my share of Spotted Towhees and there isn't a huge difference between the species (just really white spots on the wings), but to confirm that they are at the park was cool.

- The massive Northern Cardinal invasion. Wow... if you were in the blind and didn't make a good image of a Northern Cardinal, it was probably time to get on Craigslist and sell your camera equipment. I don't think that it is an exaggeration that I have 5-6 very printable images of different poses from the day. It was a banner day for my dipped in red friends.

It was not all wine and roses. The light did get very harsh towards the end. There was no evidence that the birds had been fed any seed that day, yet there was plenty of spent seeds on the ground. It wouldn't hurt to have the area cleaned up a bit. There was also no obvious evidence of paste/suet/peanut butter type food being out, either.

Regardless, it was an incredible day of shooting and I just wish I'd gotten there two hours earlier and had brought one more memory card.

Image:
Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Pedernales Falls SP, © 2012 jmillerphoto.com

Another Truncated Update

2012-01-16T21:22:00.003-06:00

Blog entries are coming soon. I've been busy with photo shoots here and there and I just haven't caught up here. I spent one day last weekend at Pedernales Falls SP and I have a blog entry coming about that hopefully in the next day or two. And then yesterday (Sunday) I visited three different blinds in two different state parks. Figure on at least two additional blog entries from those visits and perhaps a third, just depending on how things shake out.

A quick bit of good news. San Angelo SP has replaced the windows in the bird blind there. When I visited yesterday there was a solid bit of food present and the water was flowing again the water feature. This is very good news indeed and I'm hoping to make it back up in the next month or so to see if things continue to progress there.

No more news in terms of workshops or other special events at the private blinds. But as I hear about things I will let you know.

Image:
Field Sparrow, South Llano River SP, ©2012 jmillerphoto.com

News for the New Year

2012-01-01T21:18:00.001-06:00

I hope your holidays were good for you and yours and you are plotting out your shooting opportunities in this new year.

I haven't had any time in a blind since my visit to San Angelo State Park. In fact, the camera sat on the shelf for close to two weeks as the weather was miserable and wet, which is exactly what we needed in Texas. I will be pulling out my pop-up blind tomorrow as preparation for a visit to San Angelo in a couple of weeks.

I was made aware of a new blind in South Texas. It is the Rockin' R Ranch, west of Ben Bolt. A photographer (Jeff Parker) has set up the blinds and the images off of his site are very impressive. The fee for the day is $125 per day for the blind or $295 for the day for the blind with Jeff working as your guide. Contact Jeff for more information.

Thanks for making last year really rewarding. Stay tuned...2012 is going to be outstanding.

December 17th Report - San Angelo State Park Blind

2011-12-19T22:21:00.000-06:00

It was a bit of a homecoming for me this weekend. I was able to make it out to San Angelo State Park this past Saturday to spend a little time in the bird blind out there.

For my long time readers you know that this was my home away from home when I was in San Angelo. Reports about this blind dominated the early couple of years of this blog because I was in that blind just about every weekend.

This trip was not specifically aimed at going to the park. Other business took me to San Angelo. But Saturday morning was free so I took advantage of the opportunity to take a look around and fire off a few frames.

As I mentioned over at Jim's Assorted, Usually Photographic, Ramblings, there have some words of discontent about the blind as of late. Bob Zeller, a good friend and a photographer I respect a lot, issued some scathing words about the upkeep of the blind a few weeks ago. Privately I had heard from a couple of other photographers that things were not being kept up to previous standards.

Along with visiting the blind I also helped maintain it for about the last 12-15 months I was in San Angelo. I didn't do the heavy lifting--others spent far more time than I. But I knew what it looked like when it was running good as well as the constant irritants that created work and would make the place look bad if not attended to promptly. And I was worried about some of the things I had heard.

It is really easy to concentrate on the problems the blind may or may not have, so let me start with the photography first. Weather conditions were perfect for this particular blind. Light to moderate overcast skies created nature's soft box and diffused the sunlight. This all but eliminated shadows in the blind area. But it did mean faster ISO than I normally would shoot with and the resultant noise that comes with it. I shot ISO 400 almost the entire morning. Often even at ISO 400 I was at 1/100th or less at f5.6. Light was challenging even under the ideal circumstances.

Nothing horribly special in terms of species. I won't do a laundry list like I did back in the day, but if you look this laundry list from December 14th, 2008, add a Spotted Towhee and subtract the Greater Roadrunner, Cactus Wren, Golden-fronted and Ladderbacked Woodpeckers, and Northern Bobwhites you will get my full list from my visit. It was especially nice to see a Canyon Towhee--I had not seen one since my return to Texas.

Volume of shots was very small as compared with that photo shoot in December 2008. In 2 hours or so I made 156 images this year. Three years ago that number was 264 in an 75 minutes. Part of that may have been the overcast--typically overcast skies do diminish the count a little bit. Temperatures were moderate (low to mid 40's for most of my time). I have two or three solid keepers in the bunch.

Upon arrival I could see both good and bad. The bad for us as photographers is that we are down to just one shooting window left. A maintenance issue cropped up some time in 2009 that required that the center window be sealed. Now the left position also is sealed. Sort of. The glass in the left window broke once again, and rather than try to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic they instead covered the opening with a sheet of plexiglass. This was not much of a shock if only because I knew that the Friends of the Park had paid to replace all of the glass in the blind. This small stop-gap measure is completely understandable, though a barrier to us as photographers for the near term.

