Posts in Category: wildlife
Mud Puddling Swallowtails
Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies, West Kennebunk ME, Puddling.
Our extended family had a Memorial Day cookout at my sister-in-law’s home across town from us yesterday. When we drove in, I immediately saw some butterfly action on her freshly seeded front lawn. It was hard to miss. Three bright, fresh Tiger Swallowtails were mud puddling on an otherwise undistinguished spot of soil. As you see from the photo it was moist but not wet. Given puddling behavior of butterflies in general, it is safe to say these, and several others I saw on the spot over 15 minutes, were all males. And again, given the situation at my in-laws, it is safe to say that their cat had chosen this exact spot to urinate sometime earlier that day. Male butterflies are attracted to the soil salts in damp earth. They drink the fluids and force them rapidly though their bodies extracting minerals which they then, at least in some cases, excrete during mating with the female and present as a gift. The processes seems to increase an individual male’s reproductive success, and the minerals may help in sperm production. The male’s gift might be his way of saying “Look how salty my sperm is! Good stuff here!” No one knows for sure. Urine, of course, is particularly high in sodium and ammonia, both of which are prized by male butterflies. And since the puddling area was so restricted here, and I doubt anyone else in the household was out on the front lawn that morning releaving his or her self, I do suspect the cat 🙂
That is probably more than you really wanted to know about these beautiful butterflies. They were all about as fresh and bright as I have ever seen. I suspect they were no more than a few days old. Even-so, at least one had a large section of that bright hindwing, including the tail on that side, missing, probably due to an encounter with a bird…though I can not rule out the cat on that front either.
Nikon P900 at 550mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ f5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Lightroom.
Blue Jay Rampant
Blue Jay, Laudholm Farms, Wells ME
It is odd that until this year, I have had little success photographing Blue Jays. I see them, but I have not been able to get them in the frame. This year I have photographed them in Maine and Ohio, getting close-ups and satisfying images in both states! I posted one from Ohio as the pic of the day a few days ago, and here we have a specimen from Laudholm Farm just down the road from my home in southern Maine. I think there might me an unusual number of Jays this year for one thing…or the late migration north has bunched them up more than usual. I am certainly seeing more of them.
Though it can be an obnoxious bird around feeders, and is know for raiding other birds’ nests for eggs, it is certainly, on aesthetic grounds alone, one of the more striking birds of North America. The boldly barred blue and black and white wing and tail patterns, and the subtle purpley-blues of the back…along with the patterned face, big beak and eye…make it a stand out bird. Catch it in good light and with a contrasting background, as here, and it makes a memorable image. Or that’s what I think 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ f6.5 @ ISO 400. Processed and cropped for composition in Lightroom.
Blue Jay Posing (with bokeh)
Blue Jay, Pearson Metropark, Oregon OH
On my last morning in Ohio for the Biggest Week in American Birding, I spent a few hours, before the drive to the airport, at Pearson Metropark right on the edge of Oregon, just a few miles from my hotel. The day before had been slow at Magee Marsh, and not much had changed at Pearson. There were a few warblers, Cardinals, Robins, and this very cooperative Blue Jay, posing on a branch long enough for a few shots. Still it was better being in the park than sitting in my hotel or waiting at the airport for the extra hours. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightrtoom. The interesting bokeh is from a chain-link fence a few yards behind the bird.
Blackpole views…
Blackpole Warbler, Magee Marsh, OH
Sometimes, especially when migration hits when the leaves are already well out at Magee Marsh in Ohio, warbler photography is even more difficult than normal. My friend Rich was doing his first serious warbler captures this year and his constant refrain was “Why is there always a stick between me and the bird?” And, of course, there generally is, except when it is a thick bunch of leaves 🙂 Warblers sitting right out in plain sight, preferably in full sun, are simply very hard to come by, at Magee Marsh or anywhere else during spring migration. So when you see those killer shot of warblers, realize that they are the exception, not the rule.
This Blackpole warbler worked overhead, about 20 feet up, for 10 minutes or more, and I shot a lot of frames to get these four. Still, the panel shows off the Blackpole pretty well. Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Black and White peek-a-boo
Black and White Warbler, Magee Marsh OH
Woodpeckers unwittingly supply nest cavities for many other species. I never thought of the Black and White Warbler as one of them, but this B&W was obviously laying claim to a cavity along the Magee Marsh boardwalk. It sat with its head out like this for about 5 minutes then disappeared back into the cavity and did no reemerge for at least the next 15. I know, because we waited, hoping my friend Rich could also get a shot. (I tried to get him on the bird earlier, but another photographer stepped into the spot I made for Rich. 🙁
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/100th @ ISO 800 @ f6.5. Processed in Topaz Denoise and Lightroom.
