Observations by dwboston

Not my best photography. Only camera with me at the time was my cell phone and this is really zoomed in digitally, which greatly reduces image quality.

04/08/2023, 4:36 PM
moto z4, 1/606 sec, f/1.7, 4.7mm (4.7), ISO 100, Exp comp 0

As a kid growing up in Forest Hill, TX, I used to collect these ants for my ant farm. We also had lots of "horny toads" which prefer them in their diet. Due to fire ants, they're no longer in our area and I haven't seen the ants or the horned lizard in many years. My wife and I were headed to a hiking trail when I spotted the red ant colony. We were both so excited to see them once again.

04/14/2021, 3:42 PM
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 1/1250 sec, f/8, 105mm (EF24-105mm f/4L IS II USM), ISO 5000 (auto), Exp comp +1/3

Offspring of the bird as photographed on 5/21/2020: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46684234 and on 6/7/2020: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48859555. Hatched on 6/16/2020.

06/17/2020, 2:16 PM
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 1/80 sec, f/8, 400mm (EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM), ISO 400 (auto), Exp comp +2/3

Same bird as photographed on 5/21.: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46684234

We believe incubation of eggs began this past Tuesday.

Photo quality not that good Shot in very low light, through a window of our patio room, so very high ISO. Colored reflections are from Christmas lights strung around the room.

06/07/2020, 6:48 PM
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, 400mm (EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM), ISO 6400 (auto), Exp comp +2/3

5/21/2020: Correction -- Yesterday, I indicated that she was bringing food to chicks. That appears to be incorrect because today, the nest is bigger (compare image 2 (yesterday) to image 3 (today)). Also, the material in her beak in images 5 and 6 appears to be mud and much to big to feed a chick. And the nest in images 3 - 6 is smaller than the one photographed later that day (image 2).

5/20/2020: Working from home, in patio room with windows on 3 sides, for 6 weeks. Lately, I kept seeing a bird flying up under the cover of our porch, but never saw where it went because of pillar between windows. Today, when I investigated, discovered this bird bring food to chicks in nest (haven't seen them, but it's definitely feeding something). Later in the evening, I was out on the porch hoping to get better shots (not through windows). It flew up to the nest but saw me and retreated to a live oak out back. Main photo is one of those shots. Also shown are the nest and photos of the bird on the nest.

05/20/2020, 5:27 PM
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 1/500 sec, f/8, 560mm (EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III), ISO 2000 (auto), Exp comp +1/3

02/15/2020, 10:49 AM
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 1/6 sec, f/16, 64mm (EF24-105mm f/4L IS II USM), ISO 100, Exp comp 0

Sorry for such a distant shot. Actually, this was a photo of a couple of interesting bridges (2nd photo) we were about to cross on a drive back to Leknes from Reine in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Had been in the area for a week on a photo workshop (https://netrealm.org/public/Dave/2020lofoten/index.htm). The swans were an accidental element in the photo. I didn't even realize they were there until I got home a few days later.