wildlife photography – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Red-winged Blackbird & A Childhood Goal Achieved

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Red-winged Blackbird On Cattail 6119” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

I was on Muddelty Creek the other day in the marsh and heard an unmistakable sound. The trilling call of a red-winged blackbird. And then another, and another. The marsh was suddenly alive with them. Well, their calls at least. They didn’t really seem to want a portrait on this particular day. I would catch one setting still for a moment but as soon as I raised my lens they would take to the sky and disappear into the greenery.

A red-winged blackbird darting across Muddelty Creek

I remembered the iconic pictures from wildlife books I had as kid. The red-winged blackbirds were always pictured as being perched on a reed or cattail stem and I really wanted to reproduce that childhood memory.

I discovered that even when perched these hyper little guys are never really still. They seemed to be more jittery than I had remembered. Finally the one that’s pictured in mid flight moved a little closer and gave me the shot that I had been waiting for.

I definitely want to go back to this spot for more shots. I know there’s a female in the area but she’s much better camouflaged and will be harder to spot. I also want to catch the male in full display during his call and I’ve downloaded the call to help pull one in a little closer. For now I’ll have something that I have wanted to capture ever since I was a little boy leafing through an encyclopedia at Mt. Lookout Elementary School in the 70s.

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Things Are Just Ducky #2

Color Photography, wildlife

George & Ralph In The Sun — Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “George &Ralph In The Sun” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article. All of the photos are my original work and are available for purchase.

George and Ralph waddled up out of the puddle to warm themselves in the sun a bit. They noticed that their neighbors, the geese, had just gotten home from a foraging excursion out in the forest.

Papa Goose is very tall!

George happens to notice how tall Papa Goose is. “Y’know Ralph, Papa Goose is very tall.” George comments. “So.” Was Ralph’s only reply. “Well, he’s also pretty successful and people say it’s easier to be successful if you’re tall.” George continued as he held out his short duck leg for emphasis. Ralph snickers a bit and says, “Well, it’s pretty obvious that a duck will never be as tall as a Goose.” George thought for a few minutes and stretched himself out as tall as he could make himself while emulating Papa Goose as best as could. “Maybe not. But I can be as tall as I am.”

George stands as tall as he can.

Ralph hid his face in embarrassment at his friend’s antics. “We’re ducks and we have our place on the lake and it’s not for us to be tall.” He said. But George didn’t listen. He continued to reach for his goal and while he never got as tall as Papa Goose he was in fact the most successful duck on the lake. But it wasn’t because he was tall. It was because he was dedicated to his goal and he didn’t give up when Ralph thought it was impossible.

Tonight’s story was inspired in part when the duck that I’ve named George really did look straight at the Goose pictured and tried to emulate the Goose.

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https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply message me on Facebook oruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

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Breakfast Meeting

black and white photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Breakfast Meeting” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

The big blue truck rolls to the end of the parking lot as the morning sun burns away the previous night’s rain clouds. I turn volume down on the podcast and take a sip of the coffee I’d purchased with my sausage and eggs. I normally eat breakfast at home but the previous night’s storms had knocked out the power making the stovetop useless. I was quite a bit early for my shift and there was time to enjoy the change in weather. I love the way the world smells after a rain and after being sequestered by ice and snow I didn’t mind if it was a little on cool side. Just as was finishing my eggs I caught some movement out of corner of my left eye. I’d been feeling low about having breakfast alone since my little buddy Scout normally rests his head on my chair and waits to get the last bite. But doggies aren’t allowed in cubicles so he’s at home curled up on his pillow. I was not alone however. Well up into the treetops the movement was coming from the shakes of a bushy tail. I watched as the squirrel deftly shifted from twig to twig selecting only the finest and tastiest buds on the tree. The wind would occasionally shake the boughs but the squirrel was as steady as a career sailor in rough seas. He seemed to be watching me watch him as he enjoyed his meal.

Occasionally he would try to disappear behind the thin branches and peek out believing that he was really hidden. I lost sense of time while being amused by his antics and before I knew it I was down to wire for clocking in. The sense of peace from spending time with nature however was something that I was able to carry throughout the whole day.

