At last, it’s May. I have to say I have been looking forward to May ever since last May. You see, May is the time when tiny colorful birds called warblers grace our local woodlots for a few weeks, as they migrate north.
Last May was the first time I ever attempted to photograph these tiny birds, and I was immediately hooked.
Warbler photography is extremely challenging for a lot of reasons.
- First of all, warblers are generally very small, about the size of a chickadee (about 4″ long).
- Secondly, they are in constant motion as they search for small insects on which they feed (imagine a two-year-old child with wings after two cups of coffee).
All of these challenges are compounded by the fact that warblers are usually in the woods where there is very little light.
They spend their time picking insects from all the leaves, which also hides the birds, making it very hard to get a clear view of one of these birds. It is low percentage shooting. I would estimate that I take a few hundred pictures of warblers for every truly good one I get.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Here is a more stylistic image of a warbler, a blackpoll, I really like the implied motion in this image.
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow Warbler in Song
Here are some more images I made during this years warbler migration. I have to say that we really never did have a great fallout day of warblers this year!
A fallout day is when you get a large arrival of migrating warblers that have been blown into an area. This often happens when there is a low-pressure area south of us, which then spins birds up to us on southerly winds (the birds take advantage of these winds to help them on their journey north). This year, that never really happened.
The winds seemed to be out of the north during most of May. This caused the birds to just kind of dribble through on their way north. But fortunately, I was able to spend a large amount of time out in the field this year, and I was able to put together a collection of images that I am very pleased with.
Here is a photograph of a black and white warbler. This particular individual was a very handsome specimen. Most of the black and whites I see look a little scruffy, this guy was feather perfect.
Black and White Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler with Worm
This flashy fellow is a blackburnian warbler which is always a crowd pleaser with bird watchers
Blackburnian Warbler in Song
Soon I will be leaving for a trip to the Galapagos Islands and the cloud forests of Ecuador.
In the Galapagos, I hope to photograph the amazing plants and animals of this unique island habitat. I will be bringing my high-speed flash setup to the cloud forest to attempt to photograph hummingbirds on the wing. Ecuador is home to 130 of the world’s 328 species of hummingbirds. Hopefully, I will be able to get a crack at one or two of them.
Related: Spring Warbler Photography Tips
Good Luck & Good Light!
Steve & Nicole