It's May 2012. It's my junior year of high school. I'm heading to Magee Marsh with my Zoology class to go to this big birding festival. My teacher said the festival was called The Biggest Week in North American Birding. It's where a whole bunch of birders from all over come to marvel at the fallout of warblers before they cross Lake Erie. I was excited about going to this event. I started my interest in birds back when I was thirteen when I discovered the barn owl. So I thought.
At this festival I saw all these different warblers. Cape Mays with their rusted caps. Black Burnians with their bright orange chest. Northern Parula's trilling their songs away. There is one bird I will never forget seeing. One we should have never seen. My teacher and I happened on this trail by the marsh. We were standing scanning for birds when someone made a raucous behind us about a bird in front of us. There in the saplings in front of us perched on a twig was a Kirtland's Warbler. Now since after this the Kirtland's hasn't been spotted in this area until 2017. They live in one place in Michigan, and don't particularly come through those parts. Except, every so often one makes it's way there. That's how we ended up with front row seats to the biggest siting that year.
That bird you could say was truly my spark bird. Was truly the bird that started the obsession. Seeing all those birders gush over this one little bird. Seeing the rarity of what was before my eyes. It got the blood pumping. That's what got me started keeping track of the birds I have seen. The early days in the spring to go see the warblers. The mornings in Belize to see every bird I possible could on that trip. I wanted to share not only my stories, but photos as well.
In 2012 I only had a little dinky Kodak camera. Sure I could try and take pictures with that. I did try and take pictures with that. It fell short, though. It wasn't enough camera. I wanted more. Seeing some birders with the high end cameras and the huge lenses made me jealous. I wanted that. That was my goal. I wanted the full set up.
The next year I went to Magees I went and borrowed an interchangeable lenses camera from the yearbook class. Of course I ended up with the lenses that was broken and didn't focus real well, but I made due with what I had. I felt like a true photographer that year even though I didn't get great shots. That was the only time I got the taste of that moment until 2015.
I ended up with my Nikon Christmas of 2015. It came with a 70-300mm telephoto lens. I had done a little research on telephoto lenses after getting the camera, and knew this would at least be a great start. It was better than having the dinky Kodak camera at least. I was excited for what was to come. Little did I know it would create a monster.
We went to Florida in 2016. I was in the zone. I brought my camera every where I went. We went to places specifically to see birds. Hell I stopped bringing my binoculars because I was just looking through my lens the whole time. I slowly learned that it wasn't just feeling like a pro that made bird photography great, but it was the thrill of the chase. Birds are one of the most difficult subjects to get pictures of. You have to be at the right place at the right time. You have to be quick. One false move and you will either get a blurry picture, or miss your shot completely.
The difficulty appealed to me. You know how many bird butt pictures I have gotten over the last five years? The blurry shots because I hadn't been quick. The restless days of trying to find a specific warbler in the forest. I spent two hours one day trying to hunt down a Hooded Warbler I kept hearing. The fact that I had to work for the perfect photo made getting the shot much more meaningful in a way. It made me proud to show people. It was also the stories that came with the photos that are fun sharing.
Like when I went to Magees in 2016. I was by myself that year struggling to get pictures. That year I went when it was overcast, cold, and the threat of rain was looming in the air. All I wanted was to see a handful of birds on the board walk. I had stopped at this one point turned around, and found a Prothonotary Warbler right next to me. I still cherish the shot that I got of him. He stood there just long enough for me to get a picture of him. I haven't been that close to one since. Come to think of it I don't know if I've seen one at Magees since.
Or the Eagle in 2018. I was driving to work when I saw a Bald Eagle on the side of the road eating on a deer carcass. I luckily had thought about bringing my camera with me that day. I had stopped a little ways from him and crept up to him to get some shots. He allowed me to do so like I wasn't even there. He just working away at the deer carcass like I was invisible. A car had came by, and he flew into the field a little ways, hopping back when the coast was clear. My coworkers actually met up with me to marvel at this close sighting of America's well known bird.
One of my favorite stories of pursuing bird photography happened to be in 2020. There was the first sighting ever of a Brown Booby in Ohio. This shouldn't have happened. These are tropical birds. The only place they live in the US is Hawaii. Sometimes birds lose their way, and happen to be in a place that they aren't meant to be in. Whether it's a young bird that got lost, or weather drove the bird in a direction they weren't meant to go on these things happen.
So John and I decided to go see this Booby. We had the day off, I had a full battery and empty memory card in my camera. We were all set. However, we weren't prepared for the weather. There was a huge chance of rain. On top of that this bird was located in a place we weren't familiar with. I had an idea of where people were going to see this bird, but that was it. That's all we had to go on.
Once getting there to the spot people said they had been seeing it we scanned the area. The bad thing about this lake was that there were a ton of cormorants in the distance. From afar a Brown Booby and Double Crested Cormorant can look quite similar. I had my good luck charm (John) with me, and faith that we would see it. John was the first one to spot it once the rain started. It was clear in the distance. At this point a few other birders had gathered trying to find it. Then the rain got worse.
To say it poured is almost an understatement. It was like a monsoon. I felt defeated, but John suggested we stay. Wait out the rain. Boy am I glad he suggested that. The rain finally quit and birders emerged from their cars. We started talking to a lady who said she heard about a trail down the way that people had been going on to find this bird. One catch though. There was a crap ton of poison ivy on this trail. John doesn't really get it, but me. Ha! I can get it pretty bad. I didn't care in that moment. I didn't want to miss my opportunity.
I waded through the poison ivy like a champ. I kept the camera covered from random drips. I probably looked like a secret agent trying to dodge lasers. We came to a clearing where a couple was standing in staring up at this dead tree. There it was. Right there in front of us. I was floored. I was expecting to see this bird in the distance. Not right in front of me. I got such great shots of it. I even walked into the lake a little ways to get some other shots of it. I worked through the remnants of the rain. I didn't care. I was on cloud nine.
Bird photography has made birding a little more challenging for me sometimes. Not only do you get to see the bird try getting a photo on top of it. In my opinion that's the fun part. That makes it worth it. Fuels the obsession. It's been amazing to me to not only see how I've grown as a birder, but also as a photographer over the years. I've come a long way, but have so much to learn still. I'm ready for what's to come in my journey with bird photography.
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