Obviously I didn't take this picture because that'd be me sitting alongside the Okukubi River in Okinawa, Japan with my hands full.
This photo was taken by my sidekick, Rusty and I had no idea he was sneaking up behind me to snap the picture with his cell phone camera or I would have fixed my hair, smiled, or maybe stuck my tongue out at him.
We're not exactly what you'd call professional birdwatchers but, we try to shoot some professional-looking pictures of birds in the wild.
Part of being successful at wildlife photography is patience and another part is knowing the habits of the critters you want to shoot.
We know the area in front of the cameras is a spot where an osprey dives and comes up with some good sized fish. It's just a matter of being there and having the right settings on the camera when the split second event takes place.
You can spend hours getting your outdoor studio set up to catch a shot of wildlife in action and waiting for your guests to make an appearance. And, sometimes nobody shows up.
The minute you decide to move on to another location or walk away from your camera to take a break a freakin' osprey will hit the water with the speed of lightning, grab a humongous fish dinner and leave you cussing for moving away from your position.
Well, nature called and Rusty had to go drain his radiator, or something. I figured maybe instead of us doing birdwatching and not seeing any birds, maybe it was the other way around; the birds were watching us.
An osprey could have been up in the pines and seen Rusty leave his camera. If the bird figured he could make a dive and grab a fish dinner without getting caught in a photo because there was nobody but some old man sitting there, he was wrong.
The old man just moved between the two cameras and got his hands full of cable releases and kept right on birdwatching. Nothing happened.
Things happen that way, sometimes, when you're birdwatching in Japan. Patience.....
There's a brand new site for all people who like birds and I almost forgot to tell everybody about it. This one's a gem!
The guy who started it, I'll let him tell you about himself, if he wants to. All I can say is I've known his family for many years and I can guarantee he's an upright citizen. I first met him years ago right here in Okinawa, Japan. He was just a little guy back in the last century. He's grown up since then.
Probably, I wouldn't bet any money on myself if I had to arm wrestle the guy. Anyway, I hope he doesn't get too upset over me snagging the logo off his website to show you, because I plan on using it to get more members, from around the globe, to sign-up and check out this new bird site.
WHY NOT? EVERYTHING IS FREE, FREE, FREE !!!
There are several Bird or Birding organizations I am a member of because I happen to enjoy wildlife photography. Some even list me as a photographer for their organizations. That's cool but, I'm not really what I consider to be a Birder. Those people are really into birds. Me, I just shoot birds (with a camera) because they happen to be where I am at the time. If there are no birds around when I'm out, I'll shoot bugs, snakes, butterflies, wild dogs, pigs, dragonflies, bees, fish and even pink elephants if they show up. If it's a wild critter I want a picture of it in the wild.
Well, I got an invite to join this Birder's Network a few weeks ago and was kind of surprised. The Grand Opening is today January 5th, 2011 and they started signing members up back in late November. There's already people from Canada, Colombia, Hungary, India, Japan, UK, USA, Venezuela and Uruguay in there. I think there's enough room to fill up pages with folks from every country in the world. So, thats what I want to help them try to do; fill the place up.
So, if you like birds, even if you're not a birder or bird watcher, just want to look at birds pictures or find out what they sound like, what they eat, where they go when they migrate, how they mate or what kind of bird dropped something on your windshield this is the site for you.
On the other hand, if you really are are birder and want to contribute your expertise to help the uneducated masses (another crowd I belong to) you are cordially invited. There are already several, real professional birders on the site but, there's always room for more.
From what little time I've spent on the Birder's Network I can tell you this: It's real easy to navigate and there are plenty of excellent resources available on the site. For a brand new bird site, I'm amazed at what's been posted so far. There are more than ample links to well-established bird organizations that I've used in the past to help me identify some birds that had me stumped. And, there are links to sites I've never heard of before but, will be using in the future.
Go have a look at birdersnetwork.com and you'll find one Michael R Lynch there, that'd be me. You can tell them RyukyuMike sent you but, don't mention the logo I borrowed, OK?
