Blog posts now coming to you same day of shooting.

This morning I woke up earlier than I expected for a Saturday. Especially considering that I was up late last night. Just after 2pm I got the final components for my new editing pc.

With all the parts laid out I set to work. Following videos and googling whenever I ran into a question I didn’t know the answer to. I had taken apart some old computers before but this was the first time I was building one from scratch.

The aftermath wasn’t pretty.

The end result I’m pretty happy with. It was 100% performance over aesthetics. Plus that gives me some projects to tinker with over time. For example when the case got delivered on Wednesday and I realized I should put more than just the included 2 fans I just picked some with somewhat decent reviews and RGB of course. The front fans you can’t see are only white… for now. I have more of the cheap-o RGB fans coming in. Just have to run some tests when they get here to make sure they cool properly. As it sits right now it’s pretty nice.
And this was just a quick and dirty picture with the phone to share with family and friends at the end of a 7 hour build. Once I get the desk looking better as well I’ll take a nicer picture with the DSLR.

Anyway, enough about the powerhouse that will be editing 4k video soon enough. I woke up early and decided it was perfect to start scouting this new area and find wildlife locations.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105mm - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 400

A lake not too far away was the place I chose to visit this morning. Being there as the sun was rising let me take advantage of the golden hour.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105mm - 1/100 Sec - F7.1 - ISO 100

It was a nice peaceful morning.

Before too long I came across something I didn’t recognize, a plant I certainly had never seen back in GA.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105mm - 1/100 Sec - F10 - ISO 250

Onopordum acanthium - Otherwise known as the Scotch Cottonthistle.

Canon 5D Mark II w/24-105mm - 1/200 Sec - F7.1 - ISO 250

From some research they are considered a “Noxious weed” because they can quickly reproduce and take over areas while not being useful for grazing livestock.

They also bloom into some really pretty flowers that I’d like to go back with my macro lens and take more pictures of.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/500 Sec - F4 - ISO 125

As I was walking along the trail I spotted this big sparrow swoop in and land on the very top of the this tree branch. Some digging leads me to believe this is a Savannah Sparrow as they are common throughout the US and it’s actually hard to identify sometimes. Like when it’s the golden hour making it more yellow than usual and one of the ways to help narrow down the identification is a yellow patch.

These next two images aren’t great, but I cropped them in so you could see a bit of detail on what is a fantastic spotting for the day. A Black Billed Magpie, identified by the white on it’s wings and the extremely long tail.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/500 Sec - F4 - ISO 100

Should have jumped to one of my other custom shooting settings where I have faster shutter speeds ready to go. But I’m not being too hard on myself, I haven’t gone out for wildlife photography in months.

Out on the lake I managed to see some waterfowl, and I can add a few new ones to the collections.

First was the Double-Crested Cormorant, which will dive under the water to seek out fish.

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 100

Canon 7D Mark II w/300mm + 1.4x - 1/800 Sec - F4 - ISO 125

Beautiful creature.

And as I kept watching over the lake there were others that came in for a landing. This big group of Common Merganser females, identified by red coloring on the head as the males have a dark green head. Also the body has more white than gray.

I had a bit of trouble getting focus on the group, for some reason the one making all the splashes was drawing my attention.

As they paddled along they did all group up at one point, and I managed to get a decent shot then. This was a much bigger lake than I had imagined and everything was staying pretty far away, I was shooting at quite the distance.

Now this next one, a few times over the last few weeks I would catch a slight glimpse of bright yellow looking out the window. I plan to put up a bird feeder for all the local birds but from the first part of this post you know where my money has been going.

Thankfully I finally managed to be quick enough with the camera to catch these next few shots of the mysterious yellow bird. Now identified as the Yellow Warbler. If I’m correct a female as the males have red streaks along their chest.

I like that I managed to catch her mid hop around on the branch.

Alongside this lake is the river that runs across much of the area. I knew that before hand and was hoping the trail would take my alongside it. Which it did. What I was not expecting was to see much of seabirds considering how landlocked we are. But I walked out from behind the trees along the trail and fumbled with my camera as I tried desperately to quickly get a shot of the biggest white pelican I’ve ever seen. It was massive! I couldn’t get a shot off as it saw me and took off. But it was just standing in the river evidently fishing. Can’t wait to go back out there and see if I can spot another.

As I stood at the river edge I did manage to get some shots of the other waterfowl about. Including what I believe to be a Yellowlegs of the Sandpiper family. Not sure if it’s greater or lesser though as I’ve never seen one before for comparison.

A pair of Mallard Ducks watched from across the river.

And a Ring-Billed Gull made an appearance as it flew up away from the water and in front of some nearby buildings.

Last but not least was an old favorite that I spotted as I was heading back to the car. A Blue Jay.

For the first day out I’m very pleased with the results. I have to get back into the habit of shooting and relearning those skills I haven’t used in a bit. Also should give all my equipment a thorough cleaning after being all packed up.

I also have placed an order for a new car, well used but new to me. 4 wheel drive for the upcoming snow I know we’ll be getting out here. Once that gets delivered I’ll be able to go out further without stranding my girlfriend at home by taking her car.

Every image tells a story

But not the full story

First wildlife outing in Wyoming - 8/15/20

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