Also of concern was the lack of dripping water. In past years a hose was run to the back to the water feature and allowed to run at the pace of a drip. The hose is still there, though moved away from where it would do the most good. But no water was flowing. There was water in the trough, though and birds were drinking.

And then there was the lack of seed. That was somewhat normal. Birds continue to feed overnight. But with as many feeders as are present it was unusual to see all of the feeders empty and little to no evidence of spent seeds in the flat feeders (terra cotta and trash can lid feeders specifically). So either they were really, really hungry or it had been a day or two since the volunteers were last out to feed.

However, beyond those things the blind looked pretty good. The blind area had a more natural appearance to it which I think is better for photography. The perches were well placed and aside from the leaning black pole that has always leaned one way or another, everything inside the blind seemed to be in good repair.

I discussed my concerns with the park superintendent and I have great confidence that we are on the road to recovery with the blind. Fingers crossed that it continues on that path.

Images:
Canyon Towhee, San Angelo SP, © 2011 jmillerphoto.com
Northern Mockingbird, San Angelo SP, © 2011 jmillerphoto.com

Called on Account of Rain

2011-12-14T21:21:00.003-06:00

My shooting schedule of late has been severely curtailed by the weather. And that is a good thing. Sort of.

We desperately need rain in Texas and Mother Nature has provided a good number of days of rain over the last couple of weeks. The last time I shot out of a blind was back at Pedernales Falls SP on November 20th. The last shooting I've done anywhere was at Cook's Slough Nature Park in Uvalde a week later. And even that was an afternoon shoot that wedged between a pair of storms.

In the big picture I am not complaining at all. We need every drop we can get. Good rains now will help everything to grow in the spring which will also benefit everybody and everything.

I am working on two blind-related things. One is the blind out on the gulf coast that I still haven't been able to make positive contact on. The other is a follow-up on a set of images I saw out of a relatively new property and I'm trying to get in touch with the photographer who did them.

Also, if all works out this weekend I may even have an update on the blind at San Angelo State Park.

Two New Photo Blind Workshops

2011-12-06T11:00:00.000-06:00

Sharron at Block Creek Natural Area has given me a heads-up that Kathy Adams Clark will be offering a photography workshop February 3rd through February 5th.

Kathy is a great photographer and I have heard nothing but glowing reviews from the presentations she does. It seems like she did a workshop there in the last year or so and I'm glad that she is once again keeping workshops in blinds on her schedule.

My understanding is that details are still to be worked out, but you can visit Kathy's website for more details as well as contact info to get more specific details

While finding more info about the February workshop, Kathy is also doing a workshop in blinds in the Rio Grande Valley June 3rd through June 5th. Again, visit her website for more details/contact information.

Image:
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Pedernales Falls SP, © Jim Miller, jmillerphoto.com

All is calm...

2011-12-03T12:00:00.000-06:00

Not much photography right now for me. I have a huge professional certification test coming up in about a week and then I get really deep into the preparation for the holidays. I'm hoping if all works out well to be up in San Angelo before Christmas to partake in a family tradition and maybe get an on-scene look at the bird blind at San Angelo State Park to see if progress has been made towards rehabilitating it.

I stumbled upon an blog posting by Russell Graves, a true steward of the land and working nature photographer here in Texas. Mr. Graves does not blog a lot, but when he does there often nuggets of pure photographic gold contained within them.

The blog post I stumbled upon spoke to the unglamorous nature of what it takes to make images when you are on assignment for a magazine. Words of wisdom for those considering moving their hobby and their passion into the day-to-day job.

I also have a lead on yet another blind, this time more towards the gulf coast. That may be the next post to the blog.

New Private Blind Property - Rocking R6 Ranch

2011-11-28T21:03:00.001-06:00

I hope that you had an outstanding Thanksgiving holiday. I stayed relatively close to home so I didn't shoot any images from a blind this weekend. I'm hoping for next weekend, though all of my favorite blind areas here in Texas are showing a good chance of rain at this point for the coming weekend.

Good news to share today. I have added a new property to the bird blind map that offers blind rentals. It is the Rocking R6 and it is about a half hour or so north of Laredo. This once again shifts the overall coverage area further to the southwest.

The proprietor, Butch Ramirez, is also an outstanding photographer in his own right as the images on his site reflect. In my opinion this is an ideal situation: A photographer who knows his craft, knows the land, and knows the light setting up blinds for other photographers. It doesn't get any better than that.

The ranch will also be home to an ICF Pro-Am competition the long weekend of April 27th to April 30th. ICF only picks the best for their competitions, so undoubtedly this is an outstanding place to shoot. This property has also been the site of other photographers doing workshops. All signs that this is a great place to shoot.

The prices are in line if not a little bit lower than most of the ranches in Texas:

$75 for a half day
$125 for a full day
$200 for a weekend safari

I like the fact that he offers half day rentals. Shooting for an entire day is not a trivial matter. As I mentioned way back at the beginning of this blog in 2008, if you are doing what a craftsman does with a camera, a day full of shooting is very mentally taxing. Up there with spending a day of doing nothing but writing programming code for those who have engaged in the art. A half day is a good set of training wheels before daddy lets go of the bike.

Butch is doing another weekend safari the weekend of December 10th & 11th. He also offers other amenities that go a little beyond the scope of this blog, but I know that sending an e-mail off to him will garner a quick response and he can fill you in on the details.

I hope to get out to the Rocking R6 Ranch once spring breaks. It looks like a great addition to the blind landscape.