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Some Days Are For The Birds

Color Photography

Recently the warm weather allowed me to get out for a few minutes and visit the bird feeder at my dad’s house. Dad goes all out for his little feathered friends. The TV is on but he has his binoculars pressed to his face looking out the window at all the activity in the chestnut trees on the edge of the yard. The term “yard” is kinda used loosely at dad’s place. In general it’s any place where you mow plus just under the trees where the woods begin. As we observe the feeding dad recounts the events at the feeder over the past few days. He hasn’t actually named these birds out loud but he knows all of the species and individuals who frequently visit his yard. He tells me that the Common Flicker in tonight’s feature image is the boss of the yard and how he even challenges and keeps at bay the murder of crows that are larger and outnumber him. He talks about the covey of mourning doves and how one always lands on the feeder and tosses food down to the ground for the rest of them. A Pileated Woodpecker swoops in as dad talks and lands on a dead limb of a hickory tree. He hits the dead wood like a jackhammer and sends wood chips flying everywhere in his search for insects living in the wood. ( I tried to get a nice shot of the Pileated Woodpecker but he’s far too camera shy and took flight as soon as I stepped outside.) Dad has one mortal enemy at his bird feeder and surprisingly it’s not the squirrels. It’s a mob of Common Grackles that have run the bluebirds out of his yard and have even overwhelmed the Flicker on occasion. The former Marine came out in dad’s eyes when he postulated on how to defend his songbirds from the Grackles. A few minutes later he softened a little and said that God had a place for the Grackles too. Most of shots from the window didn’t really turn out well and so I put my wilderness stalking skills to work and began to ease myself closer to the feeder. Most of the birds scattered at first but soon the chickadees returned. Small and agile the chickadees figure they can be gone with a mouthful of food before the human can react. I remained as motionless as a stone until they began to ignore me. As soon as the others saw that I wasn’t chasing after the chickadees they also returned. Then finally the Flicker decided that it was time to let me know that this was his feeder. The others gave way to him as he came in for a landing. He dug into the seed mix and found the one he wanted. Then he flew directly at the camera so fast that I couldn’t adjust the focus. He pulled up at the last moment and landed on the branch above me. Few a few minutes he seemed to play peekaboo by popping out from the tree with the nut in his beak. Finally he tucked it into his hiding spot on an upper branch.

Common Flicker hiding a nut in a tree branch

I watched him repeat this stunt a few times before I went back inside to visit with dad some more and share the photos with him. I’ve been told that some days are for the birds but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I want to encourage you to spend some time birding. The songbirds not only bring much needed beauty to the dull winter climate but also share their beautiful songs and impart a little peace to your morning.

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A Conversation Between Friends

Color Photography

Tonight’s Feature Image is titled ” Friendship & Sunshine”. If you would like to purchase a copy please use the contact info at the bottom of page.

There’s something special about having a day with nothing to do but sit by the river with a friend. I look at the ducks in tonight’s feature image and I have to imagine that they’ve been best friends since the day they met. As they stood there on their rock looking out over the Kanawha River they seemed to quack to each other in a hushed tone and this could only mean that were gossiping. Which makes me wonder what ducks would gossip about?Perhaps they are having a conversation about Gertrude. “Gertrude thinks she’s in charge of everything but she’s just a silly old goose.” Or maybe they are talking about what an old crow Joe is. Of course it might not be gossip at all. They could be quizzing each other on the lecture given by the wise old owl last night. So that when he asks who they’ll be the first with the right answer. Perhaps they are discussing the sermon that the cardinal gave last week or the upcoming drake concert. I can almost hear one say to the other that “The hummingbirds are going to open for him!”. They could be commenting on how tall young Mr Crane is or Mrs Dove is so pleasant. It’s also entirely possible that one of them is saying that “There’s some guy sneaking up behind us with a camera.” Of course it doesn’t matter what the conversation is about. All that’s really important to them is spending time with a best friend.

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