I’ve had a frustrating two years shooting photos with two bad cameras (Nikon D7500) and a Sigma Bigma (50-500mm) lens that wasn’t fixed properly. Finally, I “retired” the Bigma and bought a Tamron 150.0-600.0 mm f/5.0-6.3 lens in March. I also had my second D7500 serviced under warranty by Nikon. This one had the compression board and the lens housing replaced!

Finally, with working equipment, I wandered over to the local pond and was lucky enough to find beavers, a Great Blue Heron, a swan, a couple of mallard ducks, and a variety of turtles. I am once again feeling like doing photography isn’t wasting my life away and am getting the shots I’ve been missing for way too long!

I hope you enjoy my shots. These are all minimally edited, that is, they are color corrected and slightly sharpened. No sticks or objects were removed, because I prefer to show you the real environment in which the animals and birds were feeding.

Beavers

A rare treat for me was the disovery that two beaver now inhabit the reservoir. I have never been so close to one of these amazing critters. They swim rather quickly, so while I couldn’t get a full view of the tail, I was able to capture the face. According to mass.gov “Beavers are North America’s largest native rodents, weighing between 35 and 80 pounds as adults. They can be 2–3 feet in length, with an additional 10–18 inches for the tail.”