Bohemian Waxwing, Roger’s Pond, Kennebunk ME

I am testing a new camera…the Nikon P900 with an 83x zoom reaching 2000mm equivalent, and up to 4000mm with Nikon’s Dynamic Fine Zoom feature. After shooting some “feather birds” I bought for the purpose of testing (models), I decided to go to Roger’s Pond where the Robins have been active all winter to see if I could find some real birds 🙂 There was a flock of what I assumed were Cedar Waxwings in the very tops of the trees by the Mousam River and, though they were at the limits of even a 2000mm equivalent lens, I took some images. When I got home and started processing, I quickly suspected that the flock had not been entirely Cedars…at least half were Bohemian Waxwings…a much rarer visitor some winters to Southern Maine…so rare that I have only seen them once before in Kennebunk in 20 years (though they are reported somewhere in the state, mostly north of here, most winters). Surprise! I have many shots, but this one shows all the field-marks very well…including the yellow wingtips.

And the camera? This shot is at 2400mm equivalent, hand-held, and cropped from 16mp to 8mp for scale. While it is not the best shot in the world (I would have had to be much closer to the bird for a truly great shot), it captures the bird well, and would have simply been impossible to get at that distance with any other camera. I am impressed. I love the Sony HX400V I have been shooting with for more than a year, but the Nikon reaches further, focuses faster, and has all the “creature comforts” (in-camera HDR, Wifi, GPS, and sweep panorama) that I have come to enjoy on the Sony. 1/500th @ ISO 180 @ f6.5. Processed and cropped in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.