California - Part I

Hello, readers. Since I neglected to post last month, I'll give you a quick recap on what's been going on in my humble life of birds.
June: Nothing horribly spectacular, no lifers, but some excellent birding trips to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park. Here are the lists from Trip 1 and Trip 2.
July: Early July was great! A trip to Phinizy Swamp on the 7th resulted in my lifer Cliff Swallow and my long-awaited nemesis, the Least Bittern. Not to be forgotten, however, was my state Black-crowned Night-Heron. I reported a total of 48 species on this trip, which isn't bad at all for the middle of Summer. Later in the month, we were visited by extended family from California. They had heard all about the swamp were interested in seeing it. This trip to the swamp hailed my first of the year Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, a favorite of mine, but I counted only 31 species by the end. The rest of July in my area was pretty normal as far as Summers in Georgia go. However, after the extended family flew back to California, I heard news that they wanted Kyle and I to visit them the following week! I was skeptical at first, we never get to vacation, but my doubt faded when we finished packing and drove to the Atlanta Airport at 3:30 in the morning on July 26th.

Day 1 - Atlanta and Orange County

It's great having family connections. My dad's cousin works for Southwest Airlines and hooked Kyle and me up with non-rev stand-by tickets from Atlanta-Denver and Denver-OC. Though we didn't know it at the time, we were extremely lucky on our flights there. Everything went smoothly, even though we did get the last two seats on the Atlanta-Denver flight. When we arrived in Orange County, we were greeted by my wonderful 2nd cousin Aimee and her family. Birding in her neighborhood I found my lifers White-throated Swift, Lesser Goldfinch, Acorn Woodpecker, Bushtit, Anna's Hummingbird, Black Phoebe and California Towhee. It was a long day, with 3 extra hours, but the results made it worth it.

Bushtits

Day 2

Bolsa Chica

Day 2 we woke up bright and early, though I didn't feel tired; it was 11am on the East coast and I was used to waking up around that time. We ate, dropped Shane off at camp (where I located an Acorn Woodpecker in the parking lot), and went birding at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. I had originally planned to meet with my birding friend Dinuk here, but unfortunately he had work. The trip went on as planned without him, though, and as exciting as it was, I can only imagine how spectacular it would have been with him birding with us. The first thing I heard when we stepped out of the car were the terns - Royal and Elegant. We have plenty of Royal Terns on the East Coast (emphasis on 'plenty'), but the Elegants were a new species for me. As we started walking down the boardwalk, I noted species I'm familiar with: Snowy Egrets, Black Skimmers, Rock Pigeons, and Common Terns. However, when we reached the designated nesting area, I found another new bird, a Belding's Sparrow, a subspecies of the Savannah Sparrow that Bolsa Chica is well known for harboring. There was a pair flitting across from the Inner Bay towards the designated nesting strip and perching in the chain-link fence. I had some good views of these birds, which look quite different from the Savannah Sparrows I see on the East coast. Belding's Sparrows are more drab and have longer bills than the Eastern invididuals. Needless to say, I prefer the Eastern birds, but this local bird was neat to see.

P.s. savana on left and P.s. beldingi on right

A quick look at the nesting area yielded Western Gulls (known to Dinuk as "trash birds", but a lifer for me nonetheless), Double-crested Cormorant, Black-bellied Plover, Willet, and Least Sandpipers. Further down the path was a view of a nearby sandbar that was crawling with shorebirds. First in sight was a conspicuous Marbled Godwit swagging through the tide attempting to catch a meal and beside it a handful of Willets and a Short-billed Dowitcher - a new lifer! Also present on this sandbar were Black-bellied Plovers, including a stunning adult in alternate plumage! As a Double-crested Cormorant passed and a Snowy Egret landed close-by, I used the huge zoom on my little point-and-shoot to see what I could find on a distant sandbar. Common, Forster's and Caspian Terns sat within a mixed flock of Black Skimmers, Least Sandpipers, and of course Willets. When we walked on, I located a few Least and Western Sandpipers feeding on the shore with a Semipalmated Plover. While watching these birds, I was distracted by a large shorebird flying past, which after landing, revealed itself to be my lifer Whimbrel! This species I always felt went hand-in-hand with the Long-billed Curlew, and sure enough, not a minute later I spotted my lifer Long-billed Curlew on a sandbar between myself and Rabbit Island. This individual was a juvenile, so the bill was shorter than I would have expected, but an adult with a scythe-like bill appeared on the shore of the Inner Bay. After this, we decided to hike back to the parking lot so we could visit the beach. On the way back, I was able to photograph this immature Forster's Tern that was being rather cooperative.