November 20th Report - Pedernales Falls State Park Blind #2

2011-11-24T07:17:00.001-06:00

Wow... what a great trip to Pedernales Fall SP. This trip was everything the previous week's trip to South Llano River SP was not.

Weather was not great for this trip. Cloudy with some significant gusty wind here and there. Temperatures were a little cooler, but still very pleasant in short sleeves.

But I had this trip what I didn't have in the trip to South Llano River SP--very light traffic into and out of the blind. When I walked in to the blind it was empty, though I had walked into the gate with a 2nd person. He eventually joined me over there and stuck around for a while. After a spell he left for destinations south, but a couple from the Houston area came in and stayed for an extended visit. Other than that the blind was quiet. And that made all of the difference because the blind landing area had a chance to stabilize. Circles of fear were relaxed a little bit and plenty of birds came into the blind area.

Species spread was reasonably broad. I counted 19 species in the 2 1/2 hours that I spent in the blind. Surprisingly enough there were no doves among that group, nor were there any White-crowned Sparrows. High quantity birds were Northern Cardinals, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, and White-throated Sparrows.

The "Bird of the Day" though as far as images went was the Eastern Phoebe. It didn't stay in the blind area long, but the time that it did spend was productive and it perched for reasonably long period of time on two different spots. This produced what is easily the best image I've made of this particular bird.

Close seconds on bird of the day were a Carolina Wren and female Ladder-backed Woodpecker. The Ladder-backed though gets the frame count record for the day that landed somewhere in the mid-80's between three different perch locations.

All in all this was an outstanding morning of bird watching and bird photography. I met some neat, considerate, and very knowledgeable folks. I made a big number of images. I added three to my documented life list of birds: The Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata), the White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) , and the Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps).

I really enjoyed the peace and quiet that comes from shooting out of a blind. I can't wait to get back to Pedernales Falls SP.

Images:
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), Pedernales Falls SP, © Jim Miller, jmillerphoto.com
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), Pedernales Falls SP, © Jim Miller, jmillerphoto.com

November 13th Report - South Llano River SP - Acorn Blind

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

I will rarely complain about getting to spend a day in a bird blind. And I'm not going to complain about my recent visit to South Llano River State Park's Acorn Blind (aka Blind #4, aka Powered Camping blind). But honestly the results were marginal to disappointing.

For those of you who have read this blog for a long time, you know hat South Llano River State Park (SLRSP) is one of my favorite places to shoot in blinds. The four blinds in the park make it easily the single best public property for blinds in the entire state of Texas. And the Acorn is my favorite because it is the most intimate of the four in the park.

But on this fall morning there was very little that was working. Part of this is just luck of the draw. Part of this was my tardiness in arrival. And part of it illustrates some of the short comings of shooting in a public blind.

First and foremost I did not get into the blind early enough, or as early as the park would allow. This one is on me. I probably lost 90 good minutes because of my laziness. Point accepted. But even more ideal would be the ability to get into the blind before 8AM. Unfortunately, unless you are camping in the park the earliest you can get your permit for the day is 8AM. At private blinds this is not a problem--property owners cater to early arrival because they know it works best for the photographers.

Also, during my time in the blind there was nearly constant stream of foot traffic. This is good because it shows that people are at least interested in birding and getting kids started at this age leads to the hope that maybe even a small percentage of these will continue with birding and help keep the cycle of funding and blind building going. But all that traffic never allows the blind to settle and stabilize. Thus, only the bravest (or hungriest) of the birds venture in. Needless to say, at private blinds this is not a problem.

What caused this traffic was two things. First, it was the end of the Veteran's Day holiday weekend and the campgrounds were packed with people. Second, the trail down to Buck Lake which is normally closed off for Turkey Roosting is now open after 10AM. Of course, I got there not too much earlier than 10AM so the constant foot traffic down to the trails added to the misery on the day.

I'm hoping in mid to late spring to test the public/private mix at one of the blinds in that area by going to the park one day and to the private blind another day.

But again, I'm not going to complain because even with those issues the bird photography was reasonably good. Certainly a lot better than still being cooped up in the house post-surgery.

Species spread was narrow. The birds of the day with the highest population were Field Sparrows and Inca Doves. The Field Sparrows were a life list add, though that was likely an oversight from previous times. My other life list add of the day was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Only one on the day early in the visit, but images good enough for identification purposes. Wish it had gotten a little closer to the front, but if wishes were fishes.

Also present were the usual suspects: Northern Cardinals, Black-crested Titmice, House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, White-crowned sparrows, and many others. No woodpeckers, just one White-winged Dove, and Mourning Doves were conspicuously absent from the mix. There's at least one more sparrow to identify in the mix.

The blind is still in very good shape. It still has the theater-style padded, folding seating which is only marginally useful for photography. I spent most of my time at the far side of the blind. I still need to pick up an appropriate folding chair for the other window.

Total time in the park was about 2 hours. Fifteen to twenty minutes of that time was spent gingerly walking down the Buck Lake to do some scouting for a different project and hoping to see a water bird or two. No luck on the water bird, but amazingly enough there were a couple of damselflies on the pond.

All in it was marginal for photography, but still a good visit to the park.

About the Image:
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata), South Llano River SP, Junction, Texas

Filling in Most of the Blanks

2011-11-16T18:05:00.001-06:00

Welcome to blog entry 100. I'm happy that you're still with me on the journey. I'm sure we'll be around for at least 100 more...

