With nearly all in-person birding festivals canceled and some of my favorite hotspots closed due to the pandemic, 2020 was a challenging year to find birds to photograph. Since March, I have been working from home. As a result, I’ve spent many lunch breaks and more early evening hours than normal in my backyard, and… Read more »
What lens do you use for bird photography? This is a question I have been asked many times. My love affair with Tamron lens began in the winter of 2018 while co-leading a Bird Watcher’s Digest Reader Rendezvous at Florida’s Space Coast. I was leading the bird photography sessions of the trip, which were sponsored… Read more »
While everyone was waiting for turkey on Thanksgiving Day, I was anticipating a different bird: the short-eared owl. With a four-day holiday weekend but no family gatherings this year, I decided to head out to a nearby location I found by using eBird and by talking to other local birders. The place I visited is… Read more »
It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was interested in doing some “birdtography.” My aim was to find some LBJs (little brown jobs, aka sparrows). Determined not to let a little rain stop me, I grabbed my camera and headed to the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, where LBJs have been reliable and abundant… Read more »
You may have seen my photos on the pages of Bird Watcher’s Digest and Watching Backyard Birds. For the past three-plus years, I have been the production director and a contributing photographer to BWD. But my interest in bird photography, aka birdtography, began long ago. Since high school I have been interested in photography, and… Read more »
I have always considered spring warbler migration the most challenging form of bird photography. And some would say that Magee Marsh is the spring warbler capital of the world. It might be possible to encounter as many as 29 species of warblers from the boardwalk in a typical spring migration. This year because of the… Read more »
Seven species of woodpeckers reside in Ohio: red-bellied, downy, hairy, pileated, and red-headed woodpeckers; yellow-bellied sapsucker; and northern flicker. Until recently, I checked six of the seven on my backyard list and had photographed them all—all except the red-headed woodpecker. Knowing the preferred habitat of that species, I figured I might never have one visit… Read more »
You may have read that the staff at Bird Watcher’s Digest started a friendly game of Bird Bingo back in April. I developed the cards myself with help from BWD‘s editor, Dawn Hewitt. I captured almost all of the photos on the cards, and you can download these cards if you would like to play…. Read more »
Last weekend—the July 4 holiday—a friend invited me to go kayaking on a local lake. I know from experience on the lakeshore that there are many birds species in this area. I asked my friend if I should bring my camera. “Oh yes,” she replied. “We can get close to the birds without disturbing them.” … Read more »
Our backyards are full of birds that look a little different this time of year: It’s time for the fledglings to leave the nest. Fledglings are learning to be out on their own, under the careful watch of their parents. You might even see a parent feed a fledgling a seed from the feeder. Some… Read more »