When we reached the beach, I caught my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, and with it, my first sighting of a Heermann's Gull. Both of which made me pretty ecstatic. I always thought the Heermann's Gulls were the best-looking Larid.
Our time was limited, so we dipped our feet in the water and drove back to Aimee's place.

Mission San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Beach

After picking up Shane (who is a hilarious child) and eating lunch, we decided to see Mission San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Beach. Kyle and I knew next to nothing about California history, but the Mission gave us a good impression on how California was colonized. The architecture and gardens were very pleasant and the chapel and church were unique. Plus it was home to my lifers Western Fence Lizard, Marine Blue, and Allen's Hummingbird.

Allen's Hummingbirds

Marine Blue

 Laguna Beach was a neat place. There is a walkway overlooking the beach lined with desert-esque plants, flowers, and lizards. It was here I found a flock of Brewer's Blackbirds feeding along the path. They're an extremely populous species in California apparently, but a new one for me.

Yeah, where I come from all the Blackbirds are just as Rusty as everything else

Walking down to the beach, we found Western and Heermann's Gulls and a group of Brown Pelicans. As I noted earlier, Heermann's Gulls are without doubt the coolest gull in America, and the gulls at Laguna were extremely cooperative.

At this point, I was running out of battery power and we were all pretty hungry, so we called it a day and headed back.

Stay tuned, more coming soon!

May: a Month in Migration

Migration is like performing a cannonball into a swimming pool. When it starts, you're not quite sure just what to expect, but as you you sail through the air, you're excitement swells. Finally, right when the jump is most exciting, the whole thing ends suddenly. This migration season started out with my lifer Prothonotary, but really got going at the end of April and beginning of May. However, immediately after the coolest migrants showed up, migration ceased quickly.
May started after a week of Black-throated Blue and Cape May Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, and Acadian Flycatchers. 3 days in, I knew migration was in full swing. One morning, I woke up to a song I'd never heard in person before, a "Sweezy Sweezy Sweezy". I immediately recognized it as the song of an overdue lifer. I was simply hoping it wasn't an American Redstart. I searched from 7:30-8:00, but instead of locating the singer, I found two Bay-breasted Warblers and a Northern Parula. Slightly after the 8:13 mark, I saw a handsomely marked bird fly up onto a dead branch more-or-less 5ft from me and start nuthatching around. I quickly snapped some less-than-perfect photos with my camera. I finally observed my lifer Black-and-White Warbler! The worms that morning must have been everywhere. Shortly after this encounter, the American Redstarts and Black-throated Blue Warblers started to sing and even a Common Yellowthroat was present.

Well I did say less-than-perfect...

My next lifer I encountered just two days later during a trip to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park with my brother, Kyle. On this trip we observed great birds such as Wood Duck, Snowy Egret, White-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler (with adorable fledglings!), and Indigo Bunting, but the award-winners were the Bobolinks (estimated number of 1000 individuals; video) and my lifer Yellow-breasted Chat! I wasn't expecting to find this bird, but heard it calling off in a grove of well-spaced trees and was lucky enough catch it singing in the open! I've met a few Yellow-breasted Chats after this, but none have been as cooperative as my first.

Two days later, I was out in the yard, very early in the morning as usual, when the sharp note of a warbler caught my attention. I noticed a pair of warblers flitting through a juniper. Of course, my interest was piqued and I had to know what these two unknown migrants were. After snapping a few backlit shots, I noticed the bright legs of the birds and immediately knew they were Blackpoll Warblers. Later, when reviewing the, again, less-than-perfect photos, I concluded there were two males and one female. I was content with the record photos I had (fortunately in focus, but horridly backlit and noisy), but I knew I could do better. So I went out that afternoon and found myself to be in luck - the Blackpolls were still there. I was happy to find a female Redstart hanging around with them as well. Throughout the day they stayed in the vicinity, especially near my chestnut tree and I was able to take some better-than-less-than-perfect photos. This wasn't a lifer for me, but a great experience!

After the Blackpoll Warblers, migration slowed down dramatically, with mostly Red-eyed Vireos and Redstarts visiting the yard. By the end of May, all the Summer birds were out in full force.
Butterfly lifers I observed during May include: a Broad-winged Skipper at Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, and a Summer Azure in my yard.
My yearlist currently stands at 140, with Northern Rough-winged Swallow being my latest yeartick.
June hasn't been too exciting. I will probably not cover June, maybe just an individual adventure. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

April: a Month in Migration

So far of all the years I've been birding (eight this August), I must admit that this year has been one of the most exciting bird-wise. I have gained 8 definite lifebirds, plus 2 unverified lifers in the first five months. April was pretty awesome for migration! I recorded 31 year-ticks and attained 2 definite lifers and 2 unverified lifers.
The month started off with a bang, as on the 2nd I traveled with my family to Columbia, South Carolina to pick up some German New Hampshire Red chickens. Since we were in the area, we stopped by at Congaree National Park to look for migrants. It was mid-day so we didn't find as much as I'd like, but I managed to locate my lifer Prothonotary Warbler, plus 7 FOY birds. I had thought I had found my lifer Prairie Warbler, but since I didn't really have any positive evidence (it was heard-only), I had to leave that one as unverified. At Congaree I also photographed my lifers Zabulon Skipper and Harvester.