I'm down to just the Cozad Ranch when it comes to missing information. Fennessey Ranch no longer offers daily rentals of their blinds. They have moved instead to a membership program which gives unlimited access to the blinds and the rest of their ranch for a specific fee for a timeframe that encompasses early spring to about the start of hunting season. I'm marking it on the blind map in the most expensive category based on the fact that very few of us have the chance to shoot more than 3-4 days a year and that best reflects their fee structure. Of course, if you're retired and having nothing else to do (and are close to the property), then this is a bargain. I do encourage you to visit their site and inquire about the details. It might very well work for you and how you shoot. It doesn't work for me.

I will try to readdress with Cozad Ranch in the next day or two to finally clean off all of the unknowns on the map.

I was successful in finding my way to South Llano River SP on Sunday and I will have my thoughts on that visit in the next day or so.

Edited at 8:19pm adding that the fee at Fennessey Ranch also covers the rest of the ranch. Again, contact them for more details.

Spring 2012 Workshops in the Blinds...

2011-11-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

In the process of doing my updates for the maps I learned of some shooting opportunities that will be of interest to this community. Up at Block Creek Natural Area, David Cardinal will be holding a workshop April 18-23. He had a very successful workshop there this past spring and I'm happy to see that he is coming back. Pricing and additional info about this Hill Country workshop can be found at his website.

As he did last year, he will then move his show down the road to south Texas with a workshop April 24-30 at Dos Venadas, Santa Clara, and Campos Viejos ranches. This one sold out early and apparently a good time was had by all because this too is down to just two openings left. Pricing and additional information can be found again at his website. And yes, for the sharp-eyed among you (which should be all of you... we are photographers, right?), I do not have a link to Campos Viejos. That will be a project for this week to search out.

On May 11-13, Larry Ditto returns to Block Creek Natural Area to do another workshop. Larry is one of the best in the business and it is great to see him back at Block Creek. His cost is extremely reasonable and it looks he will be bringing in some raptors during the visit. More details can be found on his website (note, I'm taking you in through his General Tour Info page. You can then move to this opportunity which is on the following page).

There are also a pair of Images for Conservation Fund (ICF) Pro-Am tour dates in May 2012 with Los Madrones Ranch and Block Creek Natural Area hosting events on May 3-7 and Tacubaya Ranch and Dos Venadas hosting events May 17-21. More information about the Pro-Am can be found at ICF's site.

Undoubtedly there are other opportunities out there and I will keep an eye out. Some of the usual suspects have not posted any spring dates for shooting in the Hill Country or in the Rio Grande Valley. I will keep an ear out.

One last note, I've made a couple of additions on the Blind Map. Red Creek Nature Ranch got back with me on Friday afternoon and I've posted that update. I'm still waiting word from Cozad Ranch and Fennessey Ranch and I will re-ping them on Monday if I haven't heard from them. They are two of the originals and I'd love to get some updated information from them.

By the time this publishes Sunday morning I will be on the road to make some images. Honestly I don't know where that will be until I wake up in the morning. It will depend solely on how my recently surgically repaired foot is feeling in the morning and how far I will want to walk from the car to park my carcass somewhere in a blind. But regardless, I am getting my face behind a camera. I hope you'll have that opportunity, too.

Image:
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica), San Angelo SP, San Angelo, Texas, © jmillerphoto.com

Bird Blind Map Updated

2011-11-11T10:19:00.001-06:00

I had forgotten what kind of a task it was to do a full update on the bird blind map (http://g.co/maps/sp5wf), but is about 95% done. Many thanks to Doug Campbell for filling in some of the blanks.

I have made some minor changes to the way the properties are now displayed. Those properties with the Google place mark with the spot in the middle of them are properties I am still awaiting word on. As of right now that encompasses just four properties: Cozad Ranch, Fennessey Ranch, LaCopita Ranch, and Red Creek Nature Ranch.

Those properties withe Google place mark minus the spot are properties that I have reviewed and/or received additional and confirming information on. That encompasses most of the properties.

The color of the markers have meaning.
- Purple means a blind on public lands
- Light blue means a property that the fee for the day is under $125 per photographer
- Green means a property that the fee is $125-$175 for the day per photographer
- Magenta means a property that the fee is over $175 for the day per photographer
- Blue means that it is a non-traditional blind--more about that later
- Red triangle with the ! mark means that this property is no longer available

Fee per photographer includes the fee for a guide if the property requires you to hire one of their guides.

Two new properties were added to the list: Laguna Seca ranch and Santa Clara Ranch. One, Weaver Cattle Ranch, was moved to the no longer available list, joining the Petersen Ranch. For what it is worth, both of Petersen and Weaver still have active websites. That forced me to go back and check all of the remaining sites and make positive contact (directly or indirectly) with the property owners.

Non-traditional blinds are blinds that are not structures. This is not a place where one would sit to take pictures. Rather it would be some place where you would stand and have

The update is not done yet, though. I need to link previous blog entries to the sites. I also have a spreadsheet that is still full of holes that I may make available as well at some point as a Google Doc.

So for now go at it. Tell me if it is helpful. Tell me if I got it wrong. Tell me if you've visited one of these places.

Status Report

2011-11-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

I am still working hard to catch up here. My surgery last week was, by all indications, successful. So this week, while dodging pain killers I am trying to take care of some research and maintenance tasks.

With any luck I will have a full refresh on the Google Map. I am including with each of the entries a last verified date to give a better idea of how fresh the information is. If I've done a blog entry, I will put that in the notes as well. I'm hoping to have that done before the end of the holiday weekend.

If I can drag my carcass out of the house during the weekend I'm hoping to get to one of the local public blinds. I'm not sure which one--that will really depend on how far I feel like I am capable of driving. But one way or another I really need to get out. I've been cooped up in this house for far too long.