Yellow Warbler after bath…
Yellow Warbler, Magee Marsh OH
This Yellow Warbler along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh during the Biggest Week in American Birding found some standing water for a bath, and then flew up into a bush for a thorough feather fluff and slick and some air drying. And of course I was there to catch it with my camera 🙂 There is no reasonable expectation of privacy on the boardwalk at Magee.
Nikon P900 at 1800mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 400 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Redstart. Happy Sunday!
American Redstart, Magee Marsh OH
The American Redstart is one of the more common warblers in North America…found most places…and nesting over a wide area of the continent. When they come through Magee Marsh in Ohio during the Biggest Week in American Birding they dominate the marshy forest by sheer numbers. They come in droves. It is easy to begin to think…Oh just another American Redstart…but every one is worth a look. They are perky, active, and fearless…often feeding within a few feet of birders on the boardwalk…and their bold colors, two shades of orange, jet black, with a white undertail, make them stand out in any foliage. These shots, as you see, were taken through openings in the foreground foliage, but the bird certainly stands out.
Nikon P900 at 1800mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 400 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage Pro.
This is the last day of the Biggest Week in American Birding. I have been here 10 days. I am, but put it mildly, tired out! It has been, as always, a real treat to walk among the warblers and the birders on the Magee Marsh boardwalk…seemingly thousands of each. This week is as close to homecoming as birders get. It is the one time during the year that I can count on some actual face time with many of my social media birding friends. Someone said, “a gathering of the tribe” which implies a bit more blood ties that we actually experience…but it is certainly a convocation of the community…and a celebration of the birds that bring us together. Almost a religious experience, and certainly a spiritual one. Community is good…and the birding community is among the best. Birders are interesting, engaging, mostly very civil folk…people you can enjoy being around even if you are not a birder. And it comes out most strongly where they gather in numbers.
So, though I am tired out after 10 days, I am also uplifted by the community. This is good. Somebody this year coined the hashtag #warblerstock (which dates at least some of us rather obviously), but I do experience The Biggest Week as a kind of spiritual renewal each year. I go home with my eyes full of warblers, and heart full of good feelings…it is not to strong to say…”my heart full of love.” This is good. Happy Sunday!
Woodcock under the boardwalk
Woodcock, Magee Marsh OH
It rained yesterday morning, but my friend Rich and I got out to the Magee Marsh boardwalk (The Biggest Week in American Birding) late in the day, after 5PM. There were still lots of birds feeding and moving…warblers at eye-level…Magee at its best. We walked right past this Woodcock probing the mud along the edge of the channel under the east end of the boardwalk. A more observant birder behind us pointed it out and we spent 10 minutes watching it work along the edge of the water, within feet of the photographers and birders on the boardwalk above it.
Nikon P900 at 550mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 450 @ f5. Procesed in Lightroom.
Blackburnian!
Blackburnian Warbler, Magee Marsh OH
I have yet to get my “killer” Blackburnian Warbler shot…but this is good enough to be going on with. 🙂 The Blackburnian is on my short list of favorite warblers, and may well be (depending on the day and my mood) number one! And, though it is probably an accident, the name of this warbler is one of the most apt bird names. The warbler is black (and white) and yet it burns…that orange throat is alike a live coal in any light. Watching one flit among the leaves, actively feeding, 30 feet above your head is like watching a spark dance…only a spark with intelligence and grace…full of intense intent. Awesome in the literal sense of the word. The Blackburnian, small as it is, inspires awe.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 320 @ f6.5. Processed and cropped slightly for composition in Lightroom.
Oriole in Redbuds
Baltimore Oriole in a Redbud tree, Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Oak Harbor OH
I attempted to catch this Baltimore Oriole in the Redbud tree by the door of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, where I am working the Biggest Week in American Birding, for two days. It kept coming back, but I was across the parking lot and never had my camera ready when it perched there. The first day the tree was beautifully blossomed out…the second day, after a supercell thunderstorm, it was not looking as good, and the light was not at its best, but the contrast between the orange orange of the Oriole and the pink of the blossoms was still worth catching.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Topaz Denoise and Lightroom. Cropped for composition.