Posts in Category: biggest week in american birding
Cedar Waxwing among the Apple Blossoms
Cedar Waxwing: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — There is almost always a crowd of photographers under the apple tree that blooms in May along the Magee Marsh Boardwalk. There are often birds among the blossoms, and it makes a very attractive setting. I have photographed a dozen species of warblers there, as well as Baltimore Oriole and, of course, Cedar Waxwing. The Cedar Waxwings eat the apple flowers, and there can be many in the tree at once when they come through. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th, minus .7 EV. Difficult lighting.
Prothonotary: I spy a spider!
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — All the warblers at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding are busy hunting and gleaning, but none more obviously than the Prothonotary. I caught this one picking spiders out of webs right by the boardwalk, paying no attention to me only a few feet away. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
Prothonotary: prodigious singer
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio. USA, May 2022 — The Prothonotary Warbler is a prodigious singer, as anyone who lives in their nesting territory can testify. And, at least at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding, they often sing right in your face! They are not shy about it at all! 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.
Magnolia Warbler in Ohio
Magnolia Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — though I have been sharing some local Odonata and wildlife, I am only half way through the photos I took in Ohio in May during the Biggest Week in American Birding…and some of the remainder simply MUST be shared ( 🙂 ) This is one more of the thousands of Magnolia Warblers who begged to have their photo taken during the week I was there. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Yellow song!
Yellow Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — most years the Yellow Warbler, which nests in Ohio, is the most abundant warbler at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding, and it probably was this year too, though it seems some days to be outnumbered by the Magnolia Warblers passing through. The Yellow is certainly the most vocal of the warbler of spring at Magee. They are always singing. This is a full adult male letting everyone know that he is on territory and ready of business! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th. + .3EV exposure compensation.
Eastern Screech Owl, Magee Marsh
There are often Eastern Screech Owls nesting or roosting along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, and this year there were two…sitting out approximately 100 yards apart. They were there every day I visited during the Biggest Week in American Birding. There was often a spotting scope on one of them, effectively blocking the boardwalk and creating a owl-jam that was difficult to navigate. The panel shows both individuals, three shots of one, and one shot of the other (bottom right). Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and assembled in Framemagic.
Close Hermit Thrush
Sometimes the birds along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh on the Erie shore of Northern Ohio are just ridiculously close. This Hermit Thrush was happily hunting right under the boardwalk while we walked overhead. It popped out into sight and full sun and appears to be asking what all the fuss is about 🙂 This is an odd angle on the bird but I was straight above it and not much more than 4 feet from it’s head. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. (Custom birds and wildlife modifications can be found in my Sony RX10iv for P&S Nature Photography ebook here.)
Female Cape May Warbler Sings
Most female warblers do not sing…but there are at least 9 species who regularly do (perhaps over 20 who do on occasion). The Cape May is among them. The Cape May is also one of the warbler species in which the female has distinctly different coloration than the male…enough so that you might suspect it is a different species (especially when you find it singing :). And, to add another to the list of things the Cape May is…it is another of those warblers named for where it was first collected…in Cape May, New Jersey…even though it only appears there during migration between its wintering grounds in extreme south Florida, the Caribbean Islands and Yucatán Peninsula, and its breeding grounds in the extreme northern US (in New England and the Mid-west) and southern Canada. In fact, it was not seen in Cape May for 100 years after the first specimen was captured there and is still considered an occasional migrant in New Jersey. I found this one from the boardwalk at Magee Marsh on the Erie shore of northern Ohio during the Biggest Week in American Birding. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatches are yard birds for us here in southern Maine, but I spotted this one off the boardwalk at Magee Marsh on the Erie shore of Northern Ohio…along with a host of other migrants headed north to their Canadian nesting grounds. Only when processing the photo did I notice the spider web behind the bird. It is the web, perhaps, that lifts this image out of the “bird portrait” category. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Accusatory Black-throated Blue Warber
The Black-throated Blue Warblers at Magee Marsh during this year’s Biggest Week in American Birding were among the most confiding. They were there in good numbers, even on the slowest days, and they were feeding low and close to the boardwalk. This one seemed very aware of me…or perhaps it was close enough to see its own reflection in the protective UV filter on my lens. I am not sure what it is accusing me of…but, honest, I was only interested in taking its picture. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.