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The thread for birds and birding

Just returned from a trip out east to visit a fried and do some fly fishing. While there I also got to get some pictures of birds I haven't seen since moving west and also got to see a few birds I have never seen before. A few highlights below (saw and got more photos than this but these are some faves:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby throat 2.jpg

Worm-eating Warbler, a new bird for me
Worm eating warbler.jpg

Indigo Bunting, male
IB male.jpg

Carolina Wren
carolina wren 2.jpg
 
Kepler said:
Those are lovely. What are you shooting with?
Click to expand...
Nikon Coolpix P950. I got it in 2020. Its a point and shoot type digital with a good optic zoom. It has a setting specifically for birding (a little bird symbol on the selector dial). It also a "moon" mode though I have not used that mode for my night photography and usually just adjust settings manually. The bird setting is pretty darn good at autofocusing on the bird (though it can struggle if there is something more prominent in the back or foreground) and adjusting shutter speed, aperture, etc to make for decent shot. Then for me, it possible, I try to frame things myself so that I will hopefully need minimal cropping which is all I try to do when editing later. The P950 does offer the option of obtaining RAW files and then Nikon has a free software you can use for converting which is what I commonly do on the night stuff (comets and whatnot) as it seems to allow for better shots there.

There are updated models of the Coolpix P series but I have heard some say the 950 is the most user friendly model. The 1000 and 1100 models offer increased zoom and some other features that the 950 doesnt have but at the time of purchase for me, the 1100 I dont think existed yet and the 1000 was still the pricey model comparted to the 950.
 
I was up in the mountains over the weekend and got to get a few photos of a bird I really like, Clark's Nutcracker. Named after William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame, he Clark's Nutcracker may be a little misnamed because they don't really crack any nuts, instead pulling pine seeds out of pine cones. Clark first thought it was a woodpecker when seeing it on their journey west. On the way back, they collected a specimen in Idaho. Found in pine/conifer forests in the mountains of the west, they rely almost exclusively on various species of pine nut, many of which have evolved to depend on the Clark's Nutcracker to disperse their seeds. Clark's will take many seeds at once, storing them in a pouch under their tongue and hiding them in various areas for later use. Those they don' get back to or forget about, then have the chance to germinate. Though they have been shown to have a very good memory and can remember where most of their seeds are. Because they are so good at it, they can actually begin nesting quite early compared to other birds because they will have an ample cache of seeds built up to feed their young before new seeds start showing up.

The photos below were taken from across a river and uphill. Lighting was only ok so I don't think the photos really do them justice as the slate gray, black, and white are quite striking.

Clarks Nutcracker.jpg

Clarks Nutcracker 2.jpg
 
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