It took me a while to find this Prothonotary Warbler, even though he was singing his heart out!

The next six days didn't hail anything fantastic, no year-ticks, just the usual Cardinals and Mockingbirds around the yard, but on the 7th I took a birding trip to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta to see if I could find anything real nice. I had five FOY birds, but nothing more fantastic than the Osprey, one of my favorite birds. The next day, I went with my family to visit my grandparents, who live out in the countryside of Hephzibah. I gained three nice year-birds: Orchard Oriole, Eastern Meadowlark, and Red-headed Woodpecker, which put my yearlist at 106.
For the next week, I only had one year-tick (Great Crested Flycatcher, which I was quite happy to have back in the area), but on the 16th I had a highly successful day in the yard, starting with my second unverified lifer, the Worm-eating Warbler, calling from a dense area of underbrush. I attained three other yearbirds, including another favorite from the yard, the Gray Catbird and the next day I was surprised by a Painted Bunting chilling in one of my trees, a migrant I wasn't expecting for another month. The next two days didn't produce much except my FOY Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, but on the 20th, I was more than happy to find my 8th lifer of the year: a Cape May Warbler that decided to pop up by my window as I was writing an essay, something I wasn't expecting at all. And likewise, a few days later, I randomly found my second-ever Black-throated Blue Warbler at my aunt's house.

Lucky I had my camera with me

This wasn't the end of it, though. The month still had ten days left, and I was determined to find more birds. Unfortunately, I didn't find anymore lifers until May, but throughout the next nine days I found my FOY Summer and Scarlet Tanagers, Chuck-Will's-Widow (heard only, of course), and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. On the last day of the month, the thirtieth, I was ready for May and Bobolinks, being pretty satisfied with what I had seen in April, but there was one more surprise for me yet. As I do every Sunday, I went to my friend's house to hang out, but this week was different. Everywhere in the pecan trees there were migrants! My friend Matt and I spotted tons Butterbutts (which along with "pishing", Matt was very fond of), a couple Cape May Warblers, Northern Parulas, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, Palm Warbler, and my first look at an Acadian Flycatcher (only heard them before), another new year-tick (putting my yearlist at 122).

So far, May has been pretty successful as well, but I'll be writing a whole post on that soon, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading and good birding!

Review: Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro Lens for Nikon

In October of 2010, I purchased this lens (or more like my wonderful Grandmother purchased it for me) for $209. I have used it for a year and a half now and thought it was about time I wrote a review on it.

The lens mounted on my Nikon D70

Throughout this particular lens' life, I have only used it on my Nikon D70 body. My overall feeling towards this lens is absolute hatred, but I do think I have taken some decent photos with it. I have compiled a list of pros and cons, but the cons way outnumber the pros, so I'll quickly give you the few pros there are.

Pros
Dual purpose: Macro and Telephoto - Since my specialty is birds and macros, I enjoy being able to just flip a switch when I go from photographing Ospreys to Rambur's Forktails. Personally, I think the lens works better as a macro than a telephoto.
Autofocus - I'll say more about this later (in the cons), but I'm grateful this lens has autofocus, because most of the time I don't trust my eyes to manual focus.
Cheap price: $209 - Even though you get what you pay for, the photos I have took with this lens are not horrible for such a cheap lens.
Lens hood - it just makes the lens look sexy.

Those are all the pros I can think of right now. The cons will be more extensive, so brace yourself for a lot of negative remarks and foul words (such as "bad", "horrid", and "cheapy").

