Chestnut-sided Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — I mentioned in a previous post that the magic of Magee Marsh is as much about bugs as it is birds…it is the combination of location, right up against a large water barrier, and the abundance of insect life in the wet forest, that cause the pile-up of migrating and resident warbler species along the boardwalk. And the reason the warblers are so easy to observe and photograph is a combination of access (the boardwalk itself) and the fact that the warblers are feeding at eye-level, and so busy feeding that they pay little attention to the people gathered to see them. My best guess would not be much use as to what kind of insect this is…so I am not going to try…but it is large enough to give the Chestnut-sided Warbler pause before swallowing. Happy bird. Happy birders. Happy bird photographers. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .7EV exposure compensation.

Nashville Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — I try not to be one of those “shoot first and ask questions later” types of bird photographers, but I have to admit that I only “found” these photos of a nice Nashville Warbler when going through my photos for processing the week after my visit to Ohio and the Biggest Week in American Birding. I do not remember taking them, and I certainly did not identify this bird as a Nashville Warbler at the time. I would have been more excited…as it would have been a new species for the trip and the year. Still, here is the evidence that I did see one. This was a favorite tree for Warblers the whole week I was there, and I photographed several different species there, so maybe I thought I was photographing something else. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 and f5 @ 1/1000th. + .7 EV exposure compensation.

Magnolia Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — Besides abundant full adult male Magnolia Warblers and lots of breeding plumage females, there were a lot of these birds at Magee this year. I am thinking this is a male just coming into its first breeding season plumage. I had to look at every one of them, trying to make one of them, at least, into a Canada Warbler…but no, they were all Magnolias (I did see and photograph both a male and female Canadas toward the end of the week…but this is not one 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/800th.

Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — Some years at the Biggest Week in American Birding the Prothonotary Warblers, who nest at the marsh, don’t show up until the last days of the festival. Other years they are already there when the birder’s arrive. This was one of those years, at least the second week of the Biggest Week when I visited, when I saw my first Prothonotary on my first day…and when there were at lest 4 pairs building nests along the boardwalk. One pair was even building a nest on the boardwalk, in a cavity between an upright post and the rail. The wardens had to put highway cones and incident tape around it to protect it from the hordes of birders. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 and 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — Some years at the Biggest Week in American Birding the Prothonotary Warblers, who nest at the marsh, don’t show up until the last days of the festival. Other years they are already there when the birder’s arrive. This was one of those years, at least the second week of the Biggest Week when I visited, when I saw my first Prothonotary on my first day…and when there were at lest 4 pairs building nests along the boardwalk. One pair was even building a nest on the boardwalk, in a cavity between an upright post and the rail. The wardens had to put highway cones and incident tape around it to protect it from the hordes of birders. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 and 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Blue-winged Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — This bird was playing hide and seek in the foliage and blossoms of the Apple tree along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. Confident folks standing with me were identifying this warbler as a “Golden-winged” presumably because of the yellow tint to the wing bars, but it is very likely a first year female Blue-winged. There is a chance it is a hybrid, but I feel better about just calling it a Blue-winged. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 and 200 @ f4 @ 1/640th to 1/500th.