I visited Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

[Maestro]

I had a great time. I took a ton of wildlife pictures. I was almost on sensory overload. ;)

I will start with some American Kestrels, one of my favorite falcons.

I am determined to no longer take pictures of these guys on utiltiy lines, but that means I have to travel to where there are none. I visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Austwell, Texas 19, 20 and 21 November, 2007.

The sun and therefore the light was tough to judge at times because of the partly cloudy skies that you typical get anytime you are near the Texas coast. It was in the 80s F the whole time. I had my 40D and my trusty Canon F4.5-5.6L 100-400mm lens ready. I shot in AV mode to control the aperture as best I could. These first shots of the kestrels were shot at F8, ISO 200. Looking back I should have stopped down even more to F10 or F11.







This one flew off after taking a few pics but it simply went to the other side of the pond by the welcome center so I followed it. The sun went behind some clouds, but there was still a glare in the skies. I shot this at F5.6, ISO 200. I should have stopped down because of the glare.



Then deep in the refuge, my wife spotted this kestrel. It was very cloudy, but with the glare, I tried using F7.1 at ISO 200.



Here it took issue with my lens before flying off.



Enjoy. I have many more pics from Aransas to post.

[Richard Steele]

1. Nice work, Maestro! Thanks for sharing. nm

[Maestro]

4. Thanks dicksteele

I was just happy to find them away from powerlines. :)

[Richard Steele]

8. It's amazing how far you have to go to get away from powerlines sometimes, isn't it? nm

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. thank you, Maestro.

I look forward to your threads. They never disappoint.

[Maestro]

5. You are very sweet.

Thank you so much.

[Haole Girl]

3. Those are beautiful pics!

Well, you knew I'd have to take a look, right?! lol

I'm really embarrassed to admit this, but I thought those birds were owls! lol I've seen them before in Frisco. Should have realized they weren't owls by their long tails, I guess. (d'uh)

It's hard to have a favorite pic because they're all so good! :-)

You're going to post more, since you said you have many, right? Thank you for sharing these! :hi:

[Maestro]

6. Hey, listen. No need to be embarrassed.

When I first started birding I didn't know an owl from a falcon. Heck I thought they were all "hawks." I appreciate you taking a look. More to come.

[Haole Girl]

7. Thanks!

I feel a little better. I'm going to send you a PM about some pics...ok? So please check in a sec... if you don't mind... ok?

Thanks again! :hi:

[Maestro]

9. Will do. -nt

[XemaSab]

10. Beautiful photos!

Any whoopers? :shrug:

[Maestro]

11. Oh yeah! Up close and personal.

I had a great boat guide! I am still processing those photos. I will surely post them though.