Cons
Autofocus - In the year and a half I've owned this lens, the autofocus it has crapped out on me three times! Not once, not twice, but three times! The first time was in January 2011, just three months after I got it. I was in the middle of photographing a flock of Cedar Waxwings when the autofocus motor decided to knock out of place. It took the Sigma repair company in Atlanta a whole month to repair it. The second time, in August 2011, when I was photographing Southern Skipperlings, the problem recurred and I sent it in again, this time to New York, and they got it back to me within a week. The third time was the absolute worst. While I was birding on Hilton Head Island, photographing Piping Plovers (one of the best birds ever), the autofocus crapped out. I was super mad at the lens then, and since it was out of warranty it would cost some to get it repaired. The lens still works when the autofocus craps out, but the autofocus only focuses on the farthest point of focus and consequently gets stuck there and buzzes like it's about to explode. Nowadays, I only use manual focus, but the manual focus isn't as perfect as it used to be either. Focusing manual is a pain. The manual focus is the complete opposite of smooth and there are some areas it refuses to focus on. I missed out on some nice photos of a Blue-headed Vireo on Jekyll Island thanks to that.
Before the autofocus was crapped out, it was still crappy. It only focuses on what it wants to and completely disregards the wishes of the photographer. Imagine a Northern Parula in a tree, seven feet away. The lens will focus on anything but the Parula. It's almost as if the lens hates me. The autofocus on this lens is really bad. It's horribly noisy when focusing. I don't have video capability, but my friend Alex who has a D3100 says the AF can be heard in videos. Major fault there.
No stabilization - Called Image Stabilization (IS) on Canons, Vibration Reduction (VR) on Nikkors, and Optical Stabilization (OS) on Sigma, this feature stabilizes the lens and reduces vibrations (you don't say?). This lens doesn't have it. The majority of the pics will turn out blurry if you don't use a high ISO, and if you have an older camera (such as the D70), that cannot handle higher-ish ISOs (ISO400+) without grainy noise, then your photos will turn out quite horrid in certain situations. Either way, your photos will either be grainy or blurry if you use my set-up or a similar one. No stabilization does help while panning or while photographing flying birds, but many lenses with stabilization have the option of turning it off.
Image quality - If you're shooting at close range, then the quality is fine. However, if you're a birder, most of the time you'll be shooting birds >15ft away. At 300mm, the quality can be quite awful if you're shooting a subject that's not between 5-10ft in front of you, and if you're shooting something 50ft away, the results can be depressing. That's probably why the macros turn out better.
Product quality - This lens feels like it's made of the cheapest materials possible. The exterior is plain plastic and rubber, and the paint isn't something worth praising.
Zoom quality - Two cool words, but the zoom feature on this lens is pretty cheapy. 70-300mm is a nice length for the price, but the zoom is awful. When twisting, the zoom ring is rough and very "sticky". Relatively hard to get it to 300mm in under a second.

Overall
This lens is junk; don't buy it if you'll use it everyday.

I would enjoy criticizing this lens more, but I must admit, even when the autofocus is broken, I can still take decent photos. I must also admit that the problem with the autofocus may be contributed to the handy, but large focus range of the lens (5-40ft, according to the focus ring).

Once I get this lens repaired for a third time, I'll be selling it in hope of a new set-up. If you are interested in buying it, hit me up! ;)

EDIT:. I have a link to a gallery a photos I've taken with this lens here.

Camera vs. Binoculars - Which is better for the birder?

Note: This is a comparison of a superzoom point-and-shoot and a pair of 10x50 binocs. Comparison does not apply to all cameras and/or binocs. 


Recently, I became acquainted with a pair of binoculars that was sitting around in my house for three years. Prior to my finding them, I had gone most of my birding life rarely raising a pair of birding optics to my eyes. In 2008 I became fixed on photographing birds, not just identifying them (and truthfully, I wasn't good at either). After three years, I had a new photography set-up and a Sibley's Guide, so I wasn't hopeless in either field. However, I started wondering, after I had found my dad's pair of 10x50 Eddie Bauer binoculars, whether there was more to birding than just getting a photo of the bird and IDing it correctly. I mean, 90% of the birders I knew used binoculars and/or spotting scopes. There must be a reason they're so popular. This lead me to try out the binoculars, and furthermore, to compare it to my old Canon PowerShot SX20 point-and-shoot camera.

The first difference I noticed was the difference in exposure. On a cloudy day, I went out ogling Robins with my binoculars and camera; my first day comparing the two in the field. First, I observed them through the binoculars. I had a great impression on the behavior of the bird, nomming berries on the top of a tree, but it was very backlit. I could barely make out the orange breast, yellow bill, or the white eyering. I then zoomed into the bird using my SX20, and upped the evaluation to +2. I received great views and excellent detail on field marks. I snapped two photos comparing what I saw in my viewfinder to what I saw through the binocs.

And thus, a +1 for the SX20.