Did I miss a blind that you are aware of? Do you own a ranch (listed or not on my map) with a blind and want to share why you think it is a great place to make images? Please e-mail me.

Initial Report - Pedernales Falls State Park Blind #2 - October

2011-10-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

Northern Mockingbird - © jmillerphoto.com

This is a follow-up blog post to one I made over at Jim's Assorted, Usually Photographic, Ramblings. As I blogged over there, about a week ago I made my first return to a blind since returning to Texas. It was also the first time I've been in a blind since Christmas. It was awful good to be back.

I visited the new bird blind at Pedernales Falls State Park. Okay, it isn't that new any more but it is new to me. The second blind was put up while I was away on exile in Ohio.

And okay, technically I did visit both blinds. They are right next to each other, but the potential for photography is like night and day. The older blind continues to be a photographic challenge--the lighting is very poor for photography. I'm sure that with the right equipment (a bigger lens than I carry and a Better Beamer) that really nice images could be made from that blind. But with what I have it is a non-starter.

However, the new blind is outstanding. The lighting is very good to almost too much. The blind is very intimate with the front of the blind being very close to the water feature and the back vegetation that frames the inside of the blind.

For as good as things are for light, this blind seems to line up with the newer blinds that TPWD and their supporting "Friends of" groups have done. Lots of tilted glass and very small lens openings for photographers. But at that I will say that the glass is very clear and I had zero issues getting focus and clarity through the glass in the blind. It may be age of the glass. It may be the way it has been kept up. Heck, it may be the angle of the glass. But I found it very easy to shoot in this blind.

Also of importance to us as photographers was the ability to get our tripod where it needs to be. No problems here. There were two rows of benches, but they were very movable and I found it very comfortable to shoot from the position present. I might have preferred something slightly higher in terms of seating, but everybody is built different and it worked for the purpose at hand.


Western Scrub-Jay - © jmillerphoto.com

What I also found effective about this particular blind was the positioning of the perching and landing materials. Everything looked very natural and there were plenty of items to land on. Two large twisted pieces of wood (probably mesquite) that sat up very nicely as perches with multiple levels on either side of the blind provided awesome landing spots. Plus in those perches were places to put peanut butter which did a great job of attracting birds that may not have been as receptive to seeds but loved the semi-solid protein.

There were additional natural landing spots within the blind to include other pieces of wood, rocks, and a very natural looking water feature.

Species spread was pretty darn good for mid-October before the Winter visitors made it in. Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, Lesser Goldfinch, Clay-colored and House Sparrows, Western Scrub-Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Mourning and White-winged Doves, House Finches, Carolina Chickadees, and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker were species that I identified while I was in the blind. Add to that a Gray Fox wandering in a couple of times and a pair of Southern Leopard Frogs hanging out in the water feature waiting for unsuspecting dragonflies and it put together a really fun morning of shooting.

Speaking only for October visits, I'd say earlier is better than later and a little bit of overcast might help diffuse the sunlight some. This blind appears to work for both morning and afternoon, but I'll have to be there for an afternoon to confirm that. Maybe while I'm waiting for the body to heal up after surgery.

In short, this blind has my seal of approval. Comfortable, well-lit, well-perched, and really all in all a great shooting experience. It reminded me how much I love shooting in blinds and how much I can't wait to do it again soon.

About the images:
Both shots were from my morning in the blind, though chronologically they may be backwards. The Northern Mockingbird was a bit of surprise. Not that it was in that neck of the woods, but that it was spending time in the blind. They're a more moving food source type of bird, but this one stayed for a while. Truth be told, I did have to do some dodging on the rock because it was really, really, REALLY bright on the original. The Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) was a life list add for me (#116... Yes, Bob, I'm still catching up :] ). Beautiful bird and allegedly it is rare in the blind to have more than one at a time.

And we're back...

2011-10-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry y'all. I have neglected this blog over the last few months. What I thought was going to be a fairly straight forward process of coming home and setting up life again took much longer than expected.

It isn't that I have stayed away from photography. But the shooting has been very close to home or the work that I was able to do when I was up in Ohio. I underestimated the chaos that would be moving back home and starting up with a new job.

The good news is that I have started to ease back into photo blind shooting and reporting and will have a blog entry up in the next few days on a new blind. I will unfortunately be undergoing some surgery in the next couple of weeks that will once again slow me down, but will give me a chance to get things like the blind map up to date and ready for the summer.

The other good news is that I have also found the life/work/photography balance that will probably work as this year starts to wind down and 2012 starts to spin up.

So I ask a little bit of patience as I get things moving again on this front and find that balance. Stay tuned.

What's that? A Light? At the end of the tunnel?

2011-03-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

This blog has been silent for a while. Okay, anybody looking at the last date that this thing was published could have said that. School has been busy. As John Lennon once said, "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans."

I have done very little work inside blinds in the time since my last blog entry. Over the Christmas holidays I spent a little bit of time inside the blind at San Angelo State Park. This was mostly to test out a new tripod and remind myself what it was like to make images again. It had been three months since I had made a single exposure.

As it turned out, my best image that trip was outside of the blind and without the benefit of my tripod. But hey, things happen.

I missed the opportunity to shoot in the blinds around the Dayton area. School made it too difficult to get out of the house. I did not shoot another image outdoors until last weekend.

