Monthly Archives: May 2016
Immature Red-shouldered Hawk
Immature Red-shouldered Hawk, Washington Oaks Garden State Park, Florida
Back again to Florida for today’s pic. This is an immature Red-shouldered Hawk at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park south of St Augustine Florida. I saw a similar hawk last year when I visited, so I was kind of looking for this hawk when it appeared in the huge Live Oaks above the water features in the shaded part of the garden. It appeared as though on cue, and my students (it was a Point and Shoot Nature Photography field trip at the Florida Birding and Photo Fest) were duly impressed 🙂
Nikon P900 at 1200mm equivalent field of view (pulled back for context). 1/160 @ ISO 400 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Another Oriole in Apple
Baltimore Oriole, Magee Marsh, Ohio.
Back to Ohio today for this Baltimore Oriole in Apple blossoms. An action shot.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processes and cropped for scale in Lightroom.
Passing the twig: courtship
Roseate Spoonbills, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St A. Florida
In late April and early May each year I have two events. The Florida Birding and Photo Fest and the Biggest Week in American Birding at Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio. Essentially I go direct from one to the other and have about 15 days of excellent bird photography…mostly nesting waders in Florida, and migrating warblers and songbirds in Ohio. I also come back from the two trips with well over 1000 images…keepers that is…I probably take close to 4000 frames. I share a few images from the events, while I am there, but clearly I have a lot more that I have not shared. All of which is to explain why, after several weeks, we are back to a Florida image for today’s post, though I have been back in Maine for several days now. 🙂
These two Roseate Spoonbills at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm wild bird rookery spent most of a day attempting to build a nest in this low Mangrove…an odd place to begin with. They abandoned the attempt overnight, but while they were active, I had a chance to observe courtship and nest building activity up close. Here the male is passing a bit of viney twig to the female.
Nikon P900 at 400mm equivalent field of view (I told you they were close). 1/125th @ ISO 125 @ f5. Processed and cropped slightly for composition in Lightroom.
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler. Magee Marsh, Ohio
Blackburnian Warblers are small, fast, restless, and beautiful. There is nothing more striking than a Blackburnian among fresh spring foliage. At Magee Marsh in Ohio during the Biggest Week in American Birding, you often see them close, but they are hard to catch, as they are in constant motion and feed among the leaves. I have very few photos of them in which the bird is not at least partially obscured by leaves. 🙂
Sony RX10 iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.
Northern Parula
Northern Parula, Magee Marsh, Ohio
The Sony RX10 Mk III might not have the reach or the magical focus of my Nikon P900 (600mm vs 2000mm), but it takes beautiful pictures. Beautiful. There is a quality about the Sony pics that is impossible to attribute to any one cause…but they are more than usually attractive to the eye. A depth. A dimension. A balance of tone and color…a working with the light…that is just a bit extra-ordinary.
This shot of a Northern Parula feeding on flowers is a perfect example. I cropped it slightly for scale, but the sharp bird and the vivid colors in the soft foreground and background arrests and rests my eye. I could look at this image a long time!
Sony RX10 Mk III at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 400 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Curiosity thy name is Black-throated Green
Black-throated Green Warbler, Magee Marsh, Ohio
When the warblers are close at Magee Marsh…they are really close. This Black-throated Green warbler appeared to take a great interest in the photographers facing it across 6 feet or so. I was shooting with my new Sony RX10 iii, otherwise I would not have been able to focus on it. The look says it all!
Sony RX10 iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Cape May Warbler in Evening light. Happy Sunday!
Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh, Ohio
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light.” Jesus
Last Wednesday was one of those wonderful days at Magee Marsh, when the late afternoon/early evening light illuminated trees just dripping with warblers…and many feeding at eye-level. It was the first really epic day at Magee Marsh since the Biggest Week in American Birding started on the Friday before. This Cape May warbler is showing its colors, and its attitude, in the golden evening glow.
I ran a Cape May Warbler in last Sunday’s The Generous Eye post…but I had to work for that one. On Wednesday it was just easy! A friend calls the warblers on a good day at Magee Marsh “confiding”, and they are…all around you…busy with there own lives, but approachable…sometimes even curious as to what we humans are up to in their forest. On a day like that it is simply joy to photograph them…joy even to stand and watch them. You get such a sense of life…of vigor…of color and movement in harmony. It is a deeply moving experience. I always come back from Magee in the spring filled with a sense of wonder that propels me into the Maine spring, just beginning compared to Ohio.
And, out there on the boardwalk you sense too, the generosity of the birders and photographers around you. Everyone is caught up in the experience…and everyone is willing and eager to share it (with few enough exceptions to ignore). It is just a good feeling. A blessing to be there and be part of this grand happening.
May you discover a similar blessing today, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing. Happy Sunday!
Waxwing in Apple Blossoms
Cedar Waxwing, Magee Marsh, Ohio
I have watched this tree bloom at Magee Marsh for years, during the Biggest Week in American Birding, and I always hoped to catch an interesting bird in it. This year I caught several. This is a Cedar Waxwing, and the bird was busy eating the petals of the flowers…a behavior I have never seen before, and something I did not know any bird did.
Sony RX10 iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magee Marsh, Ohio
The warblers are coming through in greater numbers, and greater numbers of species, at Magee Marsh and the the Biggest Week in American Birding the past two days. Today is my last day here and I am hoping to get out for one last turn around the boardwalk. This Chestnut-sided Warbler is singing his spring song.
Sony RX10 iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom. I did not buy the Sony RX10 iii for birds, but this and other shots from the past few days have shown what it can do!
Black-throated Geeen Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler. Magee Marsh, Ohio
It was one of those days at Magee Marsh that make believers out of birders, and birders out of casual citizens who just happen by. Lots of warblers, lots of species, and feeding down low where you could see them. This Black-throated Green posed nicely just a few feet away.
Nikon P900 at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.