Indigo Bunting serenade

Indigo Bunting serenade.

 

Yesterday I got together with Cecil Holmes, George Mraz and Rob LeRoux for a “planning session” for the upcoming trip to the Tetons. We had some logistics we wanted to work out. All of this could have easily been done over the phone, but it was more fun to get together and photograph in the backyard and down the road at Eagle’s Rest Park. After the “meeting” on the back porch, which mainly consisted of coffee and muffins, we went to Eagle’s Rest Park and were fortunate enough to get some great opportunities to photograph lots of birds but especially happy with the Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and the Indigo Bunting. The Indigo Buntings seemed to chase the other birds around if they got too close to their territory. It was great when they would take a break and sing a little for all to hear.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 720, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BirdNirdvana, #BirdPhotography, #BearWoodsPhotography

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All you have to do is drop it!

All you have to do is drop it!

 

I really liked how the young Eastern Bluebird was trying to make it easy for the Dad by just standing below him with his mouth wide open. It was almost like he was just saying “drop it, I’ll catch it” The Dad finally did place it into the juvenile’s mouth. I was fortunate enough that they did this a couple of times while I watched.

 

A friend asked if I would talk briefly about diatomaceous earth, or DE. DE, more specifically food grade DE, is a powder(made from fossilized phytoplankton) I put inside the nestbox of Eastern Bluebirds, or other box nesters, when I clean out an old nest. The DE, and it needs to be food grade, will break up the waxy coating of parasites such as blowfly larvae that may be inside the nestbox. Bluebirds will begin building a new nest about a week or two after the first brood fledges. They will either build in a new location, or on top of the old nest. removing the old nest a day or so after they leave, then sprinkling on the DE, leaving it for a day, then brushing it out will kill any parasites in the box. Being food grade, it is literally edible and will not harm the birds if some is still inside. This can also be used on tomato plants or other vegetables if you are thinking of organic methods to treat your plants for insects.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 1600, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, Fotopro E9 Eagle Series Tripod and Gimbal head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #FotoproUSA, #FotoproEagleSeries, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsPhotography

House Hunting

House Hunting.

 

Not us, the Eastern Bluebirds. While we were in Cape May, NJ, our first set of Eastern Bluebirds fledged and are in the woods behind the house. It has been about a week and Mom is trying to decide if she wants to build in the same house or the one behind the garage. She appears to be leaning toward the one behind the garage at this time. That would seem to be the pattern for all the previous 2nd clutches here, even with the previous set of Bluebirds. I see her moving lots of grass and stuff in, but then a little while later she will put something in the original house in the backyard. In the meantime I see Dad grabbing mealworms and insects and flying up to begging fledglings in the trees. Mom does make the occasional trip up as well, but she is mainly just house hunting. She is a beauty, especially in this light.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Canon M50 via the Canon adapter, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 200, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Fotopro E6 Eagle Series Tripod and Gimbal head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #FotoproUSA, #FotoproEagleSeries, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsPhotography

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow.

 

I have a friend who trying to capture a Barn Swallow in flight frustrates them to no end. I have a piece of advice, don’t do it, wait until they land. I don’t try to photograph speedy little birds that dart up, down, left, right in flight. I don’t have the patience. I would rather wait until the bird lands and is posing for me. Less stress, higher success rate! This was one of 2 Barn Swallows that were on the side of the trail at the Nature Conservancy Park in Cape May. Beautiful light, beautiful bird, no stress…

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 360, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, Fotopro E6 Eagle Series Tripod and Gimbal head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #FotoproUSA, #FotoproEagleSeries, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BirdPhotography

Mute Swan

Mute Swan.

 

If you want to see some beautiful Mute Swans, Cape May is the place! We saw so many during our week there, it was fantastic! We saw several nesting, one with Cygnets, and lots more in the process of pairing up. We had opportunities to photograph them flying, of course it took me to turn my back in order to get the swan to fly so the class could get the shot. Just beautiful birds in their natural environment. Watching them was fun, photographing them in perfect light was icing on the cake. When we photographed this one it was within 25 feet of the shoreline. After the image, it swam under a bridge beside us. They are big birds! They aren’t really mute, they do have a call, but it is very subdued and beautiful when they do call. I have heard recordings and heard them before, but hearing several at one time was wonderful.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 220, shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, Fotopro E6 Eagle Series Tripod and Gimbal Head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #FotoproUSA, #FotoproEagleSeries, #BearWoodsPhotography, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana

Sanderlings at Sunset

Sanderlings at Sunset.

 

I am teaching this week in Cape May, NJ at the MARS School and our group decided we wanted to do a sunset. The sunset was beautiful, but I found it really interesting to watch the Sanderlings feeding in such beautiful light. They would dash down as the wave receded and back up again as it approached. The warmth of the sky was perfect in the reflection. I purposely used a slower exposure to capture the movement of the little shorebirds.

 

Tamron 28-300mm Di VC PZD lens on a Nikon Z6, Manual Exposure mode, f6.3, ISO 100, shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, Fotopro Eagle Series E-6 tripod and gimbal head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #Tamron, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron28300, #FotoproEagleSeries, #FotoproUSA, #BearWoodsPhotography

Chestnut-sided Warbler singing

Chestnut-sided Warbler singing.

 

Earlier in the week I went to the local park to do some birding. One of the birds that sang and posed for us was this Chestnut-sided Warbler. Most of the time he sang from high in the trees, but he would come down low enough for us to grab a quick shot of him. I love how he chose the perfect place to perch and sing among the new growth of the trees. It is what spring is all about up here.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 280, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, handheld utilizing the Vibration Compensation feature of the lens, processed in Lightroom Classic. #WithMyTamron, #Tamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #BirdPhotography, #BirdNirdvana, #BearWoodsPhotography