Biggest Week in American Birding! Female American Redstart
American Redstart: female, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio. USA, May 2023 — I encountered this female American Redstart on my first trip around the boardwalk at Magee…before I saw any males. The female is, of course, just as striking as the male, just with yellow replacing the orange and the addition of the white bib. And of course, they share the same long tail with the flashy outer tail feathers. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/640th. -.7EV.
India! Black-crowned Night Heron
Striated Heron: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — At first I thought this was a Black-crowned Night Heron which has one the widest distributions of any bird in the world, occurring on every continent (but not in Australia where is it replaced by a close relative…so close they interbreed where their ranges overlap). But the yellow eyes, as a reader pointed out, makes it a Striated Heron, with a much more restricted range. Still, as it happens I have seen the Strianted on 3 continents now. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 2EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — On my first walk around the boardwalk at Magee, someone pointed out this tiny Eastern Screech Owl perched in a hole in a dead snag right beside the boardwalk. This is one of a pair that is often along that section of the boardwalk where there is a nest box for their use. It was somewhere along there every day I was there, though it moved its day perch to a leafy tree just down the boardwalk where it was much harder to see. Here you see it doing what it does best…blending into its environment well enough to be all but invisible, while it keeps a sleep watch on what is happening around it. This is a small owl: as small as 6 inches or as large as 10, and weighing between 4 and 9 ounces. Not much bigger, really, than a robin…just rounder. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (using the built in digital teleconverter). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th. Minus .7EV.
India! Greater Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We saw a lot of Eagles, of several different species in our tour of Rajasthan birding hotspots, but this one that flew into a small island in the Keoladeo marsh, only about 50 feet from the road and our rickshaws, was the closest we got to one. He perched on a downed snag long enough for us to all get a good look and for me to get photos. That is a Painted Stork behind him. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV.
India! Common Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Though outnumbered 10 to 1 by White-fronted Kingfishers, the Common Kingfisher is also present at Keoladeo. This one refused to turn around and show us the more colorful front side, so we have to make do with the amazing blue of the back. 🙂 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.
The Biggest Week in American Birding! Female Yellow Warbler
Female Yellow Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Though the male Yellow Warblers are very visible at Magee this spring and every spring…singing from, it sometimes seems, every branch tip, the females are there and busy too. This one has been gathering spider web or plant fuzz for her nest. The rim-light effect of the pose and the lovely background of out of focus leaves makes this look a little like a studio portrait. 🙂 OM System OM-1 and 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. Minus .7EV exposure compensation.
Biggest Week in American Birding! More Swans in love, happy Mother’s Day.
Trumpeter Swans: Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Beno, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — The Trumpeter Swans at Metzger Marsh were displaying a lot of courting and mating behavior during the Biggest Week in American Birding. As I mentioned, a few were already on the nest. I got to see several different kind of displays. This pair were really at it! OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with, actually, my evolving birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro. ISO 1000 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200.
India! Purple Swamphen
Purple Swamphen: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — A common bird of the marshes, and certainly common at Keoladeo. This shot gives you a good look at those huge toes, adapted for walking on floating pond and marsh vegetation. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Rosy Starling
Rosy Starling: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — This might have been our only sighting of Rosy Starling during our stay in India. Not close, but close enough! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Canada!
Canada Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Canada Warblers are one of the “less seen” warblers at Magee Marsh in May. They certainly come through and certainly in numbers, but they can be very hard to find, and very uncooperative when found. They tend to sulk deep in foliage, and they are very active, never posing nicely for a good look or a photograph. This nice bright male keep a crowd of birders along the boardwalk entertained literally all morning. It was there and being seen when I got to the boardwalk at 7:30am, and it was still there at least after 1PM when I left. I have no reason to believe it did not stay through the afternoon. Getting this photo was a three step process. First you had to insert yourself into the scrum of birders and photographers on the boardwalk that extended many yards on either side of the brush where the warbler was feeding, then you had be in the right place at the right time when someone gave up their place at the rail facing the warbler, and then you had to wait for the warbler to appear in the open for long enough to achieve focus, and then you had to be ready to shoot. (So that is actually four steps!) Fortunately the Olympus OM-1 with the 100-400mm zoom is a very capable camera, with about as fast and accurate bird’s eye focus as you can get, and I managed 3 good shots in about 10 minutes before I surrendered my place at the rail to another. OM-1 at 700mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 500 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.