Daily Archives: May 17, 2023
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.