Any first hand info on bird photography near the Salton Sea?

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Bill Hilton - 20 Jan 2005 23:49 GMT

Will be passing by this area next week and if there are good photo opps for
birds I can visit for a day or so. I have the ABA Guide to SoCal birding and
it has plenty of good things to say about the SS area but from the perspective
of a birder, not necessarily a photographer. We need to get a *lot* closer and
need the right light to make it worthwhile.

Anyone done any good work there? Any spots where you can approach closely with
good light over your shoulder for long lens work? Particularly interested in
Clark's grebes and avocets but any waterfowl or shorebirds etc would be of
interest.

Thanks.

Bill

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Robertwgross - 21 Jan 2005 00:32 GMT

Bill wrote:

>Will be passing by this area next week and if there are good photo opps for
>birds I can visit for a day or so. I have the ABA Guide to SoCal birding and
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>Clark's grebes and avocets but any waterfowl or shorebirds etc would be of
>interest.

I would say that the first rule for wildlife photography is to go where the
wildlife lives.

Once there, and once you identify the wildlife, you can worry about getting the
light right.

---Bob Gross---

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Pete - 21 Jan 2005 01:17 GMT

> I would say that the first rule for wildlife photography is to go where the
> wildlife lives.
>
> Once there, and once you identify the wildlife, you can worry about getting the
> light right.

... and this is supposed to be helpful?

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Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark) - 21 Jan 2005 04:15 GMT

> Bill wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Once there, and once you identify the wildlife, you can worry about getting the
> light right.

This is not necessarily correct. For example, there may be
some wildlife that stays on the east side of a mountain.
Thus, to get them in nice low sunlight, you are restricted
to the morning imaging. In Bill's case, if the birds
are on the western shore, you might need to be in the
water to image them with the sun over your shoulder
in the morning.

Bill is a really top photographer, who has asked
about a specific area. It would be nice to know specific spots
in that area and if there were restrictions as to time of day.

It was a legitimate question.

Bill, although I have been in the area, I was doing
landscapes and didn't see much in birds that I recall
(maybe wrong time of year, or wrong spot). It was about
this time of year.

Roger

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Bill Hilton - 21 Jan 2005 05:28 GMT

>From: "Roger N. Clark
>
>Bill, although I have been in the area, I was doing
>landscapes and didn't see much in birds that I recall
>(maybe wrong time of year, or wrong spot). It was about
>this time of year.

Thanks Roger, we were thinking of stopping if we got our fill of pelicans,
godwits, wood ducks, cormorants etc in San Diego next week but if I can't get
any specific info we'll probably pass since we'd only have one PM and the next
AM, probably not enough time to figure out such a large area starting from
scratch.

Bill

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Bill Hilton - 21 Jan 2005 05:25 GMT

>From: robertwgross@cs.com (Robertwgross)

>I would say that the first rule for wildlife photography is to go where the
>wildlife lives.

Hi Bob,

I've heard up to 500,000 ducks (and good numbers of other species) winter in
this area so the 'first rule' is taken care of :)

>Once there, and once you identify the wildlife, you can worry about
>getting the light right.

The problem is that sometimes there are large numbers but you can't do anything
with them, photographically speaking. For example, I know of wildlife refuges
in Colorado and Arizona (near where I live) with sandhill crane populations of
40,000 - 50,000 birds in winter (Az) and during the March migration (Colorado),
yet it's almost impossbile to get a good photo of cranes because you can't
approach within half a mile and the birds are very wary.

Another refuge in New Mexico usually has only 10,000 cranes but roads run close
to a couple of shallow ponds where they roost every night and they are used to
photographers, so every AM you can shoot them in great front light before they
leave to feed and every evening you can shoot them coming home as silhouettes
with colorful sky. Like these two shots ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/T4956.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/T5220.jpg

So I'm trying to get some insider tips on where to go to *photograph* birds in
the Salton (not just see them a couple hundred yards away across a waist deep
mud flat :). Also, hunting is permitted in many areas and it's a waste of time
to try to photograph birds at close range when they are legally hunted.

Bill

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Robertwgross - 21 Jan 2005 07:59 GMT

Bill wrote:

>The problem is that sometimes there are large numbers but you can't do
>anything
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>yet it's almost impossbile to get a good photo of cranes because you can't
>approach within half a mile and the birds are very wary.

Wary? California has at least one Sandhill preserve. I was standing there with
a long lens, cursing that the birds were staying 75 yards out. A bystander then
told me that there was another thousand or so standing in the field next to the
road just a mile from there. They were all over the place. I just waited for
sunset. When the sun was down behind the horizon, but the sky was still lit up
with orange and red, I got the reflection shot off the shallow water with the
Sandhill Cranes silhouetted. This was about three weeks ago.

---Bob Gross---

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Jeff Keller - 21 Jan 2005 18:29 GMT

Bob, which preserve?
Grey Lodge was great for geese. I didn't have any luck near Los Banos (nor
much time).
-jeff

> Wary? California has at least one Sandhill preserve. I was standing there with
> a long lens, cursing that the birds were staying 75 yards out. A bystander then
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> ---Bob Gross---

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