GBH
Well, I didn’t feel like going on a big hike this weekend, so instead I thought that I would go somewhere close where I could try out my new 100-400L lens and shoot some birds. I almost did not get up. I did not sleep well the previous night, and I turned off my alarm around 1AM in order to sleep in. But I woke up at 5:30AM anyway, despite no alarm, and decided to just get up and go.
Folsom Lake was my choice, by the old Salmon Falls bridge. I like this location for one main reason: you don’t have to pay. Most areas around Folsom Lake you need to pay to get into. I don’t mind doing that every once in awhile, but certainly not all the time. In my opinion, state parks should be free to get into, like provincial parks are in Canada. End rant. Anyway, it is a nice area here along the American River. And as I found out, pretty darn good for bird watching too. There were, as expected, lots of Canadian geese around and also plenty of ducks. I did take a couple photos of the ducks but none of the geese. I was looking for more interesting birds than geese. I did find more interesting birds along the river, including this GBH. I was trying to not disturb the heron and still get close enough for a picture. I was not really very close to the bird at all, and he still flew off. But I was able to get this shot of him before he left. This was taken at 400mm from a long distance away, and is cropped quite a bit.
After a very enjoyable morning of shooting birds, I think I realize that I need an even bigger lens than 400mm. No, I am not going to buy another lens. But I think if I put the 100-400mm on the 20D instead of the 5D, and also put on the 1.4x extender, I would get an effective focal length of 1200mm. I’m sure it won’t be as sharp as this image though. But I think I may try that next time. Those birds don’t let you get very close to them at all, that’s for sure.
In other news, the level of the lake is extremely low already this year. It is much lower than at the same time of year last year. I remember that the Salmon Falls bridge was not visible until the end of August last year, but it is already completely showing in July this year. Pretty scary. We really really need a big winter of rain and snow this year.
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