Posts in Category: Magee Marsh
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — Tis year, during the Biggest Week in American Birding, there were lots of Black-throated Blue warblers along the boardwalk…my impression is more than normal. They are another warbler that, when present, often feeds low and close to the artificial edge the boardwalk makes through the marsh. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Black-throated Green
Black-throated Green Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — A “I see you” shot from a second encounter with a friendly Black-throated Green Warbler. The warblers at Magee do mostly seem aware of the crowds of humans on the boardwalk, but it does not seem to bother them. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Ruby-crown
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — It is never ALL about warblers at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding. The Kinglets, at least the Ruby-crowned, are always part of the show, showing in equal numbers to the more common warblers. And, they are, of course, must slightly more challenging to photograph than most warblers. They sit still just a bit less than the already active warblers and tend to feed deeper in the tangle…or so it seems to me. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Blackburnian
Blackburnian Warber: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — Most years at the Biggest Week in American Birding on the Erie Shore in Ohio, I have to work hard for my first eye-level shots to a Blackburnian, and they don’t come until my last days there. This year this Blackburnian was working both sides of the boardwalk, at and below eye-level, for over 3 hours on my first day in Ohio. And he was close! Occasionally I thought he might hop inside to my lens hood to look at his reflection. Such a treat! Blackburnian is, by the way, a name I hope survives the great honorific culling…it is just such a perfect name for this little blank and burning warbler. I guess they can change it to Blackburning. That would be okay. 🙂 Black and Orange will not do. Sorry. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Black-throated Green
Black-throated Green Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — Always one of the most numerous warblers at Magee in May, the Black-throated Green is generally one of the easiest to photograph. Along with the Chestnut-sided, it feeds at eye-level along the artificial edges the boardwalk creates as it cuts through the marsh. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Chestnut-sided
Chestnut-sided Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — As I have said before and as I will probably say again, this year was not an easy year at Magee for warbler photography. The birds were there but so were the leaves, and getting clear, unobstructed shots of any warbler was very difficult…even if the warblers were as cooperative as the Chestnut-sideds often are. Chestnut-sided Warblers at Magee feed at eye-level and often right next to the boardwalk, where the little opening the boardwalk creates makes finding insects relatively easy. This one was singing…which made it easier to locate…though no easier to photograph. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
American Redstart
American Redstart: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — One of the more numerous and visible warblers during the Biggest Week in American Birding on the Ohio Erie Shore was the American Redstart, though I saw way more males then females and no females at all until later in the week. As with all warblers this year, t was hard to find a clear line of sight through the already well developed foliage at eye-level in the marsh. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Chorus line over Ottawa
White Pelicans: Estuary Trail, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — The Magee Marsh boardwalk is sandwiched between Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Erie. When you can’t be out on the boardwalk (due to crowds or regulations…we are not allowed to take our class groups out on the boardwalk) there is always the Estuary Trail at Ottawa, which you can get to from either end of the Magee parking lot. And Ottawa has Pelicans! We saw several flight going overhead, some close, as these were. I like the formation here. It reminds me of a chorus line in a musical, though Pelicans are not all that musical. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Tree Swallows being Tree Swallows
Tree Swallows: Magee Marsh Boardwalk. Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — It is hard to say whether there were more Tree Swallows or more Warbling Vireos at Magee this Biggest Week in American Birding. The only bird that might have outnumbered both is the Red-winged Blackbird. 🙂 It would have been close though. The Swallows were exploring any likely nesting cavity, and several pairs were already on the nest. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — The range maps say that we have Indigo Buntings in Maine, but I have never, unless I forget, seen one here. Gotta love that blue! But then if they are as high in the trees as this one was over the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, I might be forgiven for not seeing them. This is a 600mm shot, drastically cropped and upscaled using Photomator’s Super Resolution to give the impression of high detail. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.