NATURE CLICKS #579 - ORCHARD ORIOLES


Male Orchard Oriole

Here is the other oriole we are lucky enough to have in our woods this year again, the Orchard Oriole. They are a bit smaller than the Baltimore Orioles and the males are very easy to identify. The females not so much, there are sometimes similarities to other birds, like warblers or immature Baltimore Orioles. They are not so noisy as the Baltimore Orioles and the male often surprises me when it suddenly shows up right in front of my lens.

All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westscott Magnetic diffusion dome

Female Orchard Oriole

BREAKING THE RULES, EXCEEDING THE VISION


Baltimore Oriole, defying the rain

It’s usually a no-no to employ a speed light in the rain if you aim your lens at birds, but I did it anyway. As you already may know, I use the flash for color enhancement, and not as my main light source. It lead finally to a photo from being just a static portrait of a Baltimore Oriole to a much more dynamic picture. So where is the story? That splash on the branch made all the difference between a static image and how we can capture the dynamic of a particular moment. I thought it was a way to go, so break the rules and embrace the results if the final version of your photo exceeds your vision…

NATURE CLICKS #575 - BALTIMORE ORIOLES (FM + M)


Yesterday the first female Baltimore Oriole showed up and today another one and two males visited the yard. Before you see them you can hear their rich, whistling song from the treetops. Always a delight!

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westscott Magnetic diffusion dome

BACK FROM THE SOUTH


Male Scarlet Tanager, back from the tropical forest

As you maybe saw in my blog post from yesterday, the light before sunset was just gorgeous. Well, today it was a different story. Rain clouds moved in and made the shutter speeds dropping tremendously. The speed light was employed again but had a different purpose. While yesterday it was more used as a fill flash while shooting against the sun, today I used it mainly to get some colors back from the birds feathers. I exposed for the ambient light and sent just a ”kiss” of light with the flash to pronounce the bird’s colors.

Today the first male Scarlet Tanager showed up in our woods. They spent the winter in the tropical forests of northwestern South America and have a long journey behind them when they arrive here in the Midwest. Years ago, when I saw my first Scarlet Tanager I was amazed about the beauty of this bird and I’m still impressed when I see one.

Male Baltimore Oriole

This Baltimore Oriole has already arrived three days ago, but it wasn’t before today I heard its flutelike song. They are not migrating as far south as the tanagers. The Baltimore Oriole spends the winters in Florida, the Caribbean, Central America, or the northern tip of South America (source: allaboutbirds.org).

SURPRISES


Male Baltimore Oriole

It’s always nice to see some birds that don’t visit us every day. During the first days in May we always celebrate the arrival of some Baltimore Orioles. Some just stop here to feed on orange halves during their migration and others have their breeding grounds here in eastern Iowa. As the summer gets closer we don’t see them much anymore because they are busy raising their offspring and are found mostly higher up in the canopy of the trees. This year we didn’t really hear any and thought none of them had a nest nearby. To my surprise a few days ago this beautiful male oriole just showed up and checked out our front yard. I guess they are around somewhere here…

Juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Only fifteen minutes earlier two juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeaks came to the seed feeders. We probably saw their parents every day but it is good to know that a new generation has left the nest. Good times!

NATURE CLICKS #452 - BALTIMORE ORIOLE ♀️


Oh boy, how much I love these sunny early mornings in May! The temperature is pleasant and the quality of light is awesome. We put some orange halves out and this attracts the orioles and other birds. The goal is of course to make the click while the birds carefully approach the food source. This young oak right in front of our porch is a perfect target to focus on. The food is between 6 -10 feet away and many birds use it as an observation point before they approach the feeders or for waiting in line while others, mostly bigger birds, take their turn.

The Baltimore Oriole is a great looking bird with wonderful sounding calls. Sure, they can chatter as well, but waking up in the morning to the sound of their calls is one of the best delights in spring…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,   @ 600 mm (DX mode 900 mm), f/6.3, 1/2000 s, ISO400,

BIRD ARRIVALS


Baltimore Oriole , Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

This photo isn’t from this year but it was exactly the same view today when the first male Baltimore Oriole arrived in our woods. So far we haven’t seen any surprises and here are some other dates when we had the first sightings of the year:

  • House Wren: 1st male April 25rd,

  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak: 1st male April 28th,

  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 1st male April 29th, 1st female May 1st,

  • Baltimore Oriole: 1st male May 1st,

It is the most exciting time of the year. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

TODAY WAS THE DAY…


Baltimore Oriole

…we are always looking forward to every spring. Finally four more bird species arrived from the south. About three days later than usual we had “first of the year” sightings of male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, two male Baltimore Orioles, a male Scarlet Tanager, and a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. After the snow last weekend I expected a delay in their arrival time and being away almost the whole week, I’m happy they waited for my return from a business trip. I had the camera out on the porch this evening and at least the oriole and the tanager gave me a chance to take their picture.

We had a slight overcast that sucked up a little bit of the light but at the other hand made it soft overall. The MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender came out of the photo bag and was the essential tool for making the colors of the bird’s feathers pop.

Scarlet Tanager

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender

BIRD UPDATE


Male Baltimore Oriole

My blog has been always about a little bit of photography, some trivia about the subjects I tried to photograph, but mostly about creating awareness what does surround us in nature and how we can protect our natural heritage for future generations. When neighbors tell me, I saw the bird you were talking about the other day in your blog, but didn’t know we even had something that beautiful here, I feel inspired to continue my work.

