Ideal focal length for spring warblers on territory?
- Thread starter GrandNagus50
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Roy
Well-known member
I'm not a group shooter kind of guy.
But i've always found 600mm to be the optimal focal length for that sized bird.
Ideally a good 200-600mm and 70-200mm lens combo would cover most shots...
Planning a trip to my local Target parking lot… Seriously! I always see birds hopping around, but of course I don’t bring along any gear when going to Target…. Same is with the walmart parking lot. Surrounded by trees, birds jumping/flying from the tall lights to the trees, or at the outside cart parking. The downside is the background scenery…
I am always impressed at how some people discover birding spots where I would never have considered looking. This Target store in Albany, California (ten minute drive from my house) is adjacent to a creek with willows and other trees. When I went there I got good photos of the Audubon's warblers and Townsend's, and also a wild turkey. The person who found the Parula warbler (rare for this area) must have been pretty surprised. Fortunately, the store itself was to one's back as you looked at/for the birds.
I'm now planning on going to Magee Marsh in 2024. What week should I target to hit "hopefully" the middle of the migration? I realize all to well that the arrival of spring may vary from year to year by as much as 2 weeks......... (That's how I missed puffins with mouthfuls of fish in 2019! Spring was more than 2 weeks late!)
I’d check eBird > Explore > Bar Charts, and then set the search parameters to “Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Spring Migration Mar-May”. That’ll give you the average dates by month/week for each species spotted at that location. Judging by the results, you can’t go wrong in the month of May
Though, if you go earlier in the month, the leaves may not be fully out, potentially giving you clearer shots; along with that, it would be cooler as well, and hopefully less bugs!
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WOW! THANKS SO MUCH! Since we need a campground that will accommodate our 5th wheel, I'm used to planning in advance! I've already contacted the campground! LOL!I’d check eBird > Explore > Bar Charts, and then set the search parameters to “Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Spring Migration Mar-May”. That’ll give you the average dates by month/week for each species spotted at that location. Judging by the results, you can’t go wrong in the month of May
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I used these to plan our trips to the upper Gulf Coast when we lived in Texas. I've found them to be invaluable. I still use them here in New Hampshire. The little box labeled MIgration Tools links to live maps that are even better than forecasts, which are more timely than the Bar Charts, which are good!
birdcast.info
Good luck!
Bird migration forecast maps - BirdCast
Bird migration forecast maps show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset and are updated every 6 hours. Colorado State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produce these forecasts.
birdcast.info
Good luck!
Be sure to check out the Bird Migration Explorer from Audubon; it doesn't give the exact data as eBird's bar charts, but it gives a nice visual timeline/overview of migration by species. Here's a search on the Golden-winged Warbler: https://explorer.audubon.org/explor...igration-journey-graphics&range=0.6724,0.6924
If you go to Magee in May you pretty well have to be of the mindset that "it's a zoo, but it's also a party." The "Biggest Week in Birding" festival at the nearby Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center spans ten days (this year it is May 5-14), and these are prime days for birding and also for photography. There are lots and lots of lots of people there, and just about all of them head over to Magee. I have gone twice (2017 and 2019) and I found it, as Spock used to say, "fascinating." If you can't stand crowds, stay home! On the other hand, the week following the "biggest week" is very attractive for having a greater variety of warblers, the "later migrants," and it would seem, slightly smaller crowds.
Apparently there was storm damage to some of the bigger trees and also to the boardwalk structures in 2021, and the boardwalk was closed for a time. It reopened for the 2022 migration, however, and I have read that new trails were created as part of an effort to reduce overcrowding.
Apparently there was storm damage to some of the bigger trees and also to the boardwalk structures in 2021, and the boardwalk was closed for a time. It reopened for the 2022 migration, however, and I have read that new trails were created as part of an effort to reduce overcrowding.
Thank you @MatthewK and @cchuck @GrandNagus50 ! I know nothing about warblers other than they are small! But I will have fun identifying and learning about them!
I don't particularly like crowds.....but hopefully most of the folks are at least courteous.....
I don't particularly like crowds.....but hopefully most of the folks are at least courteous.....
