Monthly Archives: May 2023
Biggest Week in American Birding! Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireo: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Not a warbler, but a Warbling Vireo. There are always lots of Warbling Vireos at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding…but nothing like this year. It seem as if every other bird you saw as a Warbling Vireo. And they were close and cooperative for the most part. Certainly on my first days there, if not for the Warbling Vireos, I might have been disappointed. OM Systems OM-1 with the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed Pixomator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, -.3EV.
India! Green Bee-eaters
Green Bee-eaters: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Besides our glimpses of Hoopoe, there were many other birds around the canteen at the end of the access road in Keoladeo. This pair of Green Bee-eaters were busy hunting the open area around the trees and picnic tables. Endless entertainment! And, of course, bee-eaters are among my favorite birds, whenever I am anywhere they are. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The Biggest Week in American Birding! Virginia Rail
Virginia Rail: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Yes, Magee Marsh’s very own Virginia Rail. When I got to Ohio, a pair of them were building a nest in a crushed patch of reeds only about 15 feet from the boardwalk at the east end…well in under the reeds so you only saw them when the made runs for nesting material. By the 3rd day they were on the nest, and you had to catch either the male of the female out on a foraging expedition which were more infrequent and less predicable than the nesting material runs had been. Given that all this as happening in and under the thick brush right against the boardwalk, getting a photo was not easy. 🙂 This is the best I could do in several attempts. There was one guy who was camped out at the spot with a Canon 800mm lens and massive monopod for most of two days. I am pretty sure he got better shots. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 800 @ f6.3 @ 1/500th. -.3EV.
India! Pied Starling
Asian Pied Starling: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Most of us in North America only have the common Starling to go by, but many of Starlings (or Mynas) are very attractive birds…albeit with the personality of a starling. 🙂 This Asian Pied Starling is certainly a case in point. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The Biggest Week in American Birding! Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — The Blackburnian Warbler is almost certainly my favorite Warbler, especially when it is in fresh spring plumage as it is when it reaches Magee Marsh on the Erie Shore. It burns like an ember in the trees. They tend to arrive late in Ohio, so I was surprised to find this one my first day at Magee. Turns out the migration is all jumbled up this year, again, so maybe we are looking at a developing new normal. This bird was high in the foliage, above the deck where the observation tower used to stand. These shots, taken with the OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent, were further copped and enlarged using the super-resolution tool in Pixomator Pro. As above in Program with my evolving bird modifications. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
India! Hoopoe
Eurasian Hoopoe: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Right a the end of the access road, a long walk but easily reachable by rickshaw, there is a little canteen and picnic grounds and an isolated temple. In my two visits there it was always a great place for birds. They seemed to enjoy the lawns and the exposed trees. We saw Hoopoes several different places in Rajasthan, but they were particularly uncooperative as photographic subjects. This is the only one I managed a decent photo of, and only got 2 frames before it flew off. The Hoopoe is an interesting bird, odd looking certainly, but also taxonomically interesting. It currently occupies its own genus, with three species, Eurasian, African, and Madagascar, along with, according to some authorities, the wood hoopoe. The genus is placed in the same clade as the kingfishers, bee-eaters, and rollers. A consensus is developing that it really belongs with the hornbills, and some are resistant to whole three species thing…it might be only one species. Interesting, if you are into that kind of thing. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1EV.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Yellow!
Yellow Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Here is male Yellow Warbler doing what it does best…sitting out in the open and singing at the top of it lungs! This is certainly a bright spring bird, ready for breeding. OM Systems OM-1 with 100 to 400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640, -.7EV
Costa Rica! Talamanca Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We will go back to Costa Rica this morning for another shot from the flower set-up at Batsu Gardens when we visited in December. This is a natural light photo in the failing light of an overcast afternoon, but still manages to catch the magic! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Female American Redstart
American Redstart: female, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio. USA, May 2023 — I encountered this female American Redstart on my first trip around the boardwalk at Magee…before I saw any males. The female is, of course, just as striking as the male, just with yellow replacing the orange and the addition of the white bib. And of course, they share the same long tail with the flashy outer tail feathers. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/640th. -.7EV.
India! Black-crowned Night Heron
Striated Heron: Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — At first I thought this was a Black-crowned Night Heron which has one the widest distributions of any bird in the world, occurring on every continent (but not in Australia where is it replaced by a close relative…so close they interbreed where their ranges overlap). But the yellow eyes, as a reader pointed out, makes it a Striated Heron, with a much more restricted range. Still, as it happens I have seen the Strianted on 3 continents now. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 2EV.