A Game of a Different Kind

[Loupey]

The wife and I spent the weekend up at Magee Marsh state park (off the shores of Lake Erie) for the annual migration of the warblers coming up from their wintering grounds in Central and South America.

They are in this region for only 3 to 4 weeks and this was my first real photo-op for this event. I can only say that it is amazing. And the numbers of people on hand to see the spectacle is similarly amazing. The first two images where shot in the morning and aren't representative to what had amassed by mid-afternoon. The numbers of super-telephotos there were on par to what one might see at an NFL game. Literally wall to wall 500mm and 600mm lenses in some spots! But instead of a 6'6" wide receiver catching a ball from 25 yards away, it's a tiny 5" bird catching an insect from 25' which was the target of the day.

If anyone is considering a day/weekend trip in that area, I would highly recommend it.

Some of my results from that day can be seen in this thread.

Btw, the last shot here is yours truly.

[Dave Smith]

WOW Lupey ...
Looks like it was a fun weekend trip. I don't guess I ever made it to Magee Marsh when I lived in Ohio some 30 years ago. Looks like a wonderful place for photo ops.

I notice that a lot of the cameras had flash units attached. Would a flash be benefitial at the ranges that were being shot?

Thanks for sharing the weekend with us.

[gahspidy]

Thanks for sharing this Loupey. Looks like an exciting weekend of photograpy, nature, and a gathering of people with the same interests.Theres alota glass out in dem der woods . . .

[mjs1973]

I notice that a lot of the cameras had flash units attached. Would a flash be benefitial at the ranges that were being shot?

Yup. Even though they are using huge lenses, their subjects are pretty close (20-30 feet). The flash will help to add a catch light in the eye, as well as some fill if needed. I see a couple of better beamers on those flashes too. That will increase the working distance of the flash and give you more reach.

Loupey, I went on a warbler hike this weekend myself. Those little suckers don't like to sit still for a second! Fun to watch, but not easy to photography that's for sure. Is that the 300mm you are using in that photo? It looks larger than I thought it would be.

[Old Timer]

That is incredible!! I have seen major college games with fewer big glass users than was lined up along that walk way. I wonder what the cumulative value of all the glass there this weekend was?

[Loupey]

Dave - sometimes the most interesting things are close at hand. I've been driving to within 20 miles of this spot for the last 10 years and never even knew about until Paulnj (co-moderator of N&W forum) and several local birders told me about it.

Gary - it was refreshing to see so many people genuinely excited about seeing these amazing birds. There was an elderly gentleman who was pointing out one warbler to me and it took me a second too long to spot it. So, in his excitement, he pulled me over by grabbing my back. It was too funny.

Mike - excellent explanation of the use of flash for birding. Yeah those warblers won't sit still for one second (literally). Constantly hunting and eating insects, one has to wait and hope that a bird will hop in the right spot in hopes of photographing them. Any six-legged creature making the mistake of flying into this 7 acre section has no hope of making out alive (btw, that's a 500mm).

OT - I was thinking the same thing on my way out. There was a section near the entrance where several photographers were staked out on the boardwalk. They were having a conversation and they all had their Big lenses set up on tripods behind them. I shuddered at the thought that one careless passer-by might start a domino effect.


Thanks for looking! I'm sure this weekend will be mad house up there. I'll post something to this thread regarding the Party of Lake Erie.

[mjs1973]

Congrats on the new lens. I thought it looked like a support of some kind attached to that lens as well, and figured you would be hand holding the 300mm.

[Sushigaijin]

Wow!!

I periodically see the same kind of congregation at the bird sanctuary here in chicago - lots of big, expensive lenses and tripod that might as well be attached to tanks. more and more, I see superzoom p&s cameras. I have to say, being in the DSLR world now, I sorely miss the 2 lb 768mm superzoom :-)

We saw and heard a huge amount of warblers in southern illinois - I'd have to get an exact species count, but a dozen might be conservative.

Isn't it great to find a new spot just out your back door?

[Loupey]

Another visit to MM recently. I wanted to get a sweeping shot of the photographers neatly lined up. But I only had the telephoto with me on the boardwalk.

Gives a good idea of the every-which-way kind of searching and shooting. At certain times, the crowds on the boardwalk reminded me of the subways in Japan


The highlight of this past trip was photographing a robins nest which can be found in THIS thread.