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Did your sightings surprise you? How do you think the research you did might help inform your photography? Tell us about it.You must be enrolled in the course to reply to this topic.
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Hi,
I was surprised to find the wood stork when visiting the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge. It is a threatened species in the US, so I was mentally prepared for a difficult photo challenge. The checklist lesson research provided greater species insight and possible sighting locations. My nature photography success has been being at the right place at the right time, which means prep plus a hefty dose of luck.
The photo of the wood stork chick testing its wings under the watchful eye of the parent was taken early yesterday morning in a shaded area using a 180-600mm zoom lens with a 1.4 teleconverter for an overall focal length of 840mm which aided in keeping an ethical distance from the nesting colony. The TC helps with distance but reduces aperture options in lower light conditions. The shot was taken at f/6.3 with a slower shutter speed of 160 due to lighting conditions using a tripod. +1 stop of exposure compensation was added along with boosting ISO to 200 to help with overall exposure.
Looking forward to learning more about bird photography in addition to low-light and sharp long-lens freehand techniques.
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I've been seeing one or more Yellow-rumped Warblers guard my suet feeder over the past few weeks. I like how the bird blends in with the tree, with the exception of the yellow under the wing, and I like the pose with one leg up on the suet feeder. Knowing to expect the bird around the suet feeder helped me get my shot, and knowing it will be leaving town soon makes me glad I captured it while it's around. -
I was lucky enough to get out to Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area near Luton, Indiana during water fowl migration. I was this magnificent fellow flying around. We saw 100's overall, maybe close to a 1000. Learning about them as part of the trip was a lot of fun.-
I got some fun display behavior. I guess about food?
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I learned that the black on this cardinal's bill indicates it is a juvenile. Every day it's getting harder to tell which birds are the parents. I am trying to find other markings to tell them apart.-
It is always fun to learn something new about a new bird! Nice shot!
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I chose to photograph Herring Gulls. I realized in choosing a bird to photograph for this assignment that I’d like to pick one I didn’t know much about. Here in NW Ohio, you can see various gulls over at Lake Erie, or at the Maumee River, or even in a store parking lot asking for food - a few miles away from any body of water. They are so ubiquitous and yet, somehow, I didn’t give them their due. That changed with this project and I now understand how astonishingly resourceful they are, and more about their color variations. I also learned we have some rarer gulls here, like Thayer’s and Mew, though I didn’t see one ... yet.
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I'm spending some time down south in Arizona this winter, trying to avoid the cold Canadian climate. One species I'm always interested in, for their looks and surprisingly beautiful song, is the Curve-Billed Thrasher. Native to the Phoenix area, it prefers deserts, open shrubby areas but can often be found in parks and more suburban areas. While visiting a local riparian preserve, I knew I had a good chance of finding one. I found this thrasher singing in a mesquite tree, it wasn't bothered by my presence, let me snap a few pictures and then I left it to sing.
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What a cool bird. Thanks for sharing!
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We have been stuck inside for the last week due to a Winter storm and I have been watching all of our Bluebirds. This is a photo I took. This course is really helping me. This was taken with a Nikon P900 on manual settings.
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@Phil wow! beautiful! Are they feeding near you?
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What a wonderful shot of a bluebird. Great job. They are hard to get that close. How long of a lens did you use?
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I was always curious about these birds that kept showing up with the Chickadees. The Tufted Titmouse has gray plumage, a tufted crest , orange underbelly and small bill. Loves the sunflower seeds and seems to come with a flock of Chickadees to the feeder. The sound is always so familiar the they sing a tune that sounds like , Peter-Peter-Peter . It has been cold here in the single digits , and yet they still come daily to feed.
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Today is January 24, 2026 and where I live, the temperature was -32 C (-25.6f) and my research question for the assignment was to figure out how birds like cardinals survive in the rather crazy temperatures at this time of year. In a snowstorm a couple of days ago from the comfort of the inside of my house, I caught a cardinal sheltering in the branches of a spruce tree and saw him "eating snow" from the branch -
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Beautiful!
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Awesome colors, composition and observation! That's COLD! What did you learn about cardinals in the cold?
