I have been trying to think of some new post ideas and for quite some time I’ve wanted to talk about what a whole day of bird photography is like for me, from start to finish. I finally got a chance to have a good day of bird photography not too long ago so I’m going to attempt to write and show photos from this day. It came about from a meeting of a bunch of nature photographers who belong to a group on Flickr called “Birds of Forsythe NWR” which was started and is currently maintained by my father. We had a wonderful day and I got to meet some great people