Palm Warbler
I am not sure what to think about this year’s migration yet, here at Magee Marsh and The Biggest Week in American Birding. I have only had an hour or so on the boardwalk, but the mixture of warblers is odd, to say the least. I saw very few Yellow-rumped Warblers, and several Cape Mays. Yellow-rumps are early birds, and Cape Mays are late comers. And yet it is early in the week yet. Of course, everything might be different today 🙂 This is Magee! This Palm Warbler was holding court about midway along the boardwalk, practically underneath a roosting Screech Owl. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
American Redstart
I am not finished with my photos from the Dry Tortugas but I am already on the shores of Lake Erie for the Biggest Week in American Birding and that means warblers!!! This is very much a working trip for me, but I got out to the boardwalk for an hour or so on a rainy yesterday, and it did not disappoint. This American Redstart (male) was feeding just a few feet off the boardwalk at eye-level. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Magnificent Frigatebird
Of course one of the main draws of any visit to the Dry Tortugas, is the only nesting colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds in North America. On our Wildside Nature Tours trip we had the advantage of the ship’s dingy to make two trips out as close as you can get to the rookery in the late afternoon/early evening when the light was just right for photography. This shot is from our last and most productive visit. Nesting season is coming to an end, but at least this one male was in full display. This is a heavy crop of a 600mm equivalent image…so we were not close. The park has the area in front of the rookery marked as no access, and the water there is often no more than ankle deep anyway, so can’t get closer in a boat…and no foot access is allowed at any time. Still, can I say “magnificent”! Sony RX10iv as above. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Black-whiskered Vireo
The Black-whiskered Viero breeds in extreme south Florida and the West Indies as far south as the offshore islands of Venezuela. We found this one on the Dry Tortugas, inside Fort Jefferson. For most on our Wildside Nature Tour, it was a life bird. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Ovenbird on the Dry Tortugas
Though it was not one of those trips to the Dry Tortugas that turned up an amazing number of Neo-tropical Migrants on their way north, we did see a few. This Ovenbird was in the thick brush around the campground. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Bridled Tern
I am back in Key West for the night after 3 days on the Dry Tortugas with Wildside Nature Tours. The Dry Tortugas are a small chain of 7 coral islands, 70 miles off Key West, Florida. Just after Florida was purchased from Spain in 1824 and through the Civil War, the United States, and then the Union, attempted to build a fort, Fort Jefferson, there as a base to guard the sea lanes and shipping routes from the Mississippi River and the Gulf to the Atlantic seaboard. The Fort was never finished. Conditions proved too difficult. It went through several incarnations: as a prison during the Civil War, as a coaling station and then a quarantine center after. It’s 243 heavy canons were never fired in combat. It was, and still is, the largest brick masonry structure in the western hemisphere. The surrounding islands have been a bird sanctuary since 1908, and Fort Jefferson is now a National Park…the only one accessible only by boat and seaplane.
Besides being home to the only nesting colonies of several Caribbean sea birds, during spring and fall migration, the islands can, deepening on the winds, serve as a rest stopover on the journey across the Caribbean for warblers, orioles, tanagers, flycatchers, etc. Therefore they are popular destination for birders.
What we have here is a pair of Bridled Terns, a pelagic tern that nests further south in the Caribbean, and in small numbers on the islands, and ranges in summer along the inland edge of the gulf stream sometimes as far north as Connecticut.
Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
European Bee Eater 2
I will be out to sea and out of contact for the next few days, doing the Dry Tortugas and spring migration, so I will post this early and hope it holds you all until I am back in touch. 🙂 This is another view of the one of the European Bee Eaters that we found nesting in a little wash at the edge of a small town in the Alentejo, somewhere between Castro Verde and Mertola, Portugal, the second week in April. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Sardinian Warbler
Birding a little river-side park in the Tagus Estuary on our first full day of birding southern Portugal, we saw our first Sardinian Warbler. The Sardinian was by far the most common Warbler we saw in Portugal. These are old world warblers…mostly drab and plain…not a patch on our colorful North American warblers…but still…great to see. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Herons were nesting in the Tagus Estuary when we visited this month. We saw them around a pond on the edge of the marshes and we saw them, including this handsome specimen, in the mixed rookery on the island in the Tagus. This is the same species as the North American bird…but since the Europeans only have one Night Heron, it is often called just plain Night Heron. It is a rarity, not in numbers, but in the fact that it has not been split off from its North American counterpart. Many birds have North American and European versions, or close matches, and most are the Eurasian something or other and are classified as separate species. Not so the Night Heron. Which is odd, as unlike most true circumpolar species, I don’t think of the Night Heron as being a strong flyer, or tied to the ocean. ??? Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Eurasian Spoonbill
While it is generally difficult to get close to birds in southern Portugal, there are exceptions. One is the Heron Rookery on an island in the Tagus near the small town of Escaroupin. A few enterprising boat owners make an income from taking birders (and tourists) out to see the birds, and to explore the banks of the Tagus up and downstream. The whole area along the river seems rich in birdlife, perhaps because the rookery is such a draw. We besides the rookery we saw Booted Eagle, Osprey, and Black Kite. It is a mixed rookery, with Eurasian Spoonbills, Grey Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egrets, and even a few Squacco Herons actively nesting. All but the Squacco Herons, which nest deep in the brush nearer ground level, are easy to see. They are busy with their nesting and young, and, because of the steady flow of boat traffic, are more used to human proximity than most European birds. We made two passes around the island, one going out, and one coming back, and had some of our best photo opportunities of the trip. This Eurasian Spoonbill was in full display. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. 1/2000th @ f5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.