Testing Out New Canon EOS R7 at Horn Pond

This Winter, I finally figured out how to use every feature on the Canon Rebel T3. which had been my only camera since last march. After a year of use, I decided I needed an upgrade. The Rebel T3 only had 12 MP, which was my main reason for the upgrade, but I also wanted a quiet shutter, better menu, higher max ISO, 2 SD card slots, flipping touchscreen LCD screen, and other things that the rebel T3 couldn't offer. I decided to order the Canon EOS R7, which had all of those things, plus 32 MP. Exactly 2.6 times the resolution of the rebel T3. 

The new camera finally arrived on March 21st. I went out that afternoon to test it out at Assabet NWR, but the only subjects i could find were red winged blackbirds and great blue herons (both at long distances). Using a mirrorless setup felt so much more high-end than my cheap DSLR. Being able to see how the photo would turn out before i took a picture made a huge difference in my ability to expose properly.

I decided to go to Horn Pond the next day. My plan was to stop at Horn Pond, see whether the barred owls were nesting or not this year, and then go to spend the evening with peregrine falcons and ravens, both nesting on the big cliff in Woburn. My plans changed when I got to horn pond and realized that the barred owl that roosts in a thick area of pine tress was perched below the canopy, which is uncommon. Usually it hangs out up in the dense green canopy, blocked from photographers by thick pine needles. Not only that, but it was stretching, and preening which is usually a sign that an owl is waking up.

I left the owl, as it stopped moving and went back to sleep. I figured it would be a long time before it was active again. I found a few mallards that were flying up from their stream, and landing on the side of a bridge. A person had left seeds on the plank on the railing, and the ducks were just now learning about it...

I then walked along a small trail that stretched out into the section of Horn Pond just north of the bridge where the mallards were. I crouched as low as I could get as a curious American coot came over to check me out, and eat some algae. Usually, waterfowl only approach people in hopes of being fed, but I think this coot was just genuinely curious and wanted to check me out. Soon a few others joined it, and I had a whole flock of coots right at my feet, pulling up algae from the shallow water.

Then, I heard something strange. It sounded like somebody was trying to hoot at the barred owl. I had not heard a barred owl call during the day before. I heard it again, coming from where I had just seen the sleeping owl. "Who Cooks For You?! - "Who Cooks For You All?!!" echoed around the whole pond. That was way too realistic to be a human. I ran as fast as I could to the pine area, and was very confused. The owl was still sound asleep. I heard it again, booming from the back of the pines. I ran over and found another barred owl almost immediately.

I took my first video on the R7. Unfortunely, I was stupid, and never took the tripod out of my car, so this video is very shaky, mainly because it was taken handheld at 600mm zoom. The sleeping owl finally woke up, and both owls called back and for for a few minutes, before going silent again. The clip had to be trimmed down to only include the best moment because the R7's video quality is very high, and blogger has a file size limit on videos. The original clip was about 20 seconds.

I then went back to where I had seen the coots. I could see a great blue heron in a very photogenic spot from the bridge with the mallards, who were still there. The heron was drinking, a behavior I had never seen before...

I approached it, and was able to get really close. The herons here are not skittish at all. I was very impressed with the R7 for this encounter.

That's when I ran into my friend Maceo (@maceosusi), a 19 year old wildlife photographer who goes to Horn Pond more often than me, and knew of a few cool waterfowl spots that I didn't. The first one we checked out was a small pond that had a pair of green winged teals swimming around in it. A species i had only shot once before (those photos are in the post: "Thanksgiving At Wash Brook"). The pair did not flush, because they were also very habituated to people, but they did swim out across the little pond, feeding in a small inlet on the far side. Not the best spot for photos, but still a cool spot that I will probably come back too, when I can dedicate the time to wait for them to swim into good spots, and lie down. These are my best 3 photos from that encounter...

The second spot was in a larger pond. This had a mute swan nest, and a species of duck I had never seen before: the northern shoveler. The pair was hanging out along the far perimeter of the pond. I thought they were mallards at first, but soon realized what they were. Maceo showed me a few places to access the water. In one of them, I climbed onto a fallen tree, and balanced out onto the water. I was shooting through the mess of branches, and I could not get to eye level with the pair without falling into the pond, but I still got some decent photos.

We then decided to look for american woodcocks in the golf course up the hill. we DID hear a few, and saw them in flight, but they flushed too easily and it was too dark for me to get a photo. I will try again when I have a free night.