Pic of the Day

Prairie Warbler, Setophaga discolor

Marshall County, Alabama

Just North of Guntersville Dam

Another Prairie Warbler, and my favorite pose thus far from last weekends shoot.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm  f/4

1/200 sec. @ f/9

Pic of the Day

Wilson's Warbler, Cardellina pusilla:  Magee Marsh, Ohio

at "Biggest Week in American Birding"

     I have had a wonderful time at Magee Marsh this week.  While the birds have not been the best I have seen, I had two great days of shooting.  This little Wilson’s warbler was one of my favorite shots.  It is difficult to get clean backgrounds at Magee, but I positioned my self for a green foliage background that blurred out of focus just perfectly for this shot.  I hoped that the Wilson’s would alight in the right place, and it did.  Wish all the shots from this week had a nice background like this.  Backgrounds can make or break an image!

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/200 second @ f/8

Pic of the Day

Blackburnian Warbler, Dendrocia fusca; Magee Marsh, Ohio

    I made a short trip to Magee Marsh on the south side of Lake Erie to photograph migrating warblers over the past few days. Though I was there for only a short time I got a few good shots.  There were quite a few species of warblers, (18 that I observed), with more species arriving today.  Most of the warblers were pretty high in the trees making shooting difficult, but on Sunday evening this Blackburnian dropped out of the treetops and put on a nice show among the lower branches.

     Blackburnians fly north from their wintering grounds in Venezuela, Columbia and Peru to northern Minnesota, Michigan and New York to Maine and southern Canada.  They can also be found in the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains south to Northern Georgia.

     This is one of our most beautiful warblers, and I have waited a long time to get a descent shot.

Both Images:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/800 @ f6.3, ISO 500, on tripod