Warblers | Scott Martin Photography

Lesser Scaup Family and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler

by Scott Martin Photography | Apr 11, 2013 | Birds, Blog, Shore Birds & Waterfowl, Warblers

Although we are expecting a snow storm tomorrow, the early migrants are returning to the area after wintering down south. It’s great to hear their songs every morning as I leave for the office. Probably my favourite birds to photograph in the spring are the many warblers that pass through the Oshawa area in May & June. Oshawa is a unique warbler location as there is a small woods next to the lake that contains the only remaining “Old World” White Pine stand on the North West shore of Lake Ontario and many of the warblers desire this unique habitat. One of the more common warbler species is the Yellow-rumped Warbler and we were fortunate to photograph one while in Florida last month.

Yellow Rumped Warbler 07

Yellow Rumped Warbler 08

Yellow Rumped Warbler 09

Normally we don’t post images on man-made perches, however a nice pose against a clean back ground makes the barbed wire seem not quite as bad!

This Yellow-rump was photographed at Lake Kissimmee in Florida at the end of Joe Overstreet Road. Other warbler images can be seen by following this link to the Warbler Gallery.

While in Florida visiting the Merritt Island Nature & Wildlife Preserve we were fortunate to photograph a number of Lesser Scaups. Lesser Scaup’s prefer fresh water (Greater Scaups like salt water) and are one of the most abundant diving ducks in north America although in recent years their numbers have been in sharp decline. Even though Scaups are common, this was the first time Deb and I had ever seen or photographed them.

Male in breeding plumage.

Lesser Scaup 05

This next image is not as visually appealing as the previous image because the reflection of the head is cut of by the bottom of the frame, however it does clearly show the unique marking on the distal aspect of the bill, which is why it is included in this post. Any elements of visual importance in an image tend to detract from the image when they touch the edge of the frame so try to leave ample room around your subject when out taking pictures. You can always crop the image in post processing, however when you crop the image “in the camera” like I did in this next shot, you are stuck with less than ideal results.

Lesser Scaup 02

Non breeding male plumage or a young male.

Lesser Scaup 04

Female Lesser Scaup.

Lesser Scaup 03

Lesser Scaup 01

All images in this post were taken with a Canon 5D Mk III and EF 500mm L IS lens supported on a Jobu monopod and Jobu Jr. 3 gimbal head.

The Spring Migrants Are Returning

by Scott Martin Photography | May 8, 2012 | Birds, Blog, Educational, Sparrows, Warblers

Although I haven’t had much time to get out with a camera, its great to see the Spring migrants starting to show up in large numbers, especially the Warblers. More than twenty species have been seen in our area and fortunately the leaf cover is still sparse enough that you can catch a good look at most of them. That will all change in the next few days as the leaves and ground cover reach full bloom.

We spent last weekend at the cottage, getting it ready for another summer and it was a pleasant surprise to have a number of Yellow Rumped Warblers in the trees by our deck. Although one of the most common warblers, they certainly are pretty, especially when they pose for you!

Yellow Rumped Warbler 05

This next shot of a Red Winged Blackbird that didn’t want his picture taken is from Cranberry Marsh which is just off Lake Ontario in the south end of the Lynde Shores Conservation area in Ajax, Ontario.

Red Winged Blackbird 14

Two photographers whose blog I follow are Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Chrysanthou and one of their recent blog postings talked a lot about using different crops to enhance images, including the square crop. This White Throated Sparrow shot provided a good opportunity to practice with a square crop.

This image was taken in Thickson’s Woods in Oshawa and the Sparrow landed on a very interesting perch, nicely separated from the back ground. The problem is the perch overwhelms the small bird, which is normally a ‘no-no’ for good bird images. Typically you can minimize the large perch by cropping the photo to minimize the visual impact of the perch, resulting in this typical landscape oriented crop.

After reading Darwin’s blog on square crops, and quite liking this large perch, I decided to re-do the little sparrow on the big perch in a square format.

It is always a good practice to think outside the box and break down some of the traditions we photographers cling to, especially when it comes to composition and all the other ‘un-written’ rules of photography.