New Welcome Banner

As the loyal readers will know "Birds of Long Island" has undergone a major visual overhaul in recent weeks which was long overdue.  One of the final pieces to be put in place was the "Birds of Long Island" banner you see at the top of this page.  It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time but for a while didn't have the skills to do it - and for a long time didn't have the motivation.  Well, I'm glad I finally got around to doing it (even if it took awhile).

This was Version #1

I asked for feedback from other photographers I know, as well as my family and my fantastic assistant/girlfriend.  Some of you may have briefly seen the first banner (directly above) I made that was up for about a day but which I decided needed to be changed based on the input of others.  I made a 2nd version (below) which never made it on the site and then a 3rd which you see at the top of the blog.

Version 2 was quickly scrapped

I have decided to update the banner approximately every 3 months to keep things fresh and cycle in new designs.  Any suggestions or input as to what you would like to see in the future is greatly appreciated.  My opinion matters just as much as the opinion of my readers (probably less!).  Thanks for the support and know that I'm always open to ideas from my audience on how to improve the look and function of Birds of Long Island.

My Camera Equpiment

While a few of you are familiar with what gear I use to take my photos - the vast majority are in the dark as this blog tends to focus on the pretty pictures and bird sightings rather than the technical photography aspect.  Well that's about to change - I'm going to expand the scope of this blog a little bit and try to include a little more detail on how the image was made for those who are interested.  Let's start with what I use in the field.

The one constant of course is the camera.  I started my foray into wildlife photography with Nikon's D60 DSLR (which has since been phased out) which was a nice starter camera that gave me full control but included some real user-friendly features that made jumping into the DSLR game easy.  It came with two kit lenses - the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm.  Both of these offered a nice range but fell well short of what I needed to photograph birds.  Anyone who is interested in starting photography on a more serious level would do well with these lenses but you will likely quickly outgrow them.  The 18-55mm is an excellent little lens for photographing things that don't move (like flowers) or people while the 55-200mm offered a nice range for some bigger birds (like egrets and herons) as well as allowing me to get a little closer to things like dragonflies and butterflies - but to photograph 90% of the birds out there, I needed something "bigger and better".  So I went out and purchased the...

Nikon D300s camera (linked below) which had just been released as an update to their D300 (the S stands for speed!).  Moving up to this camera allowed for more control and what every avian photographer covets - increased fps (frames per second).  With the D300s I can hold the shutter down and rip off 8 shots per second for a few seconds which really comes in handy when I'm photographing a bird in flight or trying to capture an egret catching a fish.

I paired this camera with the Nikon 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF AF-S Nikkor Lens which is plenty fast and tack sharp (both extremely important features).  This combo is good for shooting larger things like deer, seals or gulls that don't mind you getting close - but to get really close to the small warblers, sparrows and shorebirds I still needed more length, which is where Nikon TC-17E II (1.7x) Teleconverter AF-S, came in.  When matched with the 300 f4 lens, I now have 500mm of focal length to work with (and on the cropped sensor of the D300s we are working with a 750mm equivalent lens - not bad!).  The negative to this combo is it slows the autofocus a bit on the 300 f4 and lets in less light but it's an easy tradeoff when the other option is a 500mm lens which costs a whooping $6,000 more!

Exploring the Other Island - By John Turner

I have been meaning to do this for awhile and since I'm headed down to Florida for a few days I figured I'd take the opportunity to finally get around to talking about John Turner's latest book, Exploring the Other Island - A Seasonal Guide to Nature on Long Island.

Mr. Turner (whom I have the pleasure of working with daily during my day job) has just released his 2nd edition of his nature guide to Long Island.  I was honored that he asked me to contribute some of my photos and after a many months long process, the book finally went to print and it looks great.  While not all of my photos are of birds (there are a few mammals and plants mixed in there), you will see a few familiar images while flipping through the pages.  Other talented photographers were used as well including, New York's very skilled and well known birder/photographer Lloyd Spitalnik.

This book describes the natural beauty, wonders and secrets Long Island has to hold in surprising detail.  It's an easy read and a page Turner (pun intended) packed with tons of helpful information like plant descriptions, when to look for certain animals and what public parks and preserves they can be found at on the Island.  I know many of my blog readers are not from Long Island, but rest assured this book will have you covered for nearly anywhere in New England (and New Jersey) as the species and habitats discussed in the book are found throughout the region.

I had the good fortune of reading the book before it went to print and it was a refreshing break from the usually tedious field guides - you don't even realize you're learning all about all of Long Island has to offer with John's easy style and eloquent flow.

Below is a link to the book on Amazon.com where it can be purchased (which I highly recommend!).  Just a note, I do not receive any money for copies which are sold - I'm writing this mini-review because I'm proud to be a part of it and I want to get the word out because it truly is a good book.  I also want to mention that a significant portion of the book's profits will go toward three important conservation organizations: the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the American Bird Conservancy, and FLAP (Fatal Lights Awareness Program); designed to reduce bird mortality from collisions with windows and buildings.

So click the link, read some other reviews and buy a book!