Sunday, May 5, 2013

Melting Snow and Migrating Birds

We made a mad dash to Kansas City in order to look at elementary schools this past week, but were dampened by the May snowstorm and returned impressed with both districts we looked at.  When we returned to Winona the ground was covered in snow.  Sun appeared  late Saturday morning, so I grabbed the camera and binoculars and went searching for birds.

Spring migration is often the best opportunity to observe birds that breed and reside further north, offering individuals the chance to see them along their journey.  Warblers are some of the most colorful birds of North America, and many birders love their migration. Unfortunately the number and diversity of warblers is not great yet here, but recent reports indicate they are close!  The highlight of the past two days were the cooperative thrushes, with the Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush being quite friendly and photogenic. I put on quite a few miles, sat in mud taking pictures, and enjoyed seeing over 100 species the past two days.  Below are photos for everyone to enjoy.

Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Waterthrush

White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 comments:

Lorrene said...

Great photos! Do you digiscope or have a telephoto lens?

Malcolm said...

Lorrene,

I took all of these photos using a DSLR and a 300mm lens. We have an older 300 F4 AF lens that we use on a nikon D300. The lens is slightly more expensive than the newer zoom lenses, but quite reasonable compared to the newer prime big glass.

I am impressed with digiscopers that get good results, I've tried it and haven't been impressed with my attempts.