Greetings. Once again I will be sharing bird photographs, this time from our recent camping trip. As usual, all these photos are hotlinks to larger versions with details about camera settings. These photos were all taken with a Pentax K20d. With the exception of a single landscape photograph, these were all taken using a Sigma 50-500mm lens. The landscape shot was taken with a Sigma 10-20mm.
We took some time off last week and traveled to Scarborough, Maine, to do marsh bird birding and camp for a few days. This was a particularly nice trip, as I got to see (and photograph) one bird I'd never seen before (a Common Nighthawk):
This was particularly nice because it was our first day; we took a short walk and spotted the nighthawks. I surprised myself by getting a decent photo of a constantly moving bird in such poor light, but it worked.
I also managed to finally get photos of a bird I've been trying to get a photo of for a year now. More, after the fold.
Last August, we spent a week in Newburyport, MA, mostly birding the nearby Parker River Wildlife Refuge. During one of our many walks in the refuge, a Marsh Wren popped out onto the boardwalk, saw us, and popped right back into the reeds again. I didn't even have a chance to point my lens at it, let alone get a photo.
That's why this week, amost a near later, getting this photo...
...was particularly nice.
I'm not going to go do this post in chronological order. I'm just going to show some of the photos, grouped more by type of bird than anything else:
This American Goldfinch isn't an unusual sighting in the Northeast. They are pretty much ubiquitous here. But I'd never seen one attack a caterpillar nest like this, so I love the photo mainly for the framing and look of it:
Three evenings in a row, as it was starting to get dark, I spotted this Black-Crowned Night Heron:
I didn't have the tripod with me, nor did I have my flash bulb, and it was particularly dark at this point. I was rather surprised to discover that I still managed to get a decent photo of the bird. I have an odd affinity for black-crowned night herons, partially from having some really nice luck taking photos of them in adverse conditions.
Snowy Egrets were plentiful in the area:
Snowy Egrets
Notice the feet on the snowy egrets in flight-- that's what I call the "clown feet" and they're a great ID marker for the bird. It helps distinguish them from the white form of the little blue heron...
...which has a pinkish beak with a black tip (the snowys have solid black beaks) and green legs.
The great egrets, on the other hand, have solid black legs and orange beaks:
Cormorants, unsurprisingly, were a frequent sighting:
Though I didn't get any close looks this time, it was nice to see several flocks of glossy ibis in flight:
Greater Yellowlegs were a common sighting:
(Lessers were there, too, but I don't think I photographed any)
An American Bald Eagle showed up briefly on our last day there:
American Bald Eagle
And there were Northern Harriers frequently hunting in the fields:
One day we took a drive over to Kennebunk plains:
While there, I was able to get a nice look at a red-eyed vireo:
and this Common Ringlet:
Back at the marsh itself, I had two mystery bugs as well:
as well as lots of sightings of least sandpipers...
...a Nashville warbler...
...a Savannah Sparrow...
...and over at pine point I was able to get photos of semipalmated sandpipers:
...and one with a semipalmated sandpiper with a semipalmated plover.
I'll close with one more photo, this one from the day after we got home:
I was looking for Belted Kingfishers, which frequent this particular branch of this particular tree. I pulled up and suddenly this Merlin landed on the branch. I took a bunch of photos. This was the best.
Enjoy the photos and feel free to use this as an open birding and/or photography thread.
Oh, and for anyone interested, you can find my Maine birding report from May here