I took today off from work in anticipation of great fall weather to give my new Canon EOS R7 camera a second-day workout. I’d taken the camera out to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm on Thursday morning. With the high-speed auto advance blazing, I shot 162 frames — maybe 10 of which were in focus.
Annoyingly, the camera kept shutting off every few minutes, forcing me to switch it off and on to get it to come to attention. Those shots also exhausted the battery, which had been charging overnight.
Scouring Google and YouTube for solutions to my power problems, I learned that a firmware update was available to fix problems with the camera restarting after power-offs. I also figured out how to lengthen the time it takes for the camera and the electronic viewfinder to power off.
This morning at the Pole Farm, the battery held up long enough to get me through a 90-minute outing and firing more than 200 frames. Some of them turned out relatively well, and for the first time since getting the camera I started to relax with it.
The Pole Farm highlights included a pair of hermit thrushes sunning themselves high up in a tree and a couple of opportunities to shoot Northern harriers.
Later in the morning, I headed to Trenton for a visit to John A. Roebling Park and the adjoining marsh. The birds were few but they were photogenic. Two great blue herons practically gave another birder and me a modeling session, one standing on a trail and the other (at top of post) perched on the wooden bridge that leads to the back island portion of the marsh.
I also took a few shots of a small bird low down amid some shady trees. The bird turned out to be a yellow-rumped warbler that proves the name is justified.
Late in the afternoon, I went to the Pole Farm again for a short walk. Besides two female harriers, I also spotted the much less common male “gray ghost.” The photos proved the ID but aren’t sharp enough to share.
As the sun sets and I get ready to grill steaks for dinner, I’m pleased with how today’s outings went. I look forward to what the R7 and I can do as I get more accustomed to its sophisticated features. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 