Two warblers

As many of you know I photograph the opera. To do anything seriously you have to know the subject and be prepared physically and mentally. It goes without saying that knowledge of  photography, not automatic photography is a must. There is no live theater due to the virus and this may continue for a long time.  This does not mean that I've put down the camera. I've been shooting more images than I normally would do in a theater. The subjects are smaller, the lighting different, no tripods. It's migration time, lots of tiny subjects flitting around. The first step is to watch for movement, then assess the lighting and finally try and recognize what the subject is. Yesterday I saw birds faster than my brain could compute what I was seeing. At this time of year you have to  think male? female? mature? immature? and then draw on your knowledge if possible. Sometimes it's hard to identify the subject.  Yesterday there were other bird lovers nearby with huge lenses. I try to shut out the jibber jabber. There's a lot of nonsense talk. "That's a .....", declared with conviction. I've learned not to correct anyone unless it's a child. There's an element of "My lens is bigger than you're lens, so I know everything". Boring.   Yesterday really tried my internal memory bank. I don't know everything, but eagerly welcome all feathered visitors.  The first arrival, flash of yellow is a female first year chestnut- sided warbler. She came for a drink before vanishing.  There was no getting closer without falling down the rocks. I remember the first time I saw a male chestnut sided. My reaction was, "That's the most beautiful sparrow I've ever seen."  That was in 1987. I've learned a lot since then.

I came around a corner at Strawberry Fields and saw movement. I knew it was a warbler by it's body language but couldn't see all the details or get any closer.  The pine stayed in this bush for about ten seconds, bird and spider web before flying away. It wasn't until I got home, downloaded images into computer that I knew it was a pine warbler,  first one I've seen in a while.

It's easy to take pictures with the iPads, fool proof, but lots harder to hand hold a 600mm lens and read lighting, subject, activity and grasp the essence of a tiny bird. It's wonderful exercise.