Scarlet Tanager - Piranga écarlate
I was super lucky to spend 72 hours in Prince Edward County, where my good friend Paul Jones is now a resident, and the leading birder in the area. Picking which 72 hours to witness some part of the spring migration is ultimately a bit arbitrary - a late or nonexistent spring, the weather, and the luck of time in general all contribute to the guesswork.
But it worked, and worked brilliantly. We saw almost a hundred species the first six hours. By the end we had seen all of the Vireos we were likely to in that part of the world, all the Woodpeckers, dozens and dozens of Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Great Crested Flycatchers. And as broad a range of Warblers as I have ever seen, including (for me:lifers!) Cerulean, Hooded and Mourning Warblers.
The concentration and intensity of the species and their behaviours meant this was first and foremost a birding adventure. But we brought cameras, and found time and opportunities to record parts of the experience.
Four male Scarlet Tanagers dropped down out of the canopy and visited the shrubs along the trail at the Lighthouse. They were playful seeming, and completely unaffected by the three or four of us there. One male landed briefly on my lens. I have a series of images - all uncropped - of low and close Scarlet Tanager males. It is one of the neat benefits of a bunch of the same colourful bird that you get to see first hand the variability in their plumage.
Scarlet Tanager - Piranga écarlate
I was super lucky to spend 72 hours in Prince Edward County, where my good friend Paul Jones is now a resident, and the leading birder in the area. Picking which 72 hours to witness some part of the spring migration is ultimately a bit arbitrary - a late or nonexistent spring, the weather, and the luck of time in general all contribute to the guesswork.
But it worked, and worked brilliantly. We saw almost a hundred species the first six hours. By the end we had seen all of the Vireos we were likely to in that part of the world, all the Woodpeckers, dozens and dozens of Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Great Crested Flycatchers. And as broad a range of Warblers as I have ever seen, including (for me:lifers!) Cerulean, Hooded and Mourning Warblers.
The concentration and intensity of the species and their behaviours meant this was first and foremost a birding adventure. But we brought cameras, and found time and opportunities to record parts of the experience.
Four male Scarlet Tanagers dropped down out of the canopy and visited the shrubs along the trail at the Lighthouse. They were playful seeming, and completely unaffected by the three or four of us there. One male landed briefly on my lens. I have a series of images - all uncropped - of low and close Scarlet Tanager males. It is one of the neat benefits of a bunch of the same colourful bird that you get to see first hand the variability in their plumage.