Evergreen Revisted - Photography by Kirk M. Rogers

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Time was short to seek out the Warblers and other species before they left our area. A walk was scheduled for this date although to mixed reviews as to what may be found. All the rain & overcast last week wasn’t helpful in terms of getting outside; it also had all the plant life sprouting and many more leaves were on the trees.

We had a terrific group of people on this walk and it was well attended. I was really pleased to see Bob from York Audubon and Stan and his wife from the Stanton Bird Club based in Lewiston. I’ve learned much and met some great folks in the last few weeks at these morning events. I’d be unwilling to guess at the combined years of knowledge & experience gathered at Evergreen Cemetery on this Wednesday. We were also joined by my friend Paul; we traveled in together & he had his camera, long lens and tripod to do some digital capture.

I’d expected a beautiful blue morning just as predicted with lots of bird activity energized by the sun. However, this was not to be and the Sun was barely able to break the cloud cover making it a bit dismal as we walked the paths around the ponds. There were many birds about and although not as concentrated as the weeks before many remained available to view.

I'd been attempting to get a better image of a Chestnut-sided Warbler over the last few weeks. This image isn't perfect but it represents an improvement. Paul and I laughed when he realized how difficult it can be to follow one of these smallish birds with a long lens. After following this bird around a bit, he finally broke cover enough for this exposure.

There were more American Redstarts around than I'd viewed in the last few weeks. After some time stalking a pair I was able to image this beautiful female.

I got multiple exposures of the male but none that were critically focused. However, I wish to share an out of focus image of the pair I took about this time. I would never print this image but I enjoyed the beauty of the flashing colors in the lens and this rendition provides an idea of what I could see through the viewfinder:

Two herons were noted in a tree across the pond from our location. Although I’ve seen many of these herons, this was the first time I’d seen them at Evergreen. They were fairly distant so I turned up my flash a bit hoping to test my flash extender for distance – this is a device with a lens that mounts to a standard flash in use with the camera and is employed for fill flash on subjects. In the end result I should have left it alone or perhaps turned off the flash - in the images below you can view the light strike reflected in the eyes…

Pair of Black-crowned Night-Herons

Among the warblers were we viewing as we hiked along were the usual contingent of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Bob indicated those we were seeing were formerly referred to as Myrtle Warblers. Along with their cousin (formerly known as) the Audubon Warbler, they were grouped into a species now known as the Yellow-rumped Warbler. This makes the Myrtle and Audubon subspecies. I’m referencing the older designation here in the image but this bird is a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I got several exposures on this female although the gray sky background wasn’t conducive to a great image.

The best group of images for the morning included a pair of Canada Warblers frolicking in a tree not far from where the group passed. A fellow making the morning tour (with his son in a backpack carrier no less) was checking out the activity in a tree - the bulk of the group had passed the spot and it was quiet. I walked over to check out what he was doing and viewed several warblers flitting about. It only took an instant to drop the tripod and as soon as I obtained a relatively unobstructed view through the lens took a series of exposures. The results - the best of the morning can be viewed below. I was really pleased to have another opportunity to image this striking bird.

Another view of a feisty Chestnut-sided Warbler at Evergreen. Although not nearly as abundant, there were still many warblers in the area.

It was actually a good day for birding at Evergreen although not an especially auspicious one for camera work. Paul or I didn’t take many shots, perhaps half or less of what I generally shoot over several hours. The ratio of exposures to ‘keepers’ wasn’t good for this day but it’s always worthwhile and I’m pleased I found the time to get out.

I didn’t take any sighting notes but noticed many in the group did. I’m planning to start carrying my voice recorder in lieu of attempting to write in the field. With the tripod, camera and lens to carry plus my second camera on a strap over my shoulder, my hands are full enough as is. See the link at the bottom of this section to view the sightings list.

There were several groups in the field besides ours and I commented that I’d been around enough lately with camera in hand that I was becoming quite familiar with many faces in our local birding community. As Bob indicated, most of the people are really great and just as in astronomy, everyone is willing to help out if you have questions.

I wish to thank all our walk attendees for making this a fun time. I offer a special thanks to Bob from the York Chapter and my friend Stan from the Stanton Bird Club. Spending time with you guys is wonderful and a terrific learning experience.

The list of sightings for the day can be found at Merrymeeting Audubon Trip Reports. Please take a look if you have an opportunity.

Kiro
May 2007

A note about the photography...Unless specifically credited otherwise, all images in this account are by the author. Any images viewed that are digitally framed and labeled have been printed and added to my collection of works for sale. The web versions are nice, but a full resolution print significantly enhances the beauty of these images; all are ©2007 Photography by Kirk M. Rogers - any reproduction, publication or transmission of this content without the consent of the author is prohibited. Please contact me should you have an interest in obtaining any of the images.

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