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@MyDailyNature I learned that Cardinals roost in the protection of spruce trees, that they are able to shiver to increase their body temperature by 3-6°, eat food that is higher in calories like the seeds from pinecones and finally they fluff up their feathers to create extra space for air insulation....it was so interesting since I survived about 10 minutes at that temperature all dressed up...
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Excellent!
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I am observing a flock of Common mergansers near my home and they are most of the time sitting around on the river bank, preening and scratching. Last time they finally went swimming a bit and I managed to get a few photos. I've also got a flock of Long tailed tit)s in the area (I live in Slovenia, Europe).
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This fall I shifted seed to Black oil sunflower for fall and winter. Watched the feeder as some of the species remained pretty much the same. Tufted Titmouse, some finches, chickadees. Interesting to watch the cardinals the number increased significantly. The biggest change was in the woodpeckers. Before there were periodic downy and hairy woodpeckers and once in a great while a red bellied WP. Now there are a number of downy and hairy and daily visits from 2 red bellied WP. Sometimes they are both there at the same time. Also mourning doves. Have to see what happens as winter deepens. I live near the coast in CT.
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I was able to take pictures of nesting bald eagles. It was interesting to see the behavior of the adults change as the young eagles grew.
One was always close by the young eaglets, but as they grew bigger they didn't hover over them so closely. I was able to take the pictures
from a safe distance away so not to bother them. Also of interest was how long the imature eagles stayed close to the nest.
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There is an osprey nest along a country road with a view of fields and sometimes a stream. The electric company made them a disk shelf above the lines so that they would be safe nesting after a disastrous first season. They have returned for about 5-6 years! How wonderful. The male often sits on another electric pole perusing the entire area. Because the nest is above the electric poles, their nest is about 15-20 feet high up. I have tried to take photos when I see the female poke her head out of the nest, but without very large telephoto lenses and the height of the test, I cannot find a way to see her clearly. I would never want to use a drone for fear I would cause trauma and they would never return. The male is on watch and darts as soon as I stop my car, even 30 feet away.
Suggestions? Perhaps this is one nest-stead that should just be left alone. No images to share.-
Hi Ruth,
I would give a respectful distance to the nesting site. Instead of trying to get images of the female on the nest, have you considered being further away and trying to get flight shots instead? That way you're not potentially spooking the birds, not dealing with an awkward angle and it's good practice on taking images of birds flying too. Since Ospreys are large raptors, there's a bit more leeway with getting good shots of them [than a smaller bird which flies much faster].
Try and work out where the Sun is in the early hours of the morning after sunrise, and the couple of hours before sunset too. If the birds are front lit and flying into the wind, that's ideal.
Unfortunately, length does matter in bird photography imho. Sure, you can get bird photos without long lenses, but that's not the norm in my experience. You haven't mentioned what camera and lens setup you are currently using. I find that 500mm focal length is the bare minimum. YMMV.
Good luck! Post photos if you get some.
Cheers,
Dave -
here's a fly Osprey shots.
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@David Thank you for all your ideas and support. Fantastic shots of flying Osprey! I really appreciate the clarity of the wing feathers.
I use a Nikon D3300, but my largest lens is just 55mm-200mm. I guess I should start my savings for something with more focal length. I usually take photos of flowers and insects feeding my plants, or sunset landscapes, or nature that is closer to me.
The adventure begins!
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@Ruth Hi Ruth,
IMHO, and others may have different opinions, 55-200 is too short unless the bird is very large and quite close and tolerant of humans. Birds have a very strong flight or fight response mechanism, so most are very easy to spook if you are in proximity to them.
The Sigma 150-600 contemporary (not the sports) is probably your best budget bet option for a longer lens. It is a bit heavy (2kg) and some users may not like that.
If you are not tied to Nikon with lots of lenses and accessories, I'm going to be biased and suggest moving to Canon. Grab a R10 and a used 400mm f5.6L lens. It's a longer term investment. If budget is an issue, or you are not sure if the hobby is something that will continue to pique your interest, then I would not spend anymore money at this point of time. Nikon has only the Z50II in the budget arena, and that is still quite expensive. Used older Nikon lenses (for example, AF-S variants) will work with modern Nikon mirrorless cameras for animal eye focusing. Whilst some will say animal eye focus is a gimmick, I can wholeheartedly assure you that it is not a gimmick. It's a tool, and will result in more keepers and greater personal satisfaction of your images. If you prefer a zoom, Canon's RF100-400 is budget friendly for most people, great AF and very good optical performance. I'm of the very firm belief that primes outdo zooms, but many others will disagree. I've been using a camera for nearly 40 years :-)
Bird photography, and bird watching have fantastic (imho) benefits - physical health, and especially mental health. The main thing is to get out there and observe our beautiful birds and relax.
Best wishes with your photography. Don't be afraid to show your images, would love to see them.
Cheers,
Dave
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Whilst I do location research (online webpages, Facebook groups and eBird as well as family and photography friends), a lot of bird photography is pure luck. Right place, at the Right time. Doing research does help imho. I also use Google maps and also search for the location to see what comes up.
I also research birds and bird behaviour. Subtle bird behaviour such as lifting the tail, or going to the toilet will indicate that a bird is about to take off. eBird is a great way to learn about birds, but I also have a rather large personal library of books on Australian birds. Some of the books are out of print, but nevertheless, I believe that they still add a great deal of information on any given species.
Never underestimate family and friends. All of my friends know that I'm into bird photography and I quite often get location tips on birds. Once my sister told me about being "eagles" less than a 15 minute drive from my home. When she told me the location, I already had a very good idea what the birds would be (Whistling Kites) and upon arriving at the location, I found that I was indeed correct. Why? I'd been to an area less than a KM from where they were roosting/nesting and I'd seen them several times over many visits during the past 2 years.
After 4 years of bird photography, I have learned to be able to ID by site most of the common species, including our Australian raptors, which I have a special interest in. This didn't happen by luck, it happened by a lot of research on my part. Get to know your birds. -
At a local pair of ponds, I have seen wood ducks multiple times and photographed them. They are spectacular birds, unreal looking, so beautiful. In reading about them, I found out that they are a year-round resident here in the Seattle area. They nest in cavities and rely heavily on nest boxes. There are two nest boxes at the ponds I visit regularly, but I did not see the ducks there. I hope to see them someday in the boxes and maybe get interesting photos of the parents or the babies jumping from the box, if I can do that without disturbing them. I was happy to see that the oldest wood duck was more than 22 years old! So, I should be seeing some of the same pairs for years to come. There were about a dozen wood ducks on the ponds this time--maybe migrating, even though they can be year-round residents. They have recently molted, and their plumage is fresh and shiny!
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A gorgeous shot!
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These Egrets are pretty common around here, but I have never seen one standing on a thin branch like this before. The lake it is viewing is also pretty deep, whereas mostly they hang around in swampy, shallow water. Was it looking for food or just enjoying the view?
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Egrets may be common, but they are always elegant and amazing. Thanks for sharing this photo.
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There are resident Red-Shouldered Hawks in my neighborhood and I was alerted to the presence of one by some mobbing Bay-Breasted and Tennessee Warblers!
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Nice capture! What an amazing bird! Glad you understood what the warblers were upset about!
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I haven't went out in the filed yet. I'm keeping notes and want to dive more into my subject before going out.
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One of my dreams is to get a good shot of a loon! They seem so elusive! Lucky you for finding and catching one.
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Brown-headed nuthatches are a very common bird in my area. I've been struck in the past about how brave they are around my bird feeders; they don't fly off when I start to approach, and I often have to hang back a minute before they'll leave. Sometimes they swoop in while I'm still there.
They also have a very distinct sound, which I refer to as "like a little squeak toy," and All About Birds likens to a "rubber ducky." They don't migrate, so it's an ever-present sound.
Reading up on them, I see that they are so common due to the pine trees in my area. The climb up and down the tree trunks, often hanging upside down like little acrobats. They also are social and live/travel in groups, giving many opportunities for spotting these energetic little guys.-
We have the equivalent red-breasted nuthatches here in Seattle and the noise they make is hilarious. Like yours, they are brave at the feeders and will not be deterred for long even when I am right in front. This time of year they are frantically trying to find seeds to cache, so come to the feeder dozens of times an hour.
