Sunday, September 19, 2010

Stay At Home Weekend

I can't remember the last weekend that Connie and I spent home - together. We had half a plan to go to Cape May on Saturday.  But even with the tweets and blog posts from CMBO reporting incredible amounts of migrating Monarch butterflies (click the link for awesome photos and report) and good amounts of warblers, the trip just seemed like too much. 

Instead, we went to Lake Galena and Pine Run Reservoir on Saturday morning, then over to Lori and Tara's neighborhood yard sale.  Peace Valley was a bust for warblers, but we got a great view of White-eyed Vireo.  The yard sale was pretty good.  Of course Connie bought some stuff.  Then we went to NY Camera and Video and walked out with a new camera lens. A Sigma 150-500mm Optical Stabilized zoom lens. 

Today, we took the lens to Palmyra Cove Nature Park right at the base of Tacony Palmyra Bridge.  We saw 44 species and had a front row seat to a Yellow-billed Cuckoo show.  I shot 100+ photos of the bird. Only one is sort of OK.  Sort of.  I'm really disappointed.  I'm taking the lens back to the store this week.  What do you think?

We also saw Philadelphia Vireo for the second weekend in a row.  You can really tell the difference between Red-eyed and Philadelphia when you see them both in the same tree.  The Philadelphia is smaller, plumper, and has more yellow up on the throat.  Here are photos for comparison (again, just barely in focus with the new lens):
Philadelphia Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

6 comments:

Bob Kaufman said...

I had the same experience with the Sigma 150-500. Most of the results were not sharp at all. I returned mine and got a Canon prime lens instead. A bit more expensive (thank God for 0% interest over 18 months promo) but definitely worth it.

mick said...

Nice birds - even if the lens is not living up to your expectations.

Diane Widdop said...

Take it back, sister. Do it this week so you can fiddle with it before the FL trip.

Otherwise, I thought it was a really great morning. We saw more birds in two hours at Palmyra than we did over 4 days in Potter (or so it seems...).

Linda said...

Thanks for the comments. I'm taking the lens back. I'll probably get the Canon 100-400mm.

Larry said...

It looks like you had a great time with the birds at Palmyra Cove Linda. The images are definitely not as sharp as your other bird photos but I appreciate the vireo comparison and seeing the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

NatureFootstep said...

photographing birds are hard. Sometimes you have to accept the shots are not "perfect". :(

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