Bird photographs from New Brunswick < Click Here >
Click on any photograph to see a larger view.
All photographs by David Lilly
After a lot of research and talking to other photographers I have changed my website name to www.davidlillyphotography.com from www.canadianbirdphotography.ca. I wanted to make the website more personal. The old link will still work, but will redirect you to my new website link. Please let me know what you think.
I have designed a new logo with meaning. The different colours represent the different birds I photograph. For example, the blue represents blue birds such as the Blue Jay.
Today I was looking for birds in a swamp. Guess what I found a Swamp sparrow of all birds.
I was rather surprised - should I have been surprised probably not but I was.
I was surprised because I don't see the Swamp sparrow very often - they are not very common.
When I first saw the bird I thought it was a Chipping sparrow. It was not until I looked it up in my book did I get a positive ID.
The Male was calling for a female with no luck.
D500 with a Nikon 500mm pf lens.
The Osprey is a very distinctive fish-hawk, formerly classified with other hawks but now placed in a separate family of its own.
You will find the Osprey along coastlines, lakes, and rivers almost worldwide, the Osprey is often seen flying over the water, hovering, and then plunging feet-first to catch fish in its talons.
After a successful strike, the bird rises heavily from the water and flies away, carrying the fish head-forward with its feet.
Once the Osprey has a fish they will find a a suitable Perch to land and eat the fish.
The two Osprey to the right both caught their fish in the St. Jon River here in New Brunswick.
Getting photographs of the Osprey with a fish demands a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time.
Probably the best place is near a nest and just observing. If you wait long enough the Osprey will return with a fish. During nesting season the male will usually drop the fish in the nest and fly away.
D500 with a Nikon 500mm pf lens.
I am birding on Grand Manan in New Brunswick. Grand Manan is well known for bird migration.
The Island is particularly good for warblers.
Audubon visited Grand Manan in the late 1800s.
Here are two Black and White warblers I photographed today.
On the bottom is a Chestnut sided warbler.
I got fairly good photo of a Peregrine falcon on North Head.
The oven bird did not want his photo taken and remained in the trees.
The black-throated green warbler usually don't stand still , but in this photo he stood still.
The Common grackle posed for a photo. Although, the bird is a long ways away I liked the profile against the grey sky.
The Hairy woodpecker had a nest in birch tree. I watch the female and the male take turns sitting on the eggs, of course i could only conclude there were eggs in the nest.
More photos to come.
D 500 with a 200 - 600mm Nikon lens.
D 500 with a 500mm PF Nikon lens.
During my two weeks on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick to photograph birds I was witness to a Fallout of three types of swallows on the same day and same location. Tree swallow, Cliff swallows and Bard swallows. Here is a gallery of some of the photos from that Fallout. Click on the above photo to see the Gallery.
There are birds that are easy to find and there are birds that hard to find and photograph.
Two of those birds are the Blue-headed vino and the Northern waterthrush.
I don't go on photography trips to specifically photograph these birds. Most of the time these birds are chance encounters. You see them for five seconds and they disappear in the shadows or thick undergrouth.
The Northern waterthrush for example I saw for maybe five seconds, I snapped a couple of photos and it was gone.
The bottom line is when you walking in the woods be prepared and have your camera settings ready .
If you are unsure as to which setting you should use, try this !/1000 sec shutter speed with a F 5.6 Aperture with camera set to Auto ISO.
I use a Nikon 500mm 5.6 lens for most of my photography nowadays as it is light and portable allowing for quick response for the "Hard to Photograph Birds"
I put a small thin stick beside my Hummingbird feeder. It took two weeks before the male Ruby-throated hummingbird decided it was a good place to sit and watch the feeder.
As it turned out it was raining. The overcast light with the rain made for some great photos. Especially with the rain drops on the head.
My only explanation for all of a sudden interest in the small stick is there are other hummingbirds trying to drink from the feeder and this male sits on the stick to defend the feeder. I have seen him chasing other hummingbird away from the feeder.
Last year I observed the same activity. However, as I already mentioned the stick has been there for a whiled he has not sat on the stick , but now he does.
Nikon D 500 with a Nikon 500mm 5.6 pf lens
I went to the local park garden with my with and a friend as a part of our photo club.
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.
