Palm Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — Still photos of the Palm Warbler never do it justice as its primary “tell”…the thing that allows you to recognize it as Palm and not something else, is the constant tail bobbing. Still, it is an attractive warbler whenever seen and however recognized. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — Sometimes a bird just poses for you, as this Northern Parula did along the boardwalk one day during the Biggest Week in American Birding. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — As I may have mentioned, there were lots and lots of Parulas along the boardwalk at Magee…almost as many as Yellow Warblers. Actually the numbers might have been “normal” but compared to other species, which were sparse, they seemed high. I came away with one of almost every possible pose. 🙂 (Exaggeration) OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — As I have said before, sometimes the Prothonotary Warblers are too close for comfort at Magee. It seems each year at least one pair builds a nest in one or another of the uprights that hold up the boardwalk rail. A gap tends to form between the upright and the rail where insects gather, and where woodpeckers come to get them, and, in digging them out, enlarge the gap until there is a hole big enough for a Prothonotary nest. The rangers come and put hazard tape either side of the nest to give the birds some space, but they seem totally unconcerned about the passing humans, and may, in fact, get some extra protection from their real predators by building so close to human traffic. While building the nest and feeding young they are busy within in feet of the boardwalk and often perch on the rails right in front of astonished birders and tourists. Fun! And it does not seem to any harm to the birds. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400mmIS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — I like the delicate leaves and catkins framing this bird, and the subtle hues of the bird itself. I think the out of focus branch crossing just makes the bird look sharper. I might, in another mood, edit it out, but for now it stays as part of the natural composition. There were lots of Parulas this year at Magee. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
House Wren: Estuary Trail, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — I took my first group of Point and Shoot for Warblers group out the beginning of the trail around the back of the marsh, on the other side of the channel from the boardwalk. We did not see a lot of warblers…just enough to practice on…but we had a couple of good wrens singing. A bit far away, and not quite out in the open, but still good. Gotta love the wren attitude. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (pretty severe crop). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Yellow Warbler: Estuary Trail, Crane Creek State Park/Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — The frame cannot really contain the song. Yellow Warblers, of course, were everywhere at Magee, on and off the boardwalk…singing somewhere nearby just about whenever you stopped to listen. They are nesting birds at the marsh and well into the cycle. This one was along the trail that loops around the back of the marsh on the far side of the channel from the boardwalk. Singing away! OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Red-winged Blackbird: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — One of the changes since the big blow-down at Magee Marsh is an exponential increase in the number of Red-winged Blackbirds using the area…or at least that is the way it seems to me. RWBB were everywhere…very visible, very vocal…and I suspect competing heavily for the same food sources as the warblers. Now, I like Red-winged Blackbirds, but if they are disrupting the flow of warblers through the marsh I am not sure that is a good thing. Anyway, I do enjoy their attitude, and the large numbers meant that there was always some territorial display going on. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — While warbler numbers, individuals, not so much species, were definitely way down this year at Magee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers were definitely way up. They were everywhere…and that’s good from a photographer’s point of view, because if there is anything harder to photograph than a feeding warbler, it is a feeding Ruby-crowned Kinglet. They seem to be trying to be everywhere in the bush at the same time…never setting for more than a second in any one spot. You can waste a lot of bound electrons chasing them. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Black-throated Green Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — Nothing told the story of the strange year at Magee quite so loudly as the almost total lack of Black-throated Green Warblers…often the most present of warblers in the marsh…everywhere and in your face constantly. There may have been more Black-throated Greens the first week of the festival, but I only saw this one individual, my first day at Magee, and then not a single one the rest of the week. I am glad I took quite a few shots of this one. He might look like he is singing, but he is actually swallowing a spider. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.