I just got back from 3 days at Magee Marsh in northern Ohio on the south shore of Lake Erie. The Warblers stop here to rest and feed before crossing the lake into Canada.
To say the photographic opportunities were great would be an understatement. I have never seen so many Warblers and so close. My telephoto lens has a minimum focus distance of 15 feet. There were many times I could not get the photograph because the Warblers were too close. I never have had that problem before with small birds. Usually it is just the opposite, and I am using stacked teleconverters on my telephoto lens to increase its range.
Now I have to process and ID the photographs I took. I averaged about 600 shots per day. Of course, with birds I will be happy if I keep 20%. But that is still a lot of work for the next week or two.
But thanks to the many friendly birders (the place was packed) that were willing to help a poor photographer identify what he was shooting. It will save me many hours of pouring over Sibley's. Even at that, I am sure there will be some I have to submit to the Bird ID Forum.
To say the photographic opportunities were great would be an understatement. I have never seen so many Warblers and so close. My telephoto lens has a minimum focus distance of 15 feet. There were many times I could not get the photograph because the Warblers were too close. I never have had that problem before with small birds. Usually it is just the opposite, and I am using stacked teleconverters on my telephoto lens to increase its range.
Now I have to process and ID the photographs I took. I averaged about 600 shots per day. Of course, with birds I will be happy if I keep 20%. But that is still a lot of work for the next week or two.
But thanks to the many friendly birders (the place was packed) that were willing to help a poor photographer identify what he was shooting. It will save me many hours of pouring over Sibley's. Even at that, I am sure there will be some I have to submit to the Bird ID Forum.