So what’s going on these days here in our woods above the Little Maquoketa River Valley? 

We see lots of young woodpeckers, House Finches, and sparrows. The young nuthatches are in training for future challenges, and the Barred Owls , who raised an owlet right here next to the house this year, call from different places in our woods. From time to time we see a Scarlet Tanager at a suet feeder, a sure sign that at least one pair has a nest nearby. The House Wrens just started feeding their young ones in one of our nest boxes a couple days ago, while Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and American Goldfinches still have some time before they will present their offspring.

As always in early May we saw a number of Baltimore Orioles, most of them migrate further north, but usually we have at least one pair here during the summer. We are not sure about it this year, because we can’t hear their beautiful songs in the morning. We don’t worry about it too much. If all the orioles we saw this spring will have a nest somewhere north, we are perfectly fine and just look forward to see them again next spring.,,

NATURE CLICKS #378 - BALTIMORE ORIOLE


Male Baltimore Oriole -------------

Shortly after their arrival from Central America in early May we see the Baltimore Orioles every day. They like to feed from orange halves and drink from hummingbird feeders that we provide. They need to replenish their reserves after a long distance migration. It is not uncommon to see up to ten different birds the same day here in our woods. Now, in early June, we still can hear them and maybe spot them high up in the trees, but they hardly come down from the tree tops anymore.

NATURE CLICKS #375 - ORCHARD ORIOLES


Orchard Oriole, immature male -------

It was an incredible day. We never have seen so many orioles in our yard and the surrounding woods like today. And the best thing was, it wasn’t just one species. I counted in the morning up to ten Baltimore Orioles and in addition we saw at least five Orchard Orioles of different ages and gender.

Orchard Oriole, adult male

My photography friend Kevin joined me this evening for some “porch shooting”, means we placed the tripods on our front porch and waited for the birds to come. During idle times we had good conversation about all kinds of photography questions and had a blast shooting away when the birds came close. I was happy for Kevin when even a male Scarlet Tanager showed up and he was able to make some good clicks. This wasn’t all for today. Another rare visitor showed up, but this is for another blog post, so please stay tuned…

Orchard Oriole, immature female

READY FOR THE ORIOLES


Male and female Baltimore Orioles --------

They came a couple days later this year than other years before but we have the pleasure to watch at least five Baltimore Orioles in our yard again. Yesterday morning we had a thin overcast, giving the light a certain quality that I liked and making exposure very easy. Having the Nikon D750 and Sigma 150-600 on the tripod allowed me to shoot all the way down to 1/60s without cranking up the ISO higher than 400 (the image above was shot at 1/160s, f/6.3, ISO400, @450 mm). I always wanted to make a photo like the one above, with both, male and female oriole in the same frame. They sat there for only a brief moment and I do have just this one image with both birds. The important thing was that I had this kind of picture already in my mind and when the opportunity came I was ready for it.

Later in the evening the light didn’t have the same quality as it was during the early morning and I added a hint of fill flash to most pictures. The photo of the male Baltimore Oriole was made with 1/60s, f/6.3, ISO 320, @600 mm. Exposure compensation for the background was set to -0.7EV and flash settings were at -4EV.

THE LOUD AND THE SECRETIVE


Female Baltimore Oriole

I promised you a few days ago I would show some more pictures of birds that have arrived here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa Valley. The Baltimore Orioles start singing beautifully already early in the morning but when they approach our bird feeders they chatter mostly loud. Both, females and males, love to eat from the halves of oranges we put out for them and also drink from our hummingbird feeders to gain strength after their long migration. Later in the summer, during the breeding process, they hardly show up again near the feeders. Their nests are usually high up in the taller trees and their diet consists of caterpillars, moths, beetles, ants, bugs, and aphids.

Male Baltimore Oriole

Female Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager is a lot more secretive. It is not easy to make a photo away from the suet feeder, because most of the time they fly in very quiet and land right on the feeder. After their short meals they fly away immediately.

Male Scarlet Tanager

NATURE CLICKS #277 - SONG SPARROW


Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, SB 800 speed light

We can talk about the Baltimore Oriole all day long, everybody would agree that this bird is one of the prettiest and most wonderful sounding song birds in America. The Song Sparrow may not win the beauty contest in comparison to the oriole but its singing capabilities are not far from those of the oriole.

The Song Sparrow migrates but I have seen them here in Iowa even during the winter down at the Mississippi River.

BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND JUST A LITTLE COLOR BOOST


I’m at a conference in Minneapolis and my photo editing capabilities are limited, but this picture of a male Baltimore Oriole didn’t need much work. Beside a little contrast improvement and the usual sharpening process not much has been done to the RAW file. The photo has been made yesterday in our ”yard studio”. All what it took was a cup of coffee for the photographer and some patience until the oriole settled down on a branch. I had the Nikon SB800 speed light with  flash extender mounted on camera. It wasn’t the main light source but just enough to boost the colors of the bird slightly. Despite the overcast I had exposure compensation down to -1EV and flash compensation at -5EV (-3EV at the flash light and -2EV in camera). The tricky thing is not to get one picture right, but not to forget to make changes for exposure or flash compensation if the lens is pointed to a different direction with a totally different brightness and background. And with the birds showing up everywhere they want, the mistakes are made easily… ;-)