PELEE - MAY 13th

This morning I did chores and then headed down to the park in early afternoon to take a quick look for a reported Western Grebe. No luck with that but while scanning at Northwest Beach I was surprised to spot an adult light phase PARASITIC JAEGER!

I continued down to the visitor center and there I heard that the photo opps in Tildens were good. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon there.

One of the lowest and easiest birds to see was this TENNESSEE WARBLER. This is a bird that is quite hard to photograph as it normally stays way up in the canopy.




At first I had trouble with trying to get the right set up for photographing in these overcast conditions. Fortunately I ran into professional photographer and good friend Chris Dodds. He set me straight on the best setting and compensation and right away my results improved. This was a good thing because there were lots of great birds like this ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK to capture. Thanks Chris!





There were at least fifteen warbler species in Tilden's but I only managed to get decent images of about four species, including this BLACK-THROATED GREEN (a female).

TEXAS DAY 3-5

The last few days have been hectic to say the least. We left Port Aransas two days ago and have been on South Padre Island the past two days. Both days provided good shooting, with today bringing in a small fallout. We are still hoping that more birds will drop in tomorrow with continued North winds. Regardless, its almost certain that what is here will stay put. That should mean another day of good opportunities with many orioles and buntings and a good selection of warblers.

Below is a kind of funky image I took at the Convention center - a well known spot for observing migrants on South Padre. It gives a sense of both the bird and the photographer.





Now here are a couple of photos of the bird close up - a gorgeous male Black-throated Green Warbler that seemed oblivious to all the attention it was receiving!




The fallout that arrived this afternoon brought a small group of male Painted Buntings which were incredibly tame at times. I spent most of my time videotaping them at distances as close as six to eight feet. At one point I had to back away from the bird as it fed closer and closer! I did take a few still images and here is my favourite.



Lastly here is a pic of a Palm Warbler that was lingering for the last two days. Not the brighest warbler in the book, but still a neat little bird.