Counting the Days…

Counting the days.

 

As much as I am counting the days to cooler weather and fall, I know that at least one individual (Dad Bluebird) is counting the days with even more enthusiasm. This is how I usually see him when he visits the backyard. He has a “posse” in tow. They land in front, beside, behind, and even on top of him as he lands. Luckily for him, the young ones are only days away from figuring out how to land on the edge of the feeder and can retrieve their own mealworms. Instead of going to the feeder and grabbing a few worms and feeding individual birds, he now just grabs as many as he can, flies to the roof and drops them. Then the kids scramble for their share of worms. He repeats this a few times before flying off to the trees. I haven’t seen them do this before, but it is really quite genius if you ask me. This might trigger their hunting instincts as well. Beyond all that, the image is just a cute way to start a Monday morning.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 6400, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

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Pleasant Surprise!

Pleasant Surprise!

 

Since most of yesterday was a fogged in and rainy day, I decided to go through all the images I captured in the backyard just to see if there were any I wanted to process. The day I saw the Canada Warbler, August 6, I had seen, what I thought was it, earlier before the light was good. I never looked at the images since the Canada showed itself better a few minutes later. To my very pleasant surprise I had captured my first Kentucky Warbler of the year! I never delete any images, I just buy external hard drives to store them. I will use this as an example as to why, but most of the time I simply don’t do it because my level of skill in post processing, and the capability of software gets better. There are many images I have gone back and processed that just a few years ago, I couldn’t salvage. This brings the backyard Warbler count to 20 so far this year! I truly feel we are blessed with where we live and having a chance to share it with others is such a joy for me.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode f8, ISO 9000, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

Juvenile Eastern Bluebird Portrait

Juvenile Eastern Bluebird Portrait.

 

What do you do when a juvenile Eastern Bluebird lands on the post 8 feet away and poses patiently? You do the portrait of course. The latest group of Bluebirds are curiously exploring the backyard and of course the guy on the back porch with the camera, coffee and notebook. They will land look at me and then scan the ground around them for insect treats. Half of the game in getting better bird images is getting them used to your being there. I really need to do a video of how close the birds get to me and how many are in the “studio” at one time. It is a great way to start any day.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 900, shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

Don’t deadhead those flowers!

Don’t deadhead those flowers!

 

As a part of my project in returning my yard to a more natural state and in an effort to attract the birds, I don’t deadhead the flowers that have finished blooming. That doesn’t mean playing Grateful Dead music to them, but it means leave the flower head on the stem and allow it to go to seed. Birds like the Carolina Chickadee and American Goldfinches love the seeds and are an important part of their food source. The bonus is finding all the plants that pop up in different areas the next year depending on where the bird “plants” it as it passes through the bird.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 1100, shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

Am I Invisible?

Am I Invisible?

 

Yesterday was a fun morning out in the backyard. The Eastern Bluebirds came in often and were very entertaining to say the least. I felt bad for Dad, he couldn’t even land without one or two of the juveniles landing on him! He finally resorted to pretending the kids weren’t there. Yesterday was a “big day” for the birding. I had 32 different kinds of birds in the 2 hours I was observing, one of which was an Acadian Flycather! I also had my biggest single day yet on Warbler varieties…10 different Warblers, including a lone Northern Parula, Blue-winged, Cerulean, Black and White, Chestnut-sided, Hooded, Yellow-throated, Black-throated Green, American Redstart, and an Ovenbird! Let’s see if the big numbers continue. I’m still hoping for the Wilson’s Warbler to return this year. Yep, I’m a bird nerd.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 450, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

Blue-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler.

 

It was a very pleasant surprise yesterday morning when a yellow flash paused long enough for me to identify it as a Blue-winged Warbler. It came in 4 separate times during my 2 hours of observing, often just to chase a few of the other birds. I am seeing birds much earlier this year vs last. Last year I didn’t see the first Blue-winged until the September 4th, and I am hoping it means an extended viewing period vs an early migration. The next few weeks could be pretty exciting for a bird nerd like myself.

 

On a different note, since the bird was in just after 7:05, the light was pretty dark. In the old days of digital and definitely during the days of film, this image would be impossible to have captured. The sensor in the D-500 is really incredible in extremely low light, this image was at 10,000 ISO. With as low as the light was during this time, the Tamron lens focused quickly and kept focus even as the bird moved into and out of even darker areas. Technology has truly made it possible to capture images that would have been impossible to have captured only a few years ago.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 10,000, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana

A Busy Backyard

A Busy Backyard.

 

Hopefully the post yesterday with the image of my “studio” helped to give everyone an idea of how little effort it takes to attract some beautiful birds. I meant to add that over 50% of the images I take of the Warblers happen in an area that is only about 5 feet by 5 feet of that image.

 

Yesterday marked the first time the juveniles from the 3rd brood of Eastern Bluebirds started coming down to the studio. I have to admit, it is a great feeling seeing about 10 Bluebirds, which includes the adults and several from the 2nd brood, in the backyard at one time. This juvenile was hanging out hoping to catch Dad’s attention and get a quick meal. I love the “begging” behavior of the birds, opening their beaks wide exposing the yellow “target” and the rapid wing beats. These guys are simply put, cute!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 900, shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, Sirui P224S monopod and L10 head, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiImaging, #SiruiProfessional, #BirdNirdvana