Maine! More Tree Swallow action
Tree Swallow: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — A little more Tree Swallow action from the marsh. Such pretty, elegant, little birds. I would like to say that I worked hard to catch this exact moment and used the ProCapture feature of the camera to help…but I didn’t. It was a happy accident, such as happens to all bird photographers from time to time. 🙂 Especially with birds as active as Tree Swallows. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action mode (okay, that much forethought went into it…I did know action was likely to happen). Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding! All kinds of funky blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — One of the changes since the big blow-down at Magee Marsh is an exponential increase in the number of Red-winged Blackbirds using the area…or at least that is the way it seems to me. RWBB were everywhere…very visible, very vocal…and I suspect competing heavily for the same food sources as the warblers. Now, I like Red-winged Blackbirds, but if they are disrupting the flow of warblers through the marsh I am not sure that is a good thing. Anyway, I do enjoy their attitude, and the large numbers meant that there was always some territorial display going on. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ownership dispute
Tree Swallows: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — So who owns this Bluebird box anyway? These two Tree Swallows are ready to fight over it…but in the end the Bluebirds are likely to claim it…they did last year. 🙂 Interestingly there were a group of at least a dozen Tree Swallows around the tidal stream when I went out…and none at all when I came back. They do nest somewhere in area. I will see the young on the rail of the bridge before long. OM System OM-1MKii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Kinglets
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — While warbler numbers, individuals, not so much species, were definitely way down this year at Magee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers were definitely way up. They were everywhere…and that’s good from a photographer’s point of view, because if there is anything harder to photograph than a feeding warbler, it is a feeding Ruby-crowned Kinglet. They seem to be trying to be everywhere in the bush at the same time…never setting for more than a second in any one spot. You can waste a lot of bound electrons chasing them. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Cardinal visitation
Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — Now that I am back from Ohio and the Biggest Week in American Birding, it is time to catch up on some Maine birds. Our neighborhood pair of Cardinals came for a visit just before I left. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Lonely and only
Black-throated Green Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — Nothing told the story of the strange year at Magee quite so loudly as the almost total lack of Black-throated Green Warblers…often the most present of warblers in the marsh…everywhere and in your face constantly. There may have been more Black-throated Greens the first week of the festival, but I only saw this one individual, my first day at Magee, and then not a single one the rest of the week. I am glad I took quite a few shots of this one. He might look like he is singing, but he is actually swallowing a spider. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Happy Mother’s Day: The Biggest Week in American Birding
Scarlet Tanager: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — This is one of my wife Carol’s favorite birds. We don’t see them often in Maine so I am always happy to bring her one home from Ohio, generally just in time for Mother’s Day (or a few days late). OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding: My favorite!
Blackburnian Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — I had to wait until today to photograph my favorite warbler: the Blackburnian. I found two more or less cooperative individuals on what turned out to be a mostly sunny day on the Boardwalk. Blackburnians are warblers of the high canopy, and I have only ever seen them anywhere near eye-level at Magee. This year, or a least today, they hovered a bit above that and most of my shots are looking up. Still, such a stunning bird! OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Oriole vs spider
Baltimore Oriole: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — The spider, or at least its egg sack, did not stand a chance in the long run against the Oriole, but the sticky thread put up a good fight. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding! That Song!
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — This bird was partially obscured by foreground foliage, a real issue this year a Magee with the foliage out way more than usual, but its song, or at least its singing posture, is still worth celebrating. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
