outdoor photography

Black & White Warbler Ugh. I've been a terrible blogger lately. This is my first post in two weeks! However, Central Winds has become increasingly fun over the last couple weeks, with a larger variety of migrants coming through.  There are also fewer numbers of Northern Parula (sometimes I'd see about 50 or so in the park), so it's easier to pick out other species. The park has also given me some of my better photographs of some species, so I figured I'd share a collection of photos from the last two weeks (when I last posted). Yellow Warbler Yellow Warblers have been quite common here, and sometimes I've seen as many as 5.  But for some reason they have not been that cooperative for photos until a couple days ago.  One found a nice snack low enough for me to get a decent shot, finally. Black & White Warbler Prairie Warbler Prairie Warblers and Black and White Warblers have also been pretty common here, but the Black-and-whites have bee...

Magnolia Warbler It was another very fun day at Mead Gardens.  A bunch of us were there for the birdwalk with the Orange Audubon Society.  It's always a great time; this time there were probably more than 50 people there, but it didn't seem all that crowded.  The star of the show this morning was a beautiful Magnolia Warbler in breeding plumage.  We don't get that many of these; this one was occasionally cooperative for photos, but you had to be ready. Hesitate a second and he was off to another branch. Magnolia Warbler In all I believe 13 species of warblers were seen by the time I left: Ovenbird 4 Worm-eating Warbler 3 Northern Waterthrush 1 Black-and-white Warbler 10 Prothonotary Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 4 American Redstart 15 Northern Parula 4 Magnolia Warbler 1 Blackpoll Warbler 12 Black-throated Blue Warbler 8 Palm Warbler (Western) 2 Prairie Warbler 2 Worm-eating Warbler The Prothonotary Warbler was in the t...

Tersa Sphinx Moth It was a pretty fun morning at Central Winds.  We found only eleven warbler species (the best being 2 Magnolia Warblers), but there were lots of them there, especially American Redstarts.  We also were treated to some great views of two Summer Tanagers, a late Great-crested Flycatcher missing most of its tail, and an early Eastern Phoebe.  I'm not sure I've ever seen both of these flycatchers on the same day in the fall.  A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher showed off its breakfast, and we found two moths mating, which I believe are Tersa Sphinx Moths. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Magnolia Warbler Summer Tanager Eastern Phoebe Great-crested Flycatcher with only one tail feather

Dragonfly I went to Mead Gardens yesterday morning for about an hour before work. It was pretty slow--I saw several Common Yellowthroats, along with the usual Mockingbirds, House Finches, Great Crested Flycatchers, Carolina Wrens and Cardinals.  As I was getting ready to leave, though, things started to get good.  In a tree by the lake, there were several American Redstarts and a Magnolia Warbler becoming very active.  It would have been nice to see what else may have come around, but I had to content myself with that Magnolia Warbler.  Not a bad morning, though, if you ask me. Monarch Butterfly Magnolia Warbler Common Yellowthroat Here's a list of the 25 species I found this morning between around 8am and 9am: Wood Duck 2 Wood Stork 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 3 Chimney Swift 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 3 B...