Okay, what is on the agenda? I head back to Texas for good in June, but I expect that most of that month will be occupied with moving, unpacking, and getting settled in. I'm hoping for a trip out to South Llano River SP in July, but we'll see what is on my agenda in the new job. A good portion of August will have me on the road again, but by September I will be back in Texas and with hopefully cooler temperatures and to reassess what my fall will look like.

Other news of note. Kathy Adams Clark will be doing a workshop at Block Creek Natural Area April 29th-May 1st. The good folks at Block Creek promised to provide more details soon so head over there for more info.

Nosajio, the author of the White Noise blog, has had very kind words to say about the new blind at Pedernales Falls SP. Bill Yeates had kind words to say about a blind that I thought was pretty bad at the time in Fredericksburg. He reported great quantities of birds in the blind and reasonable light. I also stumbled upon talk of some blinds either up or going up in Midland. More to come on that as I get additional information. Sadly nothing new about the proposed new blind at San Angelo SP. I'm afraid that one has run out of steam.

I also found a phone message on Google Voice from back in December that I need to follow-up on and perhaps something good will come of that as well.

Expect over the next couple of months a couple of notes here and there as I start to blend back into the Texas woodwork. Happy shooting to all of you.

Image: Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), San Angelo SP, San Angelo, Texas © Jim Miller - jmillerphoto.com

Photo Blind Map Update and Upcoming Workshop at Block Creek Natural Area

2010-10-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

I spent part of my weekend doing some much needed maintenance to my Texas Photo Blind map. It had been far too long since I took the time to verify and update the information so now it may be reasonably correct, or at least as correct as the websites I used for reference. I added a couple of sites, but sadly had to mark a couple others as either closed or unable to find. As always, contact the owners of the particular properties to ensure that all of the particulars are correct. I built an accompanying spreadsheet which I may share via Google Docs in the next week or so once I am certain that I can share it without sharing everything else I do in that forum.

Also in doing my updates I discovered the Block Creek Natural Area will be hosting Larry Ditto's "Texas Hill Country Birds and Autumn Colors" workshop November 4-6. I'm not sure how much of the workshop will be in the blinds and how much will be wandering around, but Larry's work is superb and I have heard that he puts on an excellent workshop. More information can be found at Larry's website.

Image: Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), South Llano River SP, © Jim Miller - jmillerphoto.com

News and Notes...

2010-10-24T07:13:00.002-05:00

Little bits of news and notes are trickling in every once in a while. I am hearing decidedly mixed results about the blind at San Angelo State Park. Bob Zeller reports that the fall birds are arriving, with the most notable arrival being the White-crowned Sparrows--a true harbinger of Jack Frost packing up the car and heading for my beloved West Texas. However, another couple photographer friends of mine have reported that fall has brought a narrow species spread and the predominance of blackbirds and doves is still in full force. Timing and weather affect that blind more than any other I've ever dealt with. Fingers crossed for some species diversity and great images during this time of year before winter hits and the angles of light become less favorable. I have not heard any word lately regarding the planned but delayed 2nd bird blind. If someone could provide me some updated info I would be very appreciative.

Bill Yeates was down recently at South Llano River State Park near Junction and reports that species spread was also pretty narrow, with the blinds currently being dominated by Northern Cardinals. In my mind that is not necessarily a bad thing--I love the Northern Cardinals. But at the same time, there comes a point where one more picture of a particular species is just one more picture of that species. He did bring home a couple of images that would have been lifers for me: an Eastern Phoebe and a Gray Catbird. Bob Zeller has posted those images over at his site and I invite you to wander over there to see Bill's great images. Gosh, we need to convince him to get into the blogging business one of these days ;)

I'm still waiting to hear some word regarding the goings on at Pedernales Falls State Park as well as word about any fall workshops that might be going on at the various private blinds in the Hill Country and/or South Texas. Any news regarding these subjects would be appreciated.

My 2011 calendar, Dragonflies 2011 is now available for sale for $16.99 + S&H. Yes, they are dragonflies rather than birds. What can I say--this summer during my exile from Texas has been all about Odonates. Of the 12 different images there are 11 different species. The repeat (the Widow Skimmer) has a male for one month and a female for another. I am very pleased with the images and the production quality and invite you over to Lulu to take a look. My plan for 2012 is to have a Northern Cardinal calendar as well as another dragonfly (or possibly a damselfly) calendar.

Images:
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), San Angelo State Park, © Jim Miller - jmillerphoto.com
Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera), Twin Creek Metropark, Germantown, Ohio, © Jim Miller - jmillerphoto.com

Lub-dub....Lub-dub....Lub-dub....

2010-09-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

Still alive and kicking in this neck of the woods. The season of bird blinds opening up in my home away from home in Ohio starts in about a month. I will be doing a report or two from Possum Creek Metropark and Spring Valley Wildlife Area as the calendar moves to October and the blinds start to open up.

Further along on the calendar, my time in Ohio will end towards the tail-end of March. Hopefully by the first or second week in April I will be back in Texas (this time for good) and these reports will occur with much greater regularity.

In spite of not having any blinds to shoot out of, my life list has grown this summer. I've added the Eastern King, Cedar Waxwing, and Red-bellied Woodpecker to my list. That life list sits at 80 birds, but I know there is likely another 10-15 that are in my pictures that I just haven't recorded, to include a significant number of shorebirds from a workshop I attended a couple of years back and some shots from my time in Iceland.

