Posts in Category: biggest week in american birding
Biggest Week in American Birding! Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Another warbler that I expected to see more of this year at Magee was the Palm. Generally they pass thought in large numbers, but this year they were few. Maybe it was just the timing. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV
Biggest Week in American Birding! Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — One last look at the little Eastern Screech Owl that was roosting over the boardwalk at Magee. It was there throughout my visit, but after this day, it moved over to a dense conifer about 20 feet down the boardwalk, and roosted mostly out of sight within the boughs. (That did not stop the crowds gathering at the spot trying for a glimpse.) He seems very intent on something in the undergrowth that I could not see. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom @ 1600mm equivalent (using the digital tele-converter). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th, -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Not my best ever shot of a Bay-breasted Warbler, but they were scarce while I was on the Erie Shore this year. I think they may have come through in numbers after I left. Still, a good bird to encounter anytime. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th, -.3EV (in full noon-day sun).
Biggest Week in American Birding: Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2023 — The Black-throated Blue Warbler is a skulker, and as such, is one the warblers that it is actually easier to see and photograph at Magee after the big blown down cleared out the canopy. Not that it does not do its best to stay behind whatever cover there is. I caught this one relatively out in the open for a moment. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 400 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Captain of the Marsh
Bald Eagle: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Appropriate for Memorial Day Weekend. There are actually two active Bald Eagle nests at Magee this year. The one by the parking lot that has been there for years and one by the junction of the two loops in the center of the boardwalk. The ones in the center…perhaps not having the open expanse of the car park as a front yard, spent more time sitting out and sitting high where they could see (and be seen). The more you know about Bald Eagles the less likely you are to admire them, but they are still magnificent birds. Many of the tourists that are attracted by the crowds of birders at the Marsh in May are happy to go home having seen the eagles…while the hordes of warblers make little impression. That is what it means to be big and beautiful and famous…you know the whole national bird thing! OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th. -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding: Song!
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Board Walk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Tired of Prothonotary Warblers yet? This is what we might call full song…or maybe shouting out loud! And again, this bird was right beside the boardwalk. I only see them at Magee, so I have to get my full of Prothonotaries while I can. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Biding! Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — The Prothonotary Warblers nest in Magee Marsh, many of them close to the boardwalk…and at least one pair in a post on the boardwalk…the rangers have to put up “crime scene tape” every year to keep the birders at least a foot away…and still the warblers nest there. They are easy to see, complexity fearless, and close! Some years they are just arriving at the end of the Biggest Week…but this year, strange year that it was, there were at least 3 pairs already nesting near the boardwalk (and another pair on the boardwalk a the Nature Center at Maumee Bay). And I am sure many other pairs nesting out of sight. This one was singing happily only a yard or so from the boardwalk. Gotta love them! OM-Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! American Redstart
American Redstart: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — You had to wonder how the major blow-down that decimated the cottonwood canopy at Magee Marsh would effect the birds use of the area during migration. And certainly there have been changes over the past two years in the timing and staging of the migration at Magee…but the main change has been for photographers. Before the blow-down the light at Magee was challenging under the canopy…not, not so much so. Sunlight reaches right down to ground level and spotlights skulking birds like this American Redstart. 🙂 While I suspect the blow-down had a major impact on insect life in the marsh, evidently there are still enough bugs to attract the avian visitors in the spring. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Sometimes the birds at Magee are just almost too close…and sometimes they are closer! This Nuthatch as right above the rail of the boardwalk. I had to stand on the far side to get focus. Luckily it was early in the morning and traffic was still light. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 522mm equivalent (only!). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV
Biggest Week in American Birding! Red-wing showing off
Red-winged Blackbird: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — It is not often that you get to see the erect epaulette of the blackbird from this angle, showing off the yellow under feathers. Of course, with the many thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds inhabiting the marshes along the Erie Shore, your odds are considerably better! OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. -.3EV