Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: kiwanis

My opinion: The best photos of Sandhills show their awkward landing methods . Unfortunately, at Big Marsh the birds generally land so far from the viewing area that, at best, you get pictures like this , at least with any lens I'm willing to purchase. On Saturday, the birds arrived so late in the day that even that wasn't realistic; things were getting far too dark at ground level for a hand-held capture at any distance. But these overhead pics in the setting sunlight came out just fine.

Last in this set. Even more fun than the overhead groups, I think, are the remarkable crowds of wading birds who settle in at Big Marsh Lake during October evenings. Compare my similar photo from five years ago for some hint about how the population arriving at the Baker Sanctuary has increased over the years. This photo used the same lens, though it's now attached to a more able camera. The evening bird population seems to have at least doubled over the half-decade. Really quite delightful. The birds will return to the Sanctuary next fall. So will I.

Hadn't planned to take photographs at Big Marsh Lake last weekend, but then I saw the light.... I carry a pretty good camera--a Nikon D300 with a decent 300 mm lens--when I'm expecting to photograph birds. At Kiwanis Youth Area that's still a stretch for my equipment, as the cranes prefer to congregate away from all the spectators. Nonetheless, with a tripod and severe crops, I occasionally get lucky.

There's always an element of luck with photography. That Gary (cminer52) was able to capture hundreds of sandhills in an overhead shot was partly good planning--he knew where to get the photo--but he still needed the cooperation of the cranes to make the shot. We were seeing similar numbers of birds at Big Marsh Lake, but only a few were directly overhead and my massed-grouping photos showed them coming in across the lake . Different perspectives, and different locations, but both photos show the main action. Not that I lacked for overhead-shot opportunities, as this photo shows. But to duplicate Gary's shot I'd have needed to be standing somewhere else.

Sandhills look so awkward when they're landing....

Since our last visit to the place, Ducks Unlimited has assisted the owners in replacing the dam which controls the water level at Big Marsh Lake. One benefit was the new growth of wild rice (the pale green growth in this photo) in the lake. This is a very shallow lake, by the way; mostly it's two or three feet deep. None of which is particularly related to why I took this photo: It was a beautiful day, and the trees were close to peak colors.

Crane Fest at Kiwanis Youth Area, on Big Marsh Lake, near Bellevue, Michigan. These are the early-arrivals; I took this before 5:00 pm on Saturday, about 90 minutes before the cranes began arriving in force. That doesn't mean there was nothing to see; ducks and geese and cormorants and other birds keep moving around out there, and some of these folks are serious birders. If I'd faced the other way, this photo would show the festival portion of the event, a combination art show and educational effort. And an excellent nature book store. Finally: While there are certainly cranes within this photo's frame, they're too distant to see, even at the original size.

South of Bellevue, Michigan. Michigan Audubon's annual CraneFest is next weekend . During October, Big Marsh Lake is one of the premier places for watching Sandhill Cranes. Around sunset thousands of cranes gather at this lake. Taken from the Kiwanis Youth Area a couple years ago. No cranes in this picture, but some time ago I posted another view which hints at the event's beauty.