birds in flight

Photographing Birds on an Overcast Morning /  by Todd Henson

An overcast sunrise over the Potomac River as seen from Leesylvania State Park

In late January my father and I picked Leesylvania State Park as our destination for a morning nature hike. We’d not been to that location in a while and there was the chance we might see some of the wintering over tundra swans closer to shore. We struck out as far as that goes. We didn’t see or hear a single tundra swan. But we did see a number of interesting birds.

None of these are stellar examples of bird photography. It was a grey overcast morning and the light was sometimes very uninteresting. In many cases I didn’t nail the focus. In most there is noticeable noise if you look closely enough. But none of this stopped us from enjoying a sunrise hike and taking advantage of the opportunity to observe and photograph some birds. Not every outing will result in stunning photography, but every outing can be an opportunity to practice photography, to practice identifying bird species, and to enjoy the simple act of getting together and going for a walk in nature.

Bufflehead Ducks

The first bird we noticed was a male bufflehead duck swimming in the waters just inside some rocks nearest to shore. Before long we realized there were two buffleheads, a male and female.

A male bufflehead duck swimming in the calm morning water

The male bufflehead has now joined a female

Great Blue Heron

When we began walking along the sandy river shore we spooked a great blue heron that had been standing in the waters near shore. I managed to capture an image of the heron as it flew away.

A great blue heron flying close to the surface of the water

Many Different Ducks

There were many groups of ducks in the distance, some at a very great distance. When I got home I was able to identify some. I believe there were ruddy ducks, which are fairly small and often swim with their tail sticking up. There were the buffleheads we saw above. The largest of the ducks were, I believe, canvasbacks. And I think there might have been some scaup. I suspect they were greater scaup but I they might have been lesser. Let me know if you’re good at identifying duck species and know for certain what some of these are.

I think the larger of these ducks are canvasbacks. The medium sized ones may be scaup, possibly greater scaup. And the smallest may be a couple of ruddy ducks.

The two smallest ducks on the left are ruddy ducks. The male bufflehead is on the right and the female just left of center. I believe the larger ducks are scaup, possibly greater scaup.

A group of what I believe are canvasback ducks taking flight.

I’m always entertained by how close some birds fly to the surface of the water.

Here we see five of the ducks, which I think are canvasback, flying over the surface of the river.

Downy Woodpecker

When we’d left the shore and followed the trail inland we noticed a flash of red while on a boardwalk over a marshy area. It turned out to be a single male downy woodpecker.

A male downy woodpecker in the dried grass and reeds on the ground

A slower shutter speed shows the motion of the downy woodpecker while pecking

Brown Creeper

Then I noticed movement on a tree, almost as if the bark were moving. Brown creepers can be easy to miss if they’re not moving, but thankfully they are often moving. They’re much easier to see when they turn to the side so you can see their profile. That white stomach stands out much better than their camouflaged brown back.

A brown creeper can be difficult to see if facing its back when it’s not moving. Thankfully, they’re usually moving.

A brown creeper in profile is much easier to see

Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!

Some Bald Eagles Like Duck /  by Todd Henson

Most often I see bald eagles in this area eating fish, either that they’ve caught or stolen from another bird. But eagles are opportunistic and will feed on many things besides fish.

The bald eagle ruffled its feathers just after landing on the dead tree.

One morning while hiking a local wildlife refuge we saw an eagle fly from its massive nest and head out over the bay. We thought it was going fishing, but when we kept watching as it got further and further away we saw it begin to dip down towards the water then back up into the air again, and it did this several times. That’s not how they typically fish. But we noticed small dark spots moving around on the water just below the eagle, too small to make out but we assumed some species of duck. It was only when the bald eagle flew back to a tree in the refuge that we noticed it had, indeed, caught a duck as its next meal.

After ruffling its feather the bald eagle stretched out its wings.

The tree was at a bit of a distance so I cropped these images fairly aggressively to give you a better view of the bald eagle and the duck it caught. The first few images show the eagle shortly after it landed on the dead tree, ruffled its feathers, and then began eating.

Now the bald eagle was ready to begin eating the duck it had just caught from the surface of the water.

Eventually, it had eaten enough and would soon take flight. How did I know it was just about to take flight? As gross as this may seem, they often defecate just before lifting off, and sure enough, about 10 seconds after lightening its load it stretched out its wings and took flight. If you want to photograph eagles or other large birds as they take flight then watch for these signs. They won’t always do it, but when they do it’s often followed by flight.