DsD
Well-known member
Yep, similarly, I don't warm up to the Facebook Wildlife Paparazzi crowd either. lol
Hallelujah! 1st warblers of the year just showed up in my front yard, some Yellow-rumps. Z9 + 800PF in hand, it’s the perfect focal length for the flighty little things. Had a decent shot framed up, but Z9 decided it liked the background better, so stuck to that instead. Gotta love that mirrorless AF 
D500 would have nailed it.
Despite all that, I’m excited that things are finally kicking off after this wretched winter we’ve had. 800mm is looking to be prime for this endeavor!
D500 would have nailed it.Despite all that, I’m excited that things are finally kicking off after this wretched winter we’ve had. 800mm is looking to be prime for this endeavor!
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BrianSmall
Active member
So my friend Kenn Kaufman is sure it's a hybrid but not 100% sure of the mix. Yellow-rumped for sure crossed with either Cape May, Townsend's or Magnolia were his educated best guesses.
Appreciate you checking this, Brian. I haven't had a chance to go back and get more shots of it, unfortunately. A Townsend's hybrid would be awesome, as we don't get them this far east!
I played hookie at work this morning in order to go out warbler hunting, and found a nice little spot along a creek a few miles from my house. Had a good deal of Yellow-rumps, and single copies of Palm and Pine Warbler. It just felt fantastic to be out shooting again with birds I'm actually excited about.
Using the 800PF and 400 4.5 + 1.4TC, both lenses were used effectively depending on how close I was able to get. A 600 TC would be the ultimate lens for this though, but I'd be fine w/ a 600 f/5.6 or even f/6.3 PF lens.
These are full non-cropped shots from the Z9 and 800PF; don't think I could ask for anything more in terms of sharpness and clarity. As of now, if I'm going out warblering, I'll choose the 800 over the 400 4.5.
Using the 800PF and 400 4.5 + 1.4TC, both lenses were used effectively depending on how close I was able to get. A 600 TC would be the ultimate lens for this though, but I'd be fine w/ a 600 f/5.6 or even f/6.3 PF lens.
These are full non-cropped shots from the Z9 and 800PF; don't think I could ask for anything more in terms of sharpness and clarity. As of now, if I'm going out warblering, I'll choose the 800 over the 400 4.5.
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Some of us are back to calling these "Myrtle" warblers. They never should have lumped the two (actuallly, three) species. Nice photos.
400mm can get the job done as well, when they're almost on top of you:
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SMB
Well-known member
Well the Warblers can be around late season as well. 11/23/2023 Bethany Delaware on a cold morning. Yellow-rumped.
Sony A1, 200-600 @ 600mm on a monopod.
Sony A1, 200-600 @ 600mm on a monopod.
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I realized that I started this thread a while back prior to my trip to southern Ohio with Jamie Cunningham of Sabrewing photo. I actually took and used my Olympus 150-400mm and used it, sometimes with teleconverters. For some photogenic Prairie warblers I actually used this zoom with a 2x teleconverter. With the 1.25 teleconverter extended this meant an equivalent field of view of 2000mm full frame. This only could work with birds out in the open and moving fairly slowly. For fast-movers like Cerulean warblers I used shorter focial lengths. But the bottom line was that having a powerful telephoto ZOOM was a huge boon, as I could locate the bird zoomed all the way to minimum focal length and then zoom in close.
On my just-completed trip to Puerto Rico and decided to "have some fun" and took the Olympus rig AND a Nikon Z8 with 600mm PF lens. Both gave terrific results, but there were a couple of occasions when with the 600 I had some trouble locating and framing the bird in monotonous foliage. This indicated that I need to practice my "targeting" more.
On my just-completed trip to Puerto Rico and decided to "have some fun" and took the Olympus rig AND a Nikon Z8 with 600mm PF lens. Both gave terrific results, but there were a couple of occasions when with the 600 I had some trouble locating and framing the bird in monotonous foliage. This indicated that I need to practice my "targeting" more.
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Woody Meristem
Well-known member
Beautiful photos indeed.
Nice group of photos!