Started by Kathy_R, 15 Apr 2026. 12 replies, 520 views
Gear in this topic: Nikon Z6 III, Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR
Warblers are starting to trickle through here in central Ohio and I'm already refreshing the eBird alerts like a lunatic! Planning a few early mornings at the local metro parks and hopefully a long weekend up on the Lake Erie shore in May for the big push. Where's everyone heading this spring, and what are you hoping to get? Bonus points for your "one that got away" from last year.
Hummingbirds are already going nuts at the feeders here, mostly black-chinned and a few broad-billed, and the river corridor down near Tubac has had some nice flycatchers this week. Hoping for an elegant trogon in the canyons again this May.
One that got away: a trogon in Madera Canyon last year, perfectly framed in a sycamore, nice soft light, and I got it at 1/60 because I'd left the camera on my landscape settings from the evening before. Every frame soft. Still not over it.
I now check my settings at the truck like a pilot doing a pre-flight, which my wife finds hilarious. She's not wrong. But I haven't left the camera on ISO 64 and 1/60 since, so who's laughing now.
Mornings are already warm enough that I'm out by five and home by nine. Also hoping for a Lucifer hummingbird if I'm lucky, they're scarce but they do turn up.
Kathy_R said:Bonus points for your "one that got away" from last year.
First chiffchaffs have been singing here for a fortnight and I heard a blackcap this morning, so it's under way. Hoping for a cuckoo on the Washes again, and I'd very much like a decent picture of a hobby taking a mayfly in May. They hawk low over the river at Welney some years, if the weather is warm enough for a hatch, and when it happens it's frantic.
Last year's one that got away was a bittern in flight, lit perfectly, crossing the reedbed at maybe forty metres. The camera chose the reeds. As ever. I've since set up a custom mode with a small zone and subject detection off for exactly that situation, which will of course guarantee that I never see another bittern fly.
Kathy, I'm green with envy about Lake Erie. Our spring is a slower, damper affair, but the cuckoos make up for a lot.
Cranes at Hornborgasjön this week. Thousands. Going on Saturday.
Norrsken said:Cranes at Hornborgasjön this week. Thousands.
That's on my bucket list! Please post them in Showcase.
Kathy_R said:what are you hoping to get?
Nothing exotic, local reservoir for the hirundines and hoping the ospreys are back at Rutland, been every spring for the last few years, still no proper fish shot, still waiting on the R7 II as well before anyone asks, and hoping for a hobby or two over the water later on
Kathy_R said:Where's everyone heading this spring
Montrose. Every morning in May. No playback, no baiting, no crowding the warblers.
Fort De Soto for the spring fallout if the weather cooperates. Last year I got the best painted bunting picture of my LIFE and then found the card was full when the second one showed up. Two of them on one branch. I now carry THREE cards, all cheap ones, don't tell Walt.
Steve
steve_m_1962 said:found the card was full
Oh Steve, no! At least you got the first one.
I'll be the weirdo photographing the bugs the warblers are eating (spring caterpillars (inchworms especially!) are wildly underrated). Honestly half the reason the warblers are in the oaks is the caterpillar hatch, so if you find the bugs you find the birds. Everyone wins.
Kathy_R said:Please post them in Showcase.
Went. Too many people, but the cranes don't care. 500mm, f/7.1, 1/3200. Dancing at sunrise. Will post.
Hobby and mayfly at last, though more "hobby-shaped blur and a vague mayfly" than I'd like. Three evenings at Welney and the hatch finally came off on the warmest. Cuckoo still heard every morning, still not seen.
Back from Lake Erie! 31 warbler species in four days and roughly three photos I'm proud of, which sounds about right.
The big push came through on the Saturday after a night of south winds and the trees were dripping with birds, magnolias and bay-breasted and a Blackburnian at eye level that I'll remember for a long time. I mostly shot at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 and let the ISO float, and the Z6 III subject detection did a good job picking birds out of the leaves. The boardwalk crowds were as bad as ever but everyone was friendly.
Norrsken, Walt, Fen, I'm looking forward to your shots in Showcase. Thanks for playing along everyone.
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