Wayne Wendel's Photography : Photo - Destinations- powered by SmugMug

Wayne Wendel's Photography

Photo - Destinations Galleries

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-15-2009 : Houston Audubon maintains the High Island sanctuaries for spring migration. The birds shown in this gallery have crossed the Gulf of Mexico from South America and touchdown in these woods. Most of the photos were taken from a photo blind. The birds come in to bathe and get a drink. They are so close you can almost touch them. Each bird is different; not only in looks but how they walk, move, sing.

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-15-2009

Brazos Bend State Park 5-27-09 : A day at Brazos Bend State Park with friends started off with the five of us; myself, Jay Mangum, Jim Kelly, Aubrey Cruse and Ken Coleman. Ken left his camera at home and says his wife forgot it, Aubrey was not feeling well; conflict in medications and he and Ken decided to head back to Pasadena. The weather threatened to rain all day and the cloudy skies dulled all the color in the park. However, we had a great time walking the 40 Acre Lake and Elm Lake. The lighting was marginal and I had to push the ISO to 800 which is why the color and pictures look dull.

Brazos Bend State Park 5-27-09

New Mexico, Albuquerque, Sandia Peak, Roswell :

New Mexico, Albuquerque, Sandia Peak, Roswell

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, May 10, 2009 : An Air Force reunion took us to Alburquerque, NM in early May. On Sunday morning I made a trip down to Bosque Del Apache NWR just south of Soccoro, NM. The first bird I photographed was a Greater Roadrunner. I watched him down a "Seasonal Road", only open from April to September, near a viewing platform and then lost sight of him. He suddenly appeared on the rail around the viewing platform. As I watched him he continued shaking this small mouse in his beak. He made a sound like an owl, a low moan, "yea, yea, yea, yea". He then proceeded to show it off to me turning right and left making sure that I got photos of him at each angle. After his photo shoot he jumped down on the ground and walked down the road crossing it in front of me still clutching the mouse in his beak. As he turned away from me stopped, tossed the mouse around head first into his mouth and gulped it down in one swallow. I later found him in a willow tree chasing bugs. What an amazing bird.

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, May 10, 2009

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-22+26,2009 : Going back to High Island on Wed (4/22) and meeting Aubrey Cruse and Ken Coleman and back again on Sun (4/26) produced a few good photos of birds which I had photographed previously. I was able to get very close to the Prothonotary and finally got a good dark to neutral background. This little guy loved to sing and met my competition with even louder notes. The star of both days has to be the Yellow Warbler. I believe this little guy is the most colorful and striking of the warblers. Other highlights of the trip were the closeup of the Orchard Oriole and the flight shot of the Tricolored Heron. I got a kick out of watching Ken and Aubrey shoot this little Prothonotary when I called him in.

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-22+26,2009

Willow Waterhole Greenway, Houston, TX : Located in southwest Houston near S.Willow St, Gasmer and South Post Oak, Willow Waterway is wetlands project which offers some great birding for city residents.

Willow Waterhole Greenway, Houston, TX

High Island, TX Houston Audubon Society Sanctuaries April 6, 2009 : A trip to High Island and the Houston Audubon Society's Sanctuaries; Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks + Rookery, produced some outstanding photos of a Western tanager, Summer tanager and other migrants. The rookery was active with Roseate spoonbills, Great egrets, and shorebirds with a few alligators watching.

High Island, TX Houston Audubon Society Sanctuaries April 6, 2009

Galveston-Kleb Woods Bus Trip March 6, 2009 :

Galveston-Kleb Woods Bus Trip March 6, 2009

Brazos Bend State Park (Monday, December 15, 2008) : In the coldest day so far we were out and rewarded with this magnificant bald eagle perched over Big Creek in Brazos Bend State Park.

Brazos Bend State Park (Monday, December 15, 2008)

Birding Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR : Using photography and descriptions this gallery will outline how to bird the refuge famous for its prairie chickens.

Birding Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR

Katy Prairie :

Lake Tahoe, NV & CA : Photos of our recent trip to Lake Tahoe; aspen trees, bear, spawning salmon and scenery

Lake Tahoe, NV & CA

Bolivar-Galveston Island-Texas City Dyke, June/2008 with Jay Mangum : Jay Mangum, jaybirdseye (Smugmug),a fellow nature photographer, and I traveled down to Galveston, Texas, crossed the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula and walked the Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary and photographed birds. We then checked out Bolivar and drove back to the ferry and back to Galveston. We drove to the Texas City Dyke photographing birds along the way. These are some of the better images I took on that trip. I use a Nikon D200 with a Nikon 300mm f/4 lens AF-S and found it to be very easy to track flying birds. My old 300 f/4 was slow and did not focus fast. I did not have that problem with the new AF-S.

Bolivar-Galveston Island-Texas City Dyke, June/2008 with Jay Mangum

Alaska Birds : These photographs are some of the birds that I saw while cruising the Inside Passage, coastal Alaska, and touring the interior of Alaska from Valdez to Fairbanks.

