Pic of the Day

Magnolia Warbler -- Magee Marsh, Ohio

Red-eyed Vireo -- Magee Marsh, Ohio

     Magnolia Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo,  – Magee Marsh, Ohio:  I arrived at Magee Marsh on the southern shore of Lake Eire on the 14^th.  Clouds covered the skies, but the cloud cover was thin enough to allow a soft, but bright light to illuminate the migrating warblers I was photographing.  There were lots of warblers, and a good variety.   There were Prothonotary, Black and White, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Yellow rumped, Wilson, American Redstart, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided and Cape May.  There were also Red-eyed, Warblering, and Blue-headed Vireo.  There was a slew of other passerines.

     In addition to the birds, I ran into Matt Mendenhall, associate editor of Bird Watching magazine.  After a morning of shooting birds Matt and I met for a late lunch and had a great conversation about birds, birdwatching and kids, not necessarily in that order.  I also ran into Richard Crossley of Crossley Bird Guide fame.  Richard is a very nice fellow, we had a great time talking birds, photoshop and photography.  He was also at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge today autographing his new, earth shaking, field guide.

     This Red-eyed Vireo and Magnolia Warbler were photographed on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh.  The vireo was captured as it looked under leaves for insects and the Magnolia was captured as it bounced from tree limb to tree limb searching for food.  This might be the peak of warbler migration here at Magee Marsh.  The day was very, very good.  I’m here for another day to photograph the birds and then I'm off to Canada where I hope to meet them at Point Pelee on the north shore of the lake.

Pic of the Day

   Dragonfly – Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands; Viera, Florida:  Birds were not the only subject at the Viera Wetlands during my last visit.  Dragonfly swarms seemed to be everywhere.  When I would stop the van, get out and walk to the waters edge dragonflies would rise out of the vegetation in masses of hundreds.  While most would buzz around me a few would alight on the plants giving me the opportunity to shoot.  I did try to shoot dragonflies on the wing, but the results were not pretty at all, maybe next time.

This dragonfly was perched at just the right angle, and, of out-of-focus water and foliage provided the perfect background.  Within forty-five minutes after the sun rose the winds began to blow quite hard causing the foliage to violently sway, thus ending the dragonfly shooting.  However, it was fun while it lasted and there were birds to shoot!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/640sec. @ f8, ISO 200