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Last year, by sheer chance I encountered a Mississippi Kite here in Cheyenne, WY. This year, at about the same date I had business downtown and stopped by the same area on the off chance that I would find another. I saw two of them flying around.
But two raptors hanging around together brings up the possibility of them breeding, which would be the first one documented in Wyoming. They are more prone to nesting in urban areas in the west, but they also will nest in wind breaks and will also nest colonially in old forests in the southeast. So, I have been checking up on them regularly, but I was starting to get discouraged. They were showing no signs of brooding or feeding young. Luckily, a coworker asked to see them about 10 days after the initial sighting, and it was like a switch had been flipped. We saw both adults flying and could hear the chick calling from a cottonwood tree. Success!
Since then, I have been going back every day or two to check on progress. It is far behind where it should be at this time is summer. It was only seen exercising its wings two days ago. According to Birds of the World, they should already be migrating to central South America. Their main diet of aerial insects is scarce enough in Cheyenne, let alone the alternatives of lizards or frogs and other small animals. Weather conditions tend to change quickly here, and those kinds of food sources will be gone soon.
I have taken some photos of the adults where they like to roost in dead limbs that overlook the nest area. The chick is visible from one area on the street, and the comings and goings of the adults has provided some great opportunities for family pictures. Awesome views of the adults flying in are much harder as they stoop in from higher up to enter the nest, and I haven’t been successful at those. -
I enjoy the Black-necked Stilts who are year-round occupants of shallow ponds near my home in south Texas. In the spring I've enjoyed observing mating rituals. Last summer while walking I inadvertently approached a nest - I was on a path and the nest was in tall grass. The parents chattered loudly from the air as I moved away without seeing the nest. This year I was rewarded with parents watching three young as they came to the edge of a pond. The parents stood in deeper water and watched closely, keeping their young along the edge. From across the pond I could get nice photographs from a sufficient distance that the parents were not troubled by my presence.
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I love seeing the American Goldfinches outside my apartment. When I researched them and learned their sound, as well as their bouncy flight pattern, I realized that there were many more living here than I thought! I took a walk around my apartment, listened and watched to see where they hang out, and then got my camera. I was able to capture this by slowly approaching the beautiful bird while he was digging in on some flowers.
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A few months ago I spotted my first Green Heron peering at me from some high grass along a lake, and I was enamored with it! I, however, did not get a good shot of it. It was very skittish, and it had definitely seen me coming. It was the first bird that came to mind when I started this section. My research into their preferred environment and how they hunt was extremely helpful. At first, I didn't think I'd get a good shot. The green heron was very aware of my presence, and after staring at me for quite a while, it flew away. I took a breath, backed off, hung up my hammock, and waited. Thankfully the green heron came back and was much more relaxed this time. It was such a cool experience to watch it hunt!
I was always curious about these birds that kept showing up with the Chickadees. The Tufted Titmouse has gray plumage, a tufted crest , orange underbelly and small bill. Loves the sunflower seeds and seems to come with a flock of Chickadees to the feeder. The sound is always so familiar the they sing a tune that sounds like , Peter-Peter-Peter . It has been cold here in the single digits , and yet they still come daily to feed. 
Brown-headed nuthatches are a very common bird in my area. I've been struck in the past about how brave they are around my bird feeders; they don't fly off when I start to approach, and I often have to hang back a minute before they'll leave. Sometimes they swoop in while I'm still there.
Last year, by sheer chance I encountered a Mississippi Kite here in Cheyenne, WY. This year, at about the same date I had business downtown and stopped by the same area on the off chance that I would find another. I saw two of them flying around.
I enjoy the Black-necked Stilts who are year-round occupants of shallow ponds near my home in south Texas. In the spring I've enjoyed observing mating rituals. Last summer while walking I inadvertently approached a nest - I was on a path and the nest was in tall grass. The parents chattered loudly from the air as I moved away without seeing the nest. This year I was rewarded with parents watching three young as they came to the edge of a pond. The parents stood in deeper water and watched closely, keeping their young along the edge. From across the pond I could get nice photographs from a sufficient distance that the parents were not troubled by my presence. 
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