More Tree Swallow Photos

This afternoon when i got out of school i headed over to Neville's Pond to check in with the swallows and see if any more boxes had been occupied. Unfortunately no more boxes had swallows in them. I did get a chance with one pair of swallows that is nesting in one of my boxes in the water. Brad & I placed a few interesting looking sticks and stumps around the pond and now the swallows readily use them. This offers great photo opportunities. On a day like today with overcast skies i use settings such as these

-1/640
-f7.1
-iso 400
-Manual mode, Tripod mounted


Here are a few images from today:

Everybody's Favorite | Warblers & Song Birds

Over the last few weeks it has been noted that almost all songbirds are behind schedule on their northward migration to Newfoundland. The last few species are now showing up such as Redstarts, Magnolias and Mourning Warblers. However the flycatchers like Yellow-bellied and Alder have not yet arrived in numbers, I believe only one or two YB flycatchers have been spotted.

Male Yellow Warbler

One down side to spring migration is that it by the time most birds are back it is mid to late June. It just so happens that each year June is the end of the school year and crunch time for exams.... I continue to ask me self  do I go chasing warblers or do I study.....warblers almost always win.

Warblers and other songbirds are one of my favourite types of birds to photograph other then shorebirds. These brightly coloured little birds arrive each year for a few short months to nest, raise young and get the hell out of here before our harsh winter sets in again. It's not easy to get photos of these birds, they are quick and never sit still. Another challenge when photographing songbirds is you almost always hear them before you see them. So if you can not identify the bird by its call good luck in trying to get a photo.  Each species of warbler lives in a different section of the forest. Birds like the Cape May warbler and Balck-throated green warblers are almost always seen in the tops of trees where as birds like common yellow throat and hermit thrush are almost always near the base of trees or in shrubs. This is where knowing bird calls helps. If I hear a common yellow throat I'm not looking up in the trees, I'm searching the underbrush and bushes near the ground.

Yellow Bellied Flycatcher

                                                             
This is not something that happens by chance, each species of wood warbler has a different technique in finding food and dwells in a different part of the tree canopy. By doing this, there is not as much competition for food among different species. I find things like this so interesting and it's just another reason why I love photographing birds. You never know what you will see and it is completely different from day to day!

Black Throated Green Warbler 

Mourning Warbler

So far this year I've only really seen Yellow, Yellow rump, Wilsons, Blackpoll, B&W, and a few thrushes like Northern waterthrush and Hermit thrush. I plan on getting out this weekend to try my hand at photographing some Black throated green warblers and possibly my favourite warbler, the Magnolia warbler.

American Redstart 

I get my images by playing the birds song to get the birds in close. This technique is used by both birders and photographers and a lot of people frown upon the idea. I personally think if you are responsible when using the call it is 100% harmless to the birds. Using calls becomes a problem when people use the call over and over again and also when people are going to the same locations day in and day out playing calls. Doing this can result in birds giving up on a territory or completely disrupting a nesting pair. I also find that the call only really works once anyways, after the first time the bird never acts the same and is very quick to realise that the call is not coming from another bird. 

On a side note: This morning there was 9 occupied Tree Swallow nest boxes in paradise. There are also 4 other boxes that have pairs fighting over them. 

The blog may be slow over the next while as I have to try and put the camera down and study. Reading posts of birds like piping plovers and Northern Parula's are making it increasingly harder!

Later i will do a post focusing on Sparrows

Nest Building Begins

June 1st seems to be the day each year where the Tree Swallows really ramp up their nest building efforts and get nest construction well under way. This morning was no different. Neville's pond was alive with the chatter of swallows bringing small strands of grass to their nest boxes. It seems the male does most of the nest building, while the female perches near by and supervises the male. Every now and again she will enter the box and "fix" what the male as placed inside. Another reason i believe the female stays near the nest while the male goes for more grass is because other swallows are relentless in trying to take over any boxes left available.

By late next week most pairs will be sitting on eggs. However on Wednesday i placed 4 more boxes at a wetland near my house. This morning a pair of tree swallows and one pair of Black Caped Chickadees had moved in. These birds will be slightly behind the rest.

Getting The Shot

To get photos like the ones below it is very simple. You really only need three things. Tree Swallows, A nest box and patients. All i do to get the images below are simply attach sticks that are unique and interesting like this mossy one; onto the nest box. Or i place the sticks near the nest box. It depends on where the light is shining from and how my background looks. I attach the sticks using zip ties and sometimes screws if i plan on leaving the perch there for some time. Then i get my tripod set up and wait....and wait. You might be there two minutes before swallows are on the stick and other times it may take more then an hour. I find the best days are days with no wind and overcast. The duller days are much easier for getting your exposure right with the whites and the blues of the birds.

Heres what it looks like

Below are a few more photos from this morning. Spring has defintaly arrived!

About to get some grass for the nest

More to come!

The Real Beauty of Tree Swallows

This morning Brad & I headed to our favourite location to photograph Tree Swallows, Neville's Pond located just inside Paradise offers a little haven for these beautiful little birds. Each spring dozens of these swallows come to Neville's Pond to nest in the boxes we have scattered both around & in the pond.  These fast flying little birds spent almost all of their time in flight and even when perched they don't seem to sit long. That is until they begin to nest.