Also on the horizon is another blog that I will be participating in to ensure that I am staying within the defined lanes of the other two blogs that I write for. My vision is that this blog will only be news from the various blinds in Texas and my personal and shared blind reports, keeping other things photographic out of it. Of course, where there is crossover I will probably post in both places or say, "Hey, I wrote about blah blah blah over at the other blog," or "A shot I made from one of the blinds is now available for sale. More info over at the other blog."

So stay tuned...more good news on the way...

Image: Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), Siebenthaler Fen, Beavercreek, Ohio, © Jim Miller

Lightroom 3 & Adobe Photoshop CS5 - The First Month

2010-07-02T05:36:00.004-05:00

My digital darkroom received a major remodeling back about a month ago. Adobe finally released Lightroom 3.0. It was been in a public beta for an extended period of time and I used it off and on since the public release. I am a legacy Lightroom 1.x user and I am a "skip a version" user when it comes to Adobe products--Adobe's "Major" version number updates are typically not enough to get me to make the jump, but there is enough change every two versions to make me jump ship and engage the learning curve again. I was also using Adobe Photoshop CS3 so I upgraded to both CS5 and LR3 at the same time.

Things I liked moving from LR 1.x to LR 3.0:

Dual screen support: Admittedly this was available in LR 2.x, but since I didn't make the jump I didn't have it. Then again, I wasn't running dual screen on my computer either, so having the capability wasn't much of a selling point for me.
Graduated ND filter: Again, this was something that was in LR 2.x, but it was not nearly as smooth or useful as the current edition.
Plug-in Support for Flickr and SmugMug: This is a gee whiz, but it's a nice gee whiz. For folks who want to throw the initial images out on Flickr to share with family and friends, this is a nice feature. For studio work, I can see a great deal of good to be had by being able to push directly to SmugMug or other providers so that event images can be processed quickly and made available for customers.
Tethered Shooting: For studio and event shooters, this is an incredible feature. If clients can see what the shot looks like before they leave, they can provide feedback and re-shoots can be done on the spot rather than later. Happy clients should equal more sales.
New Slide Show Mechanism: Great improvement from previous attempts. This could eliminate or greatly reduce my reliance on software packages like Pinnacle's Studio. I can't wait to fully explore this one.

So now about a month into my new dual software experience and I have a few thoughts...

Even though it is a newer piece of software and software tends to get larger rather than smaller through it's evolution, Lightroom 3 is far quicker than Lightroom 1.x. Granted that right now my main processing folder only has 2010's images and they total just under 1,100 (or in the old days, about 3 shoots worth). But I find that except for the initial switches into the different modules (i.e. develop, web, etc), that Lightroom 3 is lightning quick.

Dual-screen support is incredibly useful in Lightroom 3, especially during dust removal and initial meta-tagging.

I've also found that there is so much to this program that I do not know that it is going to take some time to truly feel 100% comfortable with it. The features that I know that are carryovers from Lightroom 1.x are still very intuitive and I have successfully processed a number of images. But I also know there is so much there that I don't know that it is going to take some time.

Photoshop CS5 runs beautifully as well. What I knew of CS3 works great. I'm still learning the other features and am anxiously awaiting for mid-August when Scott Kelby's CS5 book is released so I can really get into the guts of what I need to know.

Overall it has been a smooth transition. I can't wait to (a) get the books to help me along the learning path, and (b) to make more images in the camera so I can take them into the digital darkroom.

June 18th Report - San Angelo State Park

2010-06-26T15:22:00.003-05:00

Just a short note regarding the blind at San Angelo State Park. I was able to visit the morning of the 18th for about an hour and was generally impressed. Water was flowing, the grounds were very well maintained, and the birds were plentiful. The species spread was kind of narrow, but I also didn't spend the amount of time I usually do at the blind. Far too many things going on elsewhere during my trip home and not nearly enough time to do everything that I wanted to do.

The highlight of the visit was a Wild Turkey hen and three or four offspring that made it into the general blind area. Only one of the offspring was brave enough to venture close enough to get a good look, but his siblings were definitely in the brush and while obscured, were definitely identifiable. Of all of the trips I made into the blind, this was the first time I had seen Wild Turkey chicks.

No pictures for right now... I left my memory card from that particular shoot at home. I'm hoping that it will show up in the mail in the next few days and I will share then.

Another Workshop On the Hoizon

2010-05-14T17:55:00.005-05:00

I'm still alive and well here in the rust belt. Not much shooting for me of late--no free time is one of the dangers of going to grad school full time. Membership has it's privileges, I guess.

I received word today from Sean Fitzgerald that he is offering a 2nd workshop at Los Madrones Ranch near Austin. The dates are May 28th - May 30th and the cost is a very reasonable $990. Sean does some outstanding work and I've heard nothing but very positive reviews about the workshop experience with him. More information can be found at this website or you can call 214-213-4193 .

I also received an e-mail from Bill Yeates, one of my photographer friends back in San Angelo. He has been spending some quality time down at South Llano River State Park and sent me some pretty images of an Indigo Bunting, a Lark Sparrow that was partially albino, and warbler that neither he nor I was able to identify. He also reports that he saw Painted Buntings, Black-throated Sparrows, and a number of other warblers. As you have read in these blogs before, I am consistently impressed with the blinds at South Llano River State Park and big kudos need to go out to the staff, management, and tireless volunteers for creating and maintaining what may be the best public land birding experience west of San Antonio.

On my current local front, I found what could be an outstanding blind here in the Dayton area. I will do an initial site report on it when I can find some time and I can get some other questions answered.

