Biggest Week in American Birding! Captain of the Marsh
Bald Eagle: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Appropriate for Memorial Day Weekend. There are actually two active Bald Eagle nests at Magee this year. The one by the parking lot that has been there for years and one by the junction of the two loops in the center of the boardwalk. The ones in the center…perhaps not having the open expanse of the car park as a front yard, spent more time sitting out and sitting high where they could see (and be seen). The more you know about Bald Eagles the less likely you are to admire them, but they are still magnificent birds. Many of the tourists that are attracted by the crowds of birders at the Marsh in May are happy to go home having seen the eagles…while the hordes of warblers make little impression. That is what it means to be big and beautiful and famous…you know the whole national bird thing! OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th. -.3EV.
India! Flying Foxes
Indian Flying Fox (Fruit Bats): Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Not birds for today, but still flying creatures. These large fruit bats were roosting in a tree by the canteen at the end of the Keoladeo access road, right over the road. These are really big bats, among the largest bats in the world…weighing up to 3.5 pounds, with a body 8-9 inches long and a wingspan that can reach to 5 feet. Big bats! They do carry several diseases we can catch, and they feed on ripe fruit so fruit farmers tend to dislike them…but they may well offset any fruit destroyed by doing service as pollinators. That is still a hard sell if your income depends on your orchard. There must have been 20 in this roost. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding: Song!
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Board Walk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Tired of Prothonotary Warblers yet? This is what we might call full song…or maybe shouting out loud! And again, this bird was right beside the boardwalk. I only see them at Magee, so I have to get my full of Prothonotaries while I can. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, -.3EV.
India! Painted Stork
Painted Stork: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We saw hundreds of Painted Storks at Keoladeo, and all but three of them were immatures. I asked our guide why, and he said the adults were all out in farm fields feeding during the day. We found these adults late in the day, as the sun was preparing to set. Perhaps they knocked off early for the day. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. 526mm equivalent @ ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th, +.7 EV. 600mm equivalent @ ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Biggest Week in American Biding! Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — The Prothonotary Warblers nest in Magee Marsh, many of them close to the boardwalk…and at least one pair in a post on the boardwalk…the rangers have to put up “crime scene tape” every year to keep the birders at least a foot away…and still the warblers nest there. They are easy to see, complexity fearless, and close! Some years they are just arriving at the end of the Biggest Week…but this year, strange year that it was, there were at least 3 pairs already nesting near the boardwalk (and another pair on the boardwalk a the Nature Center at Maumee Bay). And I am sure many other pairs nesting out of sight. This one was singing happily only a yard or so from the boardwalk. Gotta love them! OM-Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV.
India! Plum-headed Parakeet
Plum-headed Parakeet: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — There are only two parrot species regularly seen in Rajasthan…or rather maybe I should say “there are” two parrot species that can be seen in Rajasthan. The Rose-ringed Parakeet is super common and super abundant…but I had to look at a lot of Rose-ringed before I saw my first Plum-headed! And the two of them, both females, turned out to be the only Plum-headed Parakeets we saw on the whole trip. These two were very far away…in the top of a very tall tree, and a good ways down the road the way we had already come. This is a deep crop…the bird is tiny in the full frame. Still, it is one of only three photos I managed of Plum-headed Parakeet. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th. +1EV
Biggest Week in American Birding! American Redstart
American Redstart: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — You had to wonder how the major blow-down that decimated the cottonwood canopy at Magee Marsh would effect the birds use of the area during migration. And certainly there have been changes over the past two years in the timing and staging of the migration at Magee…but the main change has been for photographers. Before the blow-down the light at Magee was challenging under the canopy…not, not so much so. Sunlight reaches right down to ground level and spotlights skulking birds like this American Redstart. 🙂 While I suspect the blow-down had a major impact on insect life in the marsh, evidently there are still enough bugs to attract the avian visitors in the spring. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV.
India! One last Kingfisher…
White-fronted Kingfisher: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — One last shot the the White-fronted Kingfisher that was hunting the picnic area behind the canteen at the end of the Keoladeo access road the first day we visited there. Several times while we were sitting at the picnic table it flew down to probe the ground for grubs. That bill is a multifunction tool. Such an amazing bird! Sony Rx10iv at 595mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1500th.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Sometimes the birds at Magee are just almost too close…and sometimes they are closer! This Nuthatch as right above the rail of the boardwalk. I had to stand on the far side to get focus. Luckily it was early in the morning and traffic was still light. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 522mm equivalent (only!). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV
India! Rose-ringed Parakeet
Rose-ringed Parakeet: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I don’t think of parrots or parakeets when I think of India, but it turns out that the Rose-ringed Parakeet is one of the most common birds in Rajasthan. We saw them every where we went. A handsome bird…large by parakeet standards…the size certainly of a medium sized parrot. (Turns out the terms parrot and parakeet are at best vaguely defined.) Sony Rx10iv at 310 and 600mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 160 and 250 @ 4 @ 1/500th.