Once the males arrive they begin to check out all the available nest boxes and quickly claim territory. Once a mate is found the pair quickly gets the process of nest building underway. During this time period the pair spend most of their time hanging out around the box guarding it from other swallows who are relentless in trying to take over the box in the early season.

It is then that we place interesting looking perches such as the ones in these photos for the birds to land on. Then its just a waiting game until you get one or both of them on the stick!

So far 6 nest boxes have swallows guarding them, plus one more pair right in my back yard. Over the next few weeks almost all of the boxes all have swallows occupying them. These photo opportunities will not last long because once the nest has been constructed the female will spend most of her time in the box incubating eggs while the male busily feeds her. Expect more posts to come of how the Tree Swallows are doing and of course more photos!

Below are a few more of my favourite images from our morning session

Notice the wings back on look like a butterfly, this is the first time I've noticed this

A short clip of one of the nesting pairs

Tree Swallows Return!

After a long winter, Tree Swallows are back for another nesting season. Only a few weeks ago the first swallow of the season was spotted and now this morning there was well over 20 of them fluttering around Neville's pond. This past weekend i repaired last years boxes and constructed a few more. I checked back this morning to see if the swallows were interested in the boxes yet.... I was not disappointed!

It won't be long now until they begin nest building. A pair of swallows has taken up territory in a box right in my back yard! This is the third year in a row.

After a very busy weekend repairing boxes and camping i hope to get some photos of Tree Swallows on interesting perches. I will try my luck this week and will be sure to post with the results. I now have 20 boxes at Neville's pond ready to go. The next location i will be placing boxes is a small wetland near my house where I've had a single pair of swallows using the same box since i placed it in 2011. This year id like to see more swallow boxes in the area to help reduce the number of swallows fighting over the single box.

A little surprise this morning was a Barn Swallow mixed in the the Tree Swallows.

Wilson's Snipe | A master of disguise

This morning i ended up sleeping in and not going shooting icebergs with Brad as i had planed on doing, but around 7:45am when i received a phone call from Brad saying he was photographing a Wilson's Snipe right next to my house i jumped out of bed and rushed down to the marsh!

Sure enough there it was, my arch nemesis bird. For quite some time we both have been trying to get some nice shots of a snipe calling from a perch but from what we have seen it appears the snipe will only call from a perch in the early morning usually in May & June. This is when they are claiming nesting territory and finding mates. Even though we didn't get the bird on a perch we were both happy with the images we came away with. Snipe are extremely secretive and usually the only time you get to seem them is when they flush up in your face as your walking through a wetland.

In the following weeks we are going to continue our efforts in getting an image of a snipe calling from a nice perch. This morning the first Tree Swallows of the season have been reported! I can't wait until they begin to nest in our boxes for another consecutive season. This afternoon my dad and i will continue to build more boxes. We encourage you to build a box yourself and place it in your yard. Swallows take readily to next boxes and are amazing to watch in your yard not to mention they eat flies! 

                                                        If you look closely you can see the Snipe's tongue

Wilson's Snipe calling

How you usually see snipe 

Below is a s photo of the stump we have placed in a local wetland for the snipe to call on. By doing this we hope to get a unique image in the sense that most images of snipe are of them calling from a fence post rather then natural logs or sticks

European birds continue to invade Newfoundland

Over the last few weeks a very rare event has taken place. N and NE winds have been blowing migrating shorebirds like European Golden Plover and Black-Tailed Godwits WAY of course and now they have some how found their way to the island of Newfoundland. These birds are strong fliers that can fly non stop for days on end. Unlike other birds they tend to migrate over the ocean rathern than land. Possibly making them more venerable to offsetting winds.

                                              Common Redshank!

The numbers of birds that have been found are staggering by any means. Almost 200 European Golden Plovers and multiple reports of Black Tailed Godwits really gets the blood pumping after a very LONG and dull winter here on the island. Yesterday I helped a birder from California find a group of 6 plovers that have been hanging out in a small field for about a week now. This small group of plovers are a lot more tame then any others that I know of. If you stay inside of your car and wait......and wait they will eventually work their way over to you. It worked out for us that the birds were drove towards us by a black dog that lives in the aera. It was amazing to see the birds crouch down and use their camouflage to stay hidden rather then fly away like most other shorebirds.

European Golden Plover

More euro birds like wheatear are still showing up, we all are waiting and searching for the next MEGA rarity like a Eurasian Curlew or Meadow pipit.

This weekend becides hunting for mega rarities Brad & I hope to get some nice stumps set up in a marsh close to my house in hopes of getting some snipe on them. Also it is crunch time for building Tree Swallow boxes. Spring is shaping up to be a VERY busy season!



UPDATE!

This was a prewritten post. This morning Bruce Mactavish discovered a COMMON REDSHANK at Renews Harbour !!!! Also Dave Brown found a Eurasian Whimbrel. As i write this local birders are trying to locate a possible Greenland subspecies of Dunlin!

How much longer will this continue!!!!
My e-mail is brendankelly00(at)hotmail.com if you need directions