I hope that your bird photography experiences are going well during this spring. I hear wonderful things about the amount of precipitation that Texas has gotten and how pretty the wildflowers are. I don't foresee a trip home any time soon. I have a couple of weeks with no classes, but I need to spend some quality time on my thesis research. In fact, as soon as I finish this out, I have another 14 page scholarly paper I need to read before I start slaving away again at the keyboard. Just ten months to go...I can't wait ;)

Image: Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Possum Creek Metropark, Dayton, Ohio, © Jim Miller

San Angelo State Park report revisited

2010-03-31T13:00:00.002-05:00

It has been a busy couple of days in e-mail regarding the blind visit report that I posted Sunday. Very odd--it is not the first time that I've written a critical piece but it is certainly the first time that I've caught as much negative reaction from it. I'm glad folks still care about the park and the blind, but there needs to be a hair less emotion attached I think. And no, my parents were married before I was conceived, thank you very much.

First a couple of clarifications... In reviewing the piece, the words I used at the front were probably less precise than they should have been. It was indeed a disappointing visit to the blind. Weather was lousy for photography, there was no water drops attracting the birds, and there was no seed or evidence of consumed seed in the feeders. I lumped the water and seed into maintaining the site, and it implied that the place looked rundown.

But the physical aspects of the blind were in good shape. As I mentioned, the increased number of feeders (and quality feeders at that) in the trees is a good thing. The grounds were recently mowed, and the trees appeared to have been trimmed during the winter months. All positives.

The bird seed, I am convinced, is just an issue of heavy bird traffic based on a couple of e-mails I have received. The water feature issue has been fixed as well. I don't know the particulars, but I do know that when alerted to the problem, a team of TPWD personnel and volunteers both restored the water flow and cleaned out the catch basin. I know without a doubt based on another e-mail that the staff at SASP did not know that the water feature was not flowing. And that, quite frankly, is on the visitors to the blind (including yours truly). SASP staff can't be everywhere all the time and they rely on visitor input when things are broken. If we don't tell them, they can't fix it. Mea culpa.

I was also reminded, though I knew this from my own personal experience, that volunteers heavily augment TPWD's staff to get many things done around the park. And when things aren't done, it is often a sign that not enough people are coming out and giving back to their local community parks. $3 a person coming into the park doesn't go very far in terms of staffing the park and without volunteers there would be far less great things in our state parks.

So to summarize and wrap up

Good on TPWD and the volunteers in getting the water feature flowing again
Sorry my words were not as precise as they should have been
Come out to the park and watch migration at the blind
Thank a park volunteer--they make it possible for you to enjoy nature

March 26th Report - San Angelo State Park

2010-03-28T09:22:00.006-05:00

I had a highly disappointing trip to San Angelo State Park late last week. Some of the disappointment was just nature being nature. But a good deal of the disappointment has to do with the way the blind is being maintained these days. I know that this is going to sound like whining and it very well may be. And there are likely very good reasons as to why things are the way that they are. But having spent a good deal of time in this blind and a good deal of timing keeping it up when I was still a full-time resident of San Angelo, it is disappointing to see things as they were.

First, nature being nature... The light was horrible. Very bright with no clouds in the sky to soften it. The trees and other greenery has not come in strongly enough yet to act as a diffuser either, which meant on this cloudless day that I was really wasting my time as far as making images that were going to be printable.

But to the things that could have been changed... To attract birds to a blind, the ideal situation is to have three basic things: Water, food, and a sense of security. Of those three items, only one of the three (sense of security) remains.

A number of feeders were added to the blind area, which is a good thing. But when I went in, there was not a morsel to be found in any of the feeders. Zilch. Zero. The key to keeping a steady stream of birds coming in is knowledge that they can come to the area when they want to and feed. If it is hit or miss as to whether or not a food source will be there, it will be hit or miss as to whether or not the birds will take the opportunity to come in. It is possible that I just hit a bad day, or it is also possible that traffic has been so heavy to the blind (as far as birds go) that it was demand that left the cupboard bare.

But then there is the issue of water. Birds are attracted by the sound of water. There is a large and well-constructed water feature in the middle of the habitat area. But not a single drop of water was flowing through it. By looking at the level in the collection area at the bottom, it is fairly obvious that it has been weeks since water has been flowing through it. I'm not sure if this is a TPWD thing or a maintenance thing or a philosophy thing. But I do know that without a steady source of water, a good deal of the non-seed feeders will never come into the blind and the seed-feeders will look for other sources of water and food before coming into the blind area.

As a former member of the Board of Advisors for Friends of San Angelo State Park, I still have some contacts with the powers that be and I will find out why the water issue is the way it is.

As to the reason why I went in the first place... I arrived at the blind at around 9AM. Very windy and bright morning. Based on what my camera says, it was nearly 45 minutes before the first bird came down to where they could be photographed. Some White-winged Doves made it into the trees around the blind, but it was a House Finch that was the first to be brave enough to feed on the seed.

Once the House Finches gave the all clear, then the standard assortment of suspects made it into the blind, to include male and female Northern Cardinals, Titmice, White-crowned and House (English) Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, White-winged and Mourning Doves, and Pyrrhuloxia ventured in. Eventually a very brightly colored Golden-fronted Woodpecker came in as well.

After seeing the results on the LCD and understanding that neither the light nor the wind was going to get better, I headed back home to finish my primary project for my trip back to San Angelo: Putting sod down in the backyard.

I'm hoping I will have better luck in early summer when I head back to San Angelo for another short visit.

Images:
Pyrrhuloxia, adult female (Cardinalis sinuatus), San Angelo State Park, © Jim Miller
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), San Angelo State Park, © Jim Miller