Bird photographs from New Brunswick < Click Here >
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All photographs by David Lilly
I went to the local park garden with my wife and a friend as a part of our photo club outing.
We were photographing flowers, butterflies etc.
I had my Nikon 500mm pf on my camera because I was getting close to the flowers.
I was standing looking at some flowers and the Red-eyed vireo flew in and posed for me. Of course flowers took a back seat as I tried to get a photo of the bird.
The photo to the right was my best shot. The light was mid day sun, but I managed to get one good photo
Nikon D500 with a Nikon 500mm pf lens.
The leaves are falling fast here in New Brunswick. It is the 15th of October and we have passed our peak for fall colours.
I was walking in a local park and noticed 5 or 6 birds moving around in the underbrush. I knew it was either a Swainsons's Thrush or a Hermit Thrush. I was not able to get a positive ID when until I looked at the photos on the computer. I confirmed it was a Hermit Thrush and verified by Jim Wilson.
There were not a lot of birds and thought to myself it is late for a Thrush to be hanging around.
Most likely they are making their way south and I was in the right place to see them as they were moving south. As the thrush is hard to see at the best of times I probably would have missed them if it were not for the movement.
I have photographs of the Hermit Thrush prior to this but not in fall colours. I was pleased as this bird sat and posed for me and with a little help from Lightroom I am happy with the photos.
Nikon D 500 with a Nikon 500mm pf lens.
Every fall there are American robins hanging around some fruit trees in my local area.
I şet up on a street and photograph from my vehicle. The vehicle allows me to get close with light in the perfect direction.
However, the street has traffic and many times the Robins fly away when a car goes by. So, I have to Wait for them to return and hope they will fly to a favourable position.
I have more than 400 photos in my image library but keep on photographing the Robin.
I was in a local park and photographed a female Hooded merganser in a local pond.
Nikon D 500 with a Nikon 500mm pf lens.
I often wonder why the White - breasted nuthatch is mostly upside-down.
Today, I tried my best to photograph this bird sitting upright but it was difficult. They even crack their seeds open upside-down and eat in the same position.
The White - breasted nuthatch is a neat bird. They compete with the other birds for food at my bird feeder - even with the Hairy woodpecker a much larger bird.
Two nuthatches come to the bird feeder all winter the White-breasted and the Red - breasted nuthatch. The red-breasted is smaller but displays the same characterists as the white-breasted nuthatch
Nikon D 500 with a Nikon 200-500mm lens
A friend from the camera club told me about a berry tree across the street that is being bombarded by flocks of Bohemian waxwings.
I decided to check it out. I was not disappointed as the waxwings came and went for the two hours as I sat in my vehicle. I used my vehicle as a blind and it worked great. The sun was in my back and all I had to do was get the light in the bird's eye.
There were a few issues with the background. I had a house with white windows at the back of the tree adding not so good white spots. I had to constantly watch the birds and try to photograph them without the windows.
Some of the other issues were busy backgrounds, branches in front of the bird, shadows on the bird, getting the light in the eye, and because there were so many birds coming in to eat the berries they often got in front of bird I wanted to photograph.
However, as with any bird photography, patience pays off. I did manage to get some photo as in the gallery below.
Nikon D 500 with a nikon 500mm pf lens
The Black-capped chickadee is the provincial bird of New Brunswick.
At my bird feeders there is at least six or eight visiting all day.
They are small and very hard to photograph, even when they perch on a stick. With their white and black heads sometimes makes for difficult exposures. So, I try to photograph then on overcast day.
