Nesting

Now that May has passed and we are well into June, the nature of things has changed considerably regarding bird behavior. Singing has subsided, and the birds are not as visible as they were a month ago. In May, the birds were singing for mates, singing for territory, and sometimes singing for the sake of singing. Now, however, many birds have found those mates and established their territory. No longer is there a need to sing. In fact, singing can attract predators and other unwanted intruders. So the birds, now on the nest, remain quiet. Their activity now is focused on tending to their newborn young. Birders now look for signs of nesting, and this seems to have been a fine year for rearing young. We look now for nests and for other signs of nesting. When we see a bird with food in its bill, we know it's heading back to the nest to feed their young, and it is a sign of another successful spring. The little ones now calling to their parents for food will be the ones we see and hear next May calling out for a new mate. Today's shots include the Worm-eating warbler and Eastern phoebe with food for their young and a nest filled with baby Barn swallows. There is always something happening out there.

Birds in flight

One of the greatest challenges in photographing birds is to catch them in mid-flight. Stopping the action is only part of the equation. With birds generally flying against a bright sky, exposure becomes the critical element. If you use an auto setting, the camera is going to base its reading on the bright sky, and 90% of the time, the actual target (the bird) will be underexposed and turn out as a dark silhouette. I've found that if I take a light meter reading of mid-tone vegetation in the same general direction as I hope to shoot the bird in flight and then set my camera manually to those settings, I have a pretty good chance of getting the shot without underexposing the bird. We spent a couple of days in New Jersey this week in hopes of snagging an Upland sandpiper and any other cooperative bird in flight with fairly successful results. The thing about photography of birds is that there is always something new to try and always room for improvement. The images shown are (from left to right) the Upland sandpiper, a Common tern, and a Black skimmer.

Spring in New York 2

We're heading towards the end of the migration period in the SE part of New York and soon the songs will cease and the forest will be much quieter. But for now, we still have enough birdsong to keep up our interest and to let us know where to look for our warblers and others. While the symphony of song is the highlight of May, June brings in the reason for all this singing. Territories have been staked out and mates have been found. The nesting season is upon us and we can delight in watching the whole process.....if we are lucky enough to find the birds. They are quiet now, not wanting to draw attention to their whereabouts to would be predators. The nests are rarely out in the open for the same reason. And so, when we are lucky enough to see any signs of the process, we seize the moment. These moments usually manifest themselves in the forms of birds with either food or nesting material in their bills. So it was this past Friday....a chilly and rainy day. The rain worked in my favor today, however, as the puddles forming supplies the local Cliff swallows with the mud they need for their nests on the side of Stillwell Dam. I was able to watch and photograph from my truck as a number of swallows visited the mud source and flew away with dollops of mud in their bills. Spring has sprung.