More Wild Pennsylvania
I've spent most of my life believing you can more easily find animals feeding in the morning and again in the evening, I have come to find this is still mostly true. I say mostly true because I have had much greater success chasing birds in the morning than I have in the evening. Because of our work schedules, birding in the morning usually occurs on the weekend. Weekdays are left for evening chasing where I usually hear the birds but seldom see them at a distance for good photography.
Last weekend I went to Moraine State Park in the morning to visit a couple spots I like to watch. I waited patiently where I have seen, but never able to photograph, Wood Ducks. They usually fly as soon as they hear you. This day, I was there before they were and after some quiet time a small flock swam out from the tall marshland vegetation. They were about 100 yards away and when they heard the shutter of my camera they took flight. Below is a shot that includes three male and two female Wood Ducks.
Wood Ducks (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/1250, ISO 800, +2/3 EV)
The Eastern Phoebe is often seen sitting on a tree branch near water. It will fly off to catch an insect in flight and return to its perch. Below is a photograph of a perched Eastern Phoebe waiting a few feet above the water.
Eastern Phoebe (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/200, ISO 640)
You can also find the Eastern Phoebe picking insects off three and shrub leaves.
Eastern Phoebe (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/160, ISO 800)
I didn't know it at the time but this day was going to turn out to be a fantastic birding day. I was lucky enough to find and photograph, all for the first time, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, a Pine Warbler, a Black-throated Green warbler, and a Nashville Warbler.
The Yellow-rumped Warbler can be found year round in certain parts of Pennsylvania. However, central, western PA is not one of them. We get the pleasure of viewing them during migration. There are two subspecies of the yellow-rumped Warbler that used to be considered one species. The yellow throated western subspecies formerly known as the "Audubon's Warbler" is very rare. Here, we find the more common white throated species, formerly called "Myrtle Warbler".
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/320, ISO 640)
The Pine Warbler is usually found in mature pine woodlands. They are very hard to see because they spend most of their time in the tops of those mature trees. But if you catch this bird during migration, as I did, you can find it in mixed and deciduous forests.
Pine Warbler (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/4000, ISO 800)
The migrating Nashville Warbler can be found low to the ground in overgrown fields, forests, and thickets edging the forest. It did not get its name because it lives or breeds in Nashville. A few warblers like "Cape May", "Connecticut" and "Nashville" got their name because they were first observed there but do not breed there.
Nashville Warbler (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/3200, ISO 800)
The Black-throated Green Warbler is a summer resident in most of Pennsylvania. My area, according to migration maps I've seen, is a border between summer resident and migration. Either way, I've never seen one to photograph so this was my lucky day. During migration they can be found in woodlands with tall shrubs which is the exact habitat I found these two. The female, seen below, is very similar to the male but she lacks a full black throat.
Black-throated Green Warbler (female) (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/2000, ISO 800)
This is a male Black-throated Green Warbler leaving its perch. Note the black throat area giving away its gender.
Black-throated Green Warbler (male) (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/5.6 @ 600mm, 1/1000, ISO 800)
Remember a discussion from a previous post about birds, seasonal change, and breeding colors. All the warblers in the images above will have much more defined plumage next spring. Hopefully, I will be able to photograph these species again to show a comparison. There are more photos posted in the appropriate galleries from this day. Check out more warbler photos at the end of the Forest Birds gallery.
Speaking of seasonal changes, below is a photo of a first year White-tailed Deer. You can see the spots have faded and the thin, red, summer coat has begun to grow thicker and develop into its darker winter color. This is my opinion, but if you look close, you can still see the baby in its face.
White-tailed Deer Fawn (Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm 2.8L, 2X EF Extender III, f/9 @ 600mm, 1/20, ISO 800)
Until next time,
Dan
