Exploring Tommy Thompson Park

Barb and I went for an early morning hike in Tommy Thompson Park on Saturday morning. It was part of their Spring Bird Festival. We did one of their "Early Bird Hikes for Beginners". Thanks to Ralph who led our group - he did a great job.

The park is a surprisingly large naturalized area for being so close to the downtown area. It is a major landing spot for migratory birds. There are a lot of wetlands, so if you go there in the spring, take your boots.

It was supposed to rain and it did, but not very much. There was a lot of low fog which had the benefit of keeping the birds closer to the ground and softening the light. On the downside, the lower light meant I lost more shots to blur and the fog added a haze to many images which sucked the contrast out of many others. I shot the entire morning with my 70-200mm with an attched 2x multiplier all on a monpod. I also lost many shots to slow focusing; a result of the fog, and the f5.6 maximum aperture. I would love to try it over again with a 400mm f2.8 and see how much improved focusing speed would be.

Now to the images. No award winners, but I am pretty happy with most of them, especially the Eastern Bluebird. I haven't finished the identification process for some of these yet. It takes time for the untrained.

There were lots of spider webs, all looking very wet.

Rain Catcher
1/250 f/5.6 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 305 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



Likely a warbler


1/320 f/5.6 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 380 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/5.6 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/5.6 ISO 500 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/5.6 ISO 500 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Rose Breasted Grosbeak
1/400 f/7.1 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario

 

This little yellow bird looks so happy to me.
I'm so Happy, so Very Happy
1/200 f/7.1 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/1000 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/320 f/6.3 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 380 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 380 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/6.3 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/160 f/6.3 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Chestnut-sided Warbler
1/400 f/6.3 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Hairy Woodpecker
1/200 f/6.3 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Downy Woodpecker
1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Tern
1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario



1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 385 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Eastren Bluebird
1/400 f/6.3 ISO 640 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 375 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Posts in the fog
f/7.1 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 140 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Danger, No Entry
1/640 f/5.6 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 140 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Red Winged Blackbird
1/500 f/5.6 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 400 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario


Driftwood
1/800 f/5.6 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 145 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario

 

This owl was part of an exhibit.
Great Horned Owl
1/250 f/5.6 ISO 800 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 380 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario

 

Ashok catches me trying to catch Cormoront. I am sure my daughters would be impressed by my fashion sense, but my feet stayed dry.
Terry in Action
1/320 f/10 ISO 400 18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18 mm NIKON D60


At least ashok looks a more fashionable. Way to sport the TD FEF cap!
Ahok's Turn
1/640 f/5.6 ISO 400 EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x @ 145 mm Canon EOS 40D
Tommy Thompson Park,Toronto,Ontario