Magnolia Warbler, Magee Marsh, OH. Biggest Week in American Birding

There are few photographic subjects more challenging than feeding warblers in migration. They are small. They are active. They are fast. Their only saving grace is that they are generally brightly colored enough so you can pick them out even when hidden in deep foliage…that and the fact that they are pretty much universally beautiful, and catching one is particularly satisfying! Any photographer exposed to them has to try…and that includes Point and Shoot Nature Photographers. They are not easy with any camera, and it takes both skill and practice to catch them with even the best of today’s Point and Shoot superzooms. I have been shooting them with Point and Shoots at Magee Marsh during the Biggest Week in American Birding for 4 years now. The density and variety of warblers passing through the marsh, and feeding within sight of the boardwalk, make Magee the best place in the the US to practice and develop your warbler catching skills. This morning I will give the first of two workshops at Magee: Point and Shoot for Warblers. Both workshops have been sold out for weeks, with a total of 50 people signed up. I hope to show those who attend that catching a warbler with a Point and Shoot superzoom is not only possible…it is a lot of fun.

This Magnolia Warbler, caught yesterday outside the Optics Alley Tent at Black Swamp Bird Observatory near Magee…where I am working the ZEISS booth…is one of several warbler species that I might call “favorite”. I like all the warblers, but the Magnolia, the Canada, the Chestnut-sided, and the Blacburnian are probably my favorites. This one was my first Maggy for this trip, and I was delighted to have it land in a tree above where I was already trying for a Northern Oriole. I got of a few bursts with the Nikon P900 before it disappeared into the forest behind BSBO. If I can find one of these for my students to practice on tomorrow morning, my workshop should be a success, not matter what else happens there 🙂

2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ f6.5 @ ISO 400. Processed in Topaz Denoise and Lightroom. Cropped slightly for scale and composition.