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (1 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (2 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (3 of 3). Watch out below!

The bald eagle positions itself for taking flight. I love how they look!

The bald eagle opens its wings, ready to take flight.

I love how bald eagles look as they take flight, so very majestic and powerful. Once the eagle has left the tree you can get a better view of the duck, or at least its legs. I don’t know exactly what species it was. Also, click on the last photo to see a bigger view and look closely at the eagle’s eye. I happened to photograph it while it had its nictitating membrane closed over the eye. That’s why it looks cloudy instead of that bold yellow and black you’ll see when the eyelids are fully open.

The bald eagle takes flight, pushing itself off the tree while still clasping the dead duck.

Stretching out its powerful wings the bald eagle flies away from the tree, duck securely clasped in its talons.

Flying away from the tree the bald eagle stretches out its wings and begins to angle itself back towards its nest. Notice both the legs of the duck dangling from its talons and also the cloudy look to its eyes because of the closed nictitating membrane.

In a future post I hope to share some photos of this eagle’s massive nest, so large and deep you can’t always tell when there’s an eagle in the nest.

Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!

Osprey Love Fish /  by Todd Henson

An osprey perches in a tree and eats a fish it recently caught.

One sign of spring in this area is the arrival of osprey from further south. They migrate to this area to build nests and raise their next generation. And raising the next generation requires food, lots of it. And what food do osprey eat? Fish! That’s why they’re also known as fish hawks.

Here an osprey is perches in a tree ripping off flesh from a fish it recently caught.

An example of an osprey closing its nictitating membrane over its eye while eating a fish in a tree. Click here to learn more about nictitating membranes.

I have sometimes been lucky enough to find an osprey atop a tree eating a fish it had just caught in the nearby river or bay. Often they will land to eat part of the fish and then take the rest back to the nest for their mate and/or young.

An osprey takes flight from a tree it had recently perched in. Notice it still has the remains of a fish in one talon.

An osprey lifts off from a tree.

An osprey, which has recently been perched in a tree eating the fish now in its talons, has taken flight, perhaps making its way back to a nest or mate where it will deliver the remains of the fish.

Even more special are the times we get to watch an osprey catch a fish. They are unique among the fish-eating raptors in that they hover above the water, watching the fish below the surface, and will then dive into the water, talons down. If the fish is close enough to the surface they may only submerge their talons and legs to catch the fish. But if the fish is a little deeper they will sometimes almost completely submerge themselves and then struggle to get out of the water and back into the air. I’ve read that osprey feathers are not water-proof, only water-resistant, so they do need to be careful not to remain in the water too long or they’ll drown, something that can happen if they try to catch a fish that’s too heavy for them.

An osprey hovers in the air holding a fish in one talon. Out of view below is the osprey’s mate, sitting in a tree. The osprey in flight was squawking up a storm. It didn’t seem able to figure out what to do until its mate flew away from the tree giving this one a place to land. Then its mate returned to the tree. Interesting behavior.

Here an osprey with a fish in a talon dives down towards a tree where its mate had recently been perched. It landed and then its mate returned to the perch.

Photographing an osprey catching a fish can be hit or miss. You never know exactly where they will fish or when. So it requires some patience. If you’re lucky they’ll go fishing near the shore so you can get some reasonably close views, but quite often they’re out a ways, which doesn’t make for very good photographs. The fishing shots shown here required me to crop in to show you more of the osprey. Some are not good photos but I wanted to show how they can almost disappear under the water and then come up with a fish. Interestingly, they seem to always catch fish such that they fly with the fish’s head facing forward (or at least the tail facing backward if they’ve already eaten the head).

An osprey dives under the water for a fish. You can just see the dark tips of its wings. This is a greatly cropped image and I did lose focus on the bird.

The osprey lifts itself out of the water with a fish hooked in its talons. Sometimes these birds really have to work hard to gain any elevation when they catch a heavy fish. This is a greatly cropped image and I did lose focus on the bird.

I hope you enjoy some of these views of osprey and their fish. If I’m lucky perhaps I’ll have more photos to share with you this season.

This osprey had just caught the fish and is now flying off to eat it or take it back to its nest.

An osprey flying away from me, hanging low over the water after just having caught a fish.

The osprey continues gaining elevation as it flies over the water with a fish.

Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!