A Week in the Life of a Bird Photographer

With the upcoming Spring migration, and several waterfowl species already moving thru the area, this past week I’ve spent a bit of time each day on bird photography. Photographing birds, especially moving ones, is something that involves a lot of skill and coordination - and polishing up those skills by immersing myself into it is the best way for me get back into the groove.

My week began on Thursday 3/4 and Friday 3/5 putting in some early morning time at Spring Lake Park in Bellbrook, Ohio. In addition to the Canada Geese, Mallards, and other species, there were a group of Red-Headed Ducks hanging out in the pond for a break in their journey North. Every year during their short stay here I’ve tried, and never captured, any images that I’ve been happy with – they are very skiddish and adverse to humans.

Thankfully this year was different – I was able to spend some time after sunrise both days laying still in one spot, to the point where the group forgot about me and moved in closer. I may or may not have been prone on some goose-poop covered grass - don’t tell Renee.

I was also blessed by the appearance of some beautiful golden-hour light both days, and on the second day some mist on the pond due to some cold temps.

Saturday 3/6 and Sunday 3/7 found me out on the road before sunrise to spend time in Springfield, Ohio. There are a pair of Peregrine Falcons that have a nest in the downtown area. In addition to flying around, hunting, and perching, they are also breeding this time of year. This made for some “different” shots than my norm.

I looked up the ID band on the male, and based on the color combo of red and black he is at least 17 years old, which is older than the average life expectancy of a Peregrine Falcon. Ohio’s Peregrine Falcon population has grown so much over the past 20 years that they are no longer on the endangered list. This is amazing and a testament to the hard work that ODNR and other resources have done to actively promote wildlife conservation.

While in the area I visited Old Reid Park. The usual suspects were there, including several Kingfishers. Two of them did NOT seem to be getting along. Not my best images as they were REALLY far away, but still fun to see and record the event.

Monday and Tuesday were super busy due to work so I couldn’t get out, but to be honest I had so many images from the prior few days I spent any free time I had editing images and just getting caught up. 😊

Something that most folks aren’t aware of, is that for a bird/wildlife photographer, just a short somewhat-successful outing means there are a LOT of photos to go through and edit afterwards. For example, a bird in flight means I am shooting a burst of images trying to capture that one perfect shot where the eye is sharp, the wings are in the perfect positions, and the background isn’t too busy. At 10 frames per second, a 15 second burst of in-flight images on my camera is 150 images. Out of that 150 there may be one image that’s “good enough” - but I have to wade through all of them to get there. So imagine a session with a lot of activity. It’s not unusual to have 2000-3000 shots on the memory card waiting for me to give them some attention.

After hearing reports that there was a flock of White Pelicans at Cowan Lake near Wilmington, I carved out some time yesterday 3/10 before work to be there at sunrise. I only had about ½ hour to spend but boy was it productive. I saw 3 Eagles, the Pelicans, Sandhill Cranes, Loons, and tons of other waterfowl. The Pelicans never did get in close enough for me to get what I consider to be a great shot, but two of the Eagles were cooperative with me.

While the Eagles were a bit of great luck, my real purpose of the quick trip was to do reconnaissance for going back this weekend on Saturday and/or Sunday if weather conditions are good. I’ve been to Cowan a few times but now I have a good idea of a few hotspots there and are looking forward to getting back there and taking my time.

So there you have it – a quick recap of what its like to be a bird photographer in a week of spare time, in between work and making time early in the mornings. Sometimes it reads as though its rushed, but to be honest, even ½ hour spent out in nature is very relaxing, and it energizes me for the rest of the day. If you can make the time, I think it will do the same for you as well.

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy