NATURE CLICKS #576 - SCARLET TANAGER

Male Scarlet Tanager

Many people get excited when they see a male Northern Cardinal with its beautiful red plumage any time of the year. There is only a small window in time when we can enjoy the Scarlet Tanager, but this bird can compete with the cardinal easily when it comes to colors. Three days ago a couple males have arrived from South America, where they spend the winter season. With their black wings the males are easily to identify. The females aren’t here yet, at least I haven't seen one so far. Their plumage is yellow and green and they look gorgeous as well.

The tanagers are not as vocal as many other birds and they show up often quietly. They seem to dive down from the higher areas in the canopy and go straight to a feeder. And that’s the habit that makes it difficult for the photographer. I made plenty of clicks of the Scarlet Tanager at our suet feeders, and those are made for my own documentary, but framing them in a tree without a feeder in the picture is not always an option. So what do I show you today? A photo from 2020! Be assured, the light was as good as it was today and if I have more luck in the next few days, I’ll post another photo of the beautiful Scarlet Tanagers…

NATURE CLICKS #468 - SCARLET TANAGER

Male in its non-breeding plumage during fall migration

Since five days we have an unusual visitor at the suet feeder next to my home office window. This male Scarlet Tanager waits patiently until no woodpecker or other bird is present and takes his turn for a meal. Usually early in May we see up to a dozen tanagers after they arrive from South America. I have posted photos and have written about these beautiful birds every spring but we have never seen one during fall migration. At this time of the year the males have already traded their red feathers for green-yellow. We know that some Scarlet Tanagers breed in our woods, but they spend most of the time high up in the canopy and are hardly seen near the ground during the summer. Now we wonder if this is a bird that was here for the last few months or if he is just on his journey through to the forests in South America.

The photo was made through the admittedly not very clean window next to my desk with the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 at 175 mm. As almost always I shot in Aperture priority mode and to compensate for the bright background the exposure compensation was set to +1.66. The “Dehaze-slider” in Lightroom took care for the haze and blur effect from the window glass.

BACK FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Female Scarlet Tanager ----------  

The male Scarlet Tanager, with its red plumage and black wings, was already here since a few days and was yesterday joined by a female. They spent the winter in northwestern South American tropical forests. The Scarlet Tanagers feed on insects, fruits, berries, and buds, but eat readily from the suet feeders that we fill for the woodpeckers after the long journey from their winter range.

1/400 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, @600 mm, -1/3 EV, flash -4 EV;

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