Friday, June 2, 2017

Pic of the Day

Cape May Warbler (female), Setophaga tigrinya:
Ohio Department of Natural Resourse parking lot near Magee Marsh.
     During my visit to Magee Marsh last month I had a few rainy, cool days. Okay, they were down right cold days.  Birds were not very active and photography was slow.  About hour before the sundown on one of those days, I decided to leave early.
     On the way out I stopped at the Ohio DNR parking lot to check for birds.  One of the evergreens, which I believed to be a spruce, had a few warblers flitting around.  The birds were busily feeding, hopping from limb to limb gleaning insects from the needles.
     There was not another soul, or car for that matter, in the parking lot so I drove up to the tree and parked about 14 feet away and patiently waited for the birds to feed on the limbs closest to me.  After watching the birds for about fifteen minutes, this female Cape May Warbler hopped right in front of my camera.  A few other birds came along over the next 30 minutes, giving me some great photo opportunites.
     Cape May Warblers breed in a few of our Northern States and Canada.  They build nest close to the top of spruce and fir trees some thirty-five, to sixty feet off the ground.  During the breeding season, the Cape May primarily feeds on insects, but on its wintering grounds in the Caribbean, and Central America it uses its tubular tongue to feed on flower nectar and fruit juices. 

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/160 second @ f/8

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