Birding Bear Creek Park : Bear Creek Park lies in west Harris County, Texas. It is a wild habitat between the Katy Prairie and metropolitian Houston. It is bounded by SH6-Clay Rd-Eldridge Pky-Patterson Rd. It is a favorite of birders who live in the west part of the city or county. I've included photos of the park itself, best birding areas and some of the animals and plants found in the park.

Birding Bear Creek Park

Sedona, Arizona :

Sedona, Arizona

Lower Rio Grande Valley

Morgan Road in Waller County : A reported sighting of a Prryhuloxia on Morgan Rd east of Schmidt Rd in Waller County sent me on a mission to photograph one of these rarities for southeast Texas. On my third trip to the area, I finally found him around 10:00am hanging out with some Mockingbirds.

There were also some other interesting birds on Morgan Rd which I photographed including; hawks, cardinals, and mockingbirds. The little Winter Wren was photographed in Stephen F. Austin State Park.

Morgan Road in Waller County

Russ Pitman Park, Bellaire, TX 4-27-2006 : Russ Pitman Park, located in Bellaire, TX is home for the Nature Discovery Center. The park is a magnet for migrating birds through Houston.

Russ Pitman Park, Bellaire, TX 4-27-2006

The Willows of Sea Rim State Park & Sabine Woods TOS 4/17/2006 : On April 17, 2006 a trip to Sabine Woods and The Willows near Sabine Pass, TX produced an abundance of warblers, orioles and buntings. The rarest being a Hermit Warbler found at The Willows in mid-morning.

The Willows of Sea Rim State Park & Sabine Woods TOS 4/17/2006

Sabine Woods & The Willows of Sea Rim State Park 4/24/2006 : A return visit to TOS Sabine Woods and The Willows found many birds which I had not photographed. This gallery is a day's effort at both locations.

Sabine Woods & The Willows of Sea Rim State Park 4/24/2006

California Coast; Moro Bay to Big Sur :

California Coast; Moro Bay to Big Sur

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park and Washington County : A photo-safari thur Washington County to Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park on March 30th, 2009 when the wildflowers are blooming, yields a plethra of different landscapes. I did not have much hope in January that there would be any wildflowers this year due to the drought. We got some much needed rains in early March and boy did the wildflowers bloom. These photos are really the beginning of the wildflower season. Hope you enjoy the photos. Please leave comments at the bottom of the page. Let me know if you like them or dislike them.

The journey started on SH362 to the little community of Whitehall, TX. I had to wait until the light got just right. There were high clouds which made the sky like a giant diffuser. With the cloud cover the colors of nature really pop.

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park and Washington County

Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Freeport, TX : Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary is located on the island of Quintana, 10 miles south of Lake Jackson and just west of Surfside, Tx. It lies on the Texas coast between two rivers, Old Brazos and New Brazos. The sanctuary has some of the only tree and shrub vegetation along the coast and is the first stop for many migrating birds as they come across the Gulf of Mexico. There is also a beach area which contains many different shorebirds, local and migrating. The sanctuary is four acres of some of the best birding in April anywhere in the world. The first photo has a Google map button to show you the exact location.

Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Freeport, TX

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-20-2009 : This gallery contains photos taken on 4-20-2009 at High Island, Houston Audubon Society's Sanctuaries; Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks + Rookery. All images were taken walking around the trails holding a Nikon D200 with 300mm lens + 1.4 teleconverter. I did not pull out the tripod which hampers your ability to get into position with the light. Jay Mangum accompanied me this day and we had a great time. I had a couple of target birds; Blackburnian and Cerulean. The rest was gravey.

High Island, TX HAS Sanctuaries 4-20-2009

Anahuac NWR-Elissa-Quintana :

Anahuac NWR-Elissa-Quintana

Updated: Sep 05, 2009 11:10am PST

Ospreys at Seabrook, TX : Thanks to Aubrey Cruse, I drove down to Seabrook, TX and photographed three ospreys fishing in one of the many back bays of Galveston Bay. This area is just to the south of the City of Seabrook water treatment plant. The ospreys would circle the waters looking for a mullet near the surface and when they spot one, would hover like a tern and then dive straight down into the water after the fish. They would miss a lot more times than you might think, coming up empty claws, no fish. If they did snatch a fish the successful osprey would fly to a favorite perch and eat it. Have you ever noticed that ospreys always carry their fish lengthwise as they fly. These really are amazing birds.

I was shooting with a Nikon D200 with a Nikon 300mm AF f/4 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter. The ospreys were just a little out of range for this lens. I was wishing for my 500mm but it is not auto focus and trying to manually focus on these fast birds is impossible.

If you wondering where to go and take some photos of these fishing ospreys just click on the geography button. I've marked it on the map and it's easy to find.

Ospreys at Seabrook, TX

Thanks to Aubrey Cruse, I drove down to Seabrook, TX and photographed ...

Updated: Nov 06, 2009 11:28am PST

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