The next thing I noticed was the difference in reach. Granted, my 10x50s are not the most powerful binoculars out there, but the SX20 outdoes the binocs in this field. The difference isn't major, but in extreme distances the SX20 proves to be of much more help than the binocs. A fine example is this morning, when I went out to observe a flock of Chipping Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Cedar Waxwings. I watched an unknown passerine fly by and perch into a distant oak tree in my neighbor's yard. In the binoculars, I could make out a small silhouette with vague yellowish coloration. In the viewfinder, I could make out a smallish, crested bird that was colored beige above and yellow below; an obvious waxwing. As before, I snapped a comparison shot.

So +2 for the SX20.

Another downside to binoculars is the focus. I'm not sure about the super expensive models, but mine are a pain in the butt to focus. Maybe I'm jut not used to binocs yet, but the focus seems tough to use, and is somewhat inconvenient. If they have autofocus on binocs, please let me know. My SX20 has a decent autofocus, but the manual focus is so much more difficult to use than my DSLR's lens. However, binocular's focusing seems to be a bit easier when focusing on the sky, and here's where the autofocus on my SX20 falls short. I can hardly ever get my camera to focus on a soaring raptor without manual focus, but with the binocs I can practically just lift them up to my eyes and distinguish field marks.
So +.5 for both binocs and SX20.

Besides these three, there are other more obvious differences, such as the capability of videos and still pictures in cameras, and the flexibility of the use of the binoculars (no batteries, no gears, etc.). I find if useful to have pictures. For example, if I see a tricky bird (such as a gull or an Empid), I can snap a picture and study it once the bird is gone. If I use binoculars, I'll only have my memory to run off of.
So which is better for the birder to use, binoculars or a camera? Now, I wouldn't suggest a camera over binocs if your using a DSLR with only a 300mm (or less) lens, or a point-and-shoot with under 20x zoom. The binoculars are excellent for viewing distant birds if you don't have a superzoom P&S. However, if you do have a superzoom camera (preferably the Canon PowerShot SX30, SX40, or Nikon Coolpix P510), I might suggest using that more than binoculars.

The debate isn't over yet. I still have much more to compare in the field before making a definite conclusion. I may not even make a definite conclusion. In the end, I will probably just use both in the field. I might even start to use the binoculars more, since I'll be selling my SX20 soon. Still, both binoculars and cameras are necessities to have while birding, and I would suggest using them both in the field.
I wonder if my dad has an old spotting scope somewhere...

A Summer Birding Adventure

Summers in Georgia are not very enjoyable for a kid like me. Reasons are mostly weather-oriented. Mowing the lawn and other laborious tasks in 110F weather (plus high humidity!) is not really anyone's idea of fun and birding is nearly impossible during most of the day. However, if you get out early enough, Georgia summers can be thoroughly enjoyable! The example I will share is from June 2011, probably one of my best birding adventures.
The morning started by waking up at 6:30AM and heading out with my sister to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta, an Important Bird Area only ten minutes from my house. We pulled up at 7AM and walked across the parking lot to Lock and Dam road, where we got some good looks at a male Blue Grosbeak, who was gracious enough to sing for us. After photographing this little jewel, we headed back into the park and took the boardwalk across the floodplain to the campus. No birds showed up here, but we were treated to some awesome Undulatus asperatus clouds as we walked to the wetland/pond cells.

We headed up the constructed wetland trail and scanned cells 5 and 12 for Least Bitterns, but as usual came up empty-handed. Consequently, we arrived at the gazebo. After resting for a while, a familiar sound caught my ear: the high-pitched call of the Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. These goofy waterfowl (or maybe more appropriately treefowl) have been residents at the park since 2009 and even hatched a brood of 10 babies here (only 4 survived). So I was already well-acquainted with these tree-dwelling ducks, but nonetheless, was excited out of my seeming sanity to encounter them once again. They're not hard to locate at all, keeping to tall dead cypresses and announcing to the whole park their existence. I stopped between cells 6 and 7 to watch a small flock of 5 clowning around with a handful of Common Grackles mobbing them all the while. They posed for some great shots that portrayed their funky personality well.

This experience would have made my day single-handedly, but the trip wasn't over. After walking past the gazebo, I located my lifer King Rail in cell 11 after hearing it vocalize in the reeds. I was only able to get a video before it disappeared into reeds. We continued along the distribution canal, coming across the usual birds: Common Gallinule, White Ibis, Little and Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Great Egrets, Eastern Kingbirds, Common Yellowthroat, and unusually cooperative Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

We then took the '3 Ton Bridge' to equalization pond, where a Yellow-billed Cuckoo quietly "chilled" in plain sight. Since it was 8:15AM, the heat was already starting to kick in and the rest of the hike was pretty low-key. We took Green and Beaver Dam Trails to the parking lot, with only a Pearl Crescent to note, and headed home for a long day of building chicken coops!