I’ve seen more bird species than I’ve photographed. With nearly 800 in my image library, I have a few but there are a lot more to be added. But it’s a challenge, you could say I’ve photographed all the easy ones. Easy here being defined as seen more often in more places. I’ve been fortunate to feed my passion for birds in 2022 going after species on my list and successfully adding them to the library. This week I was pleased to add one, not on my list that I last saw over a decade ago but had never gotten glass on until yesterday. The Veery is a small thrush that migrates at night south to South America in the fall and is just now getting back to its nesting ground. It’s a secretive bird that prefers the forest floor. It’s a busy place down there. This morning we saw one in the first soft light of the day. Grabbing the Z 9 / 180-400 off the tripod, I was able to get low and get a fortunate clean shoot of it in an uncluttered piece of the forest floor. I was so happy to have my Veery first photo!

I have two basic goals when I go after bird photographs, loving the situation and coming back with images. Today, we tend to travel to specific locations for specific birds. Often, there is some rarety(s) that are the target but can be elusive. Tunnel vision on that one species might garnish you with the photo, sometimes you come back with nothing. You can either chase it or, let it come to you with time and basic biology. The difference I think is loving the situation. There are many magnificent rare warbler species at Magee Marsh, then there is the Yellow Warbler. A gorgeous, goofy little warbler, they are pretty common. While waiting for the Yellow-throated or Black-throated Green, Blackburian, Bland & White, Magnolia, or other rarely seen, there is the Yellow Warbler everywhere. I’ve taken thousands of photos of the Yellow Warbler, looking for that uncommon of the common photo waiting for the other rarities to come through. The twofer here is, I sharpen my skills on the Yellow so when the Cerulean buzzes through, I can get the glass one it and the picture made. In loving the situation, I can do common.

With Magee Marsh out of reach for the last two years, I really dying to get back here because it is a magical place. And it did not let me down! Magee Marsh is an avian refueling station for warblers heading north right now. These little guys the size of your thumb dart around like a feather in the wind and the challenge is to find them. You first literally locate them in the forest, then continue to observe them hoping they come close, out in the open with a clean background, and then hold still for at least 1 second. They do which is the joy and fun. Shooting with the Z 9 / 180-400VR making acquiring focus and focusing so close to deliver a large subject size makes the whole process so much fun. Even in the rain today, Magee Magic was in the air!

For the last ten to fourteen days Sharon & I have seen flashes of yellow flash about The Ranch as the male Golden Finches start to change into their spring finery. While a very small bird, they sport a really big color that can’t be missed. In fact, the first male to turn yellow got nailed by the Sharpie so we’re not the only ones seeing the flash of color! Well, they aren’t the most photogenic as they shift especially their black caps so I’ve been very impatiently waiting until the black was pretty well filled in to photograph them. This male, though not totally in his spring tux, isn’t too bad-looking. He’s the first of the season I’ve photographed. Here’s the thing, last year we only saw one or two males total, they had just found The Ranch feeders and were pretty shy. We were hoping they would come back and in bigger numbers this year. We had them during the winter mixed in with our siskins and redpolls but they were in their winter drabs so we were never really sure how many goldfinches were mixed in. In the last week or so, with all the yellow darting about, we can see they have multiplied! At the moment, we’re up to nine males in (would be 10 but the Sharpie), and about the feeders. We’re really excited and delighted to see them! And I was really happy yesterday even in the snow flurries to get some in the viewfinder and make some clicks. It’s only going to get better, I can’t wait to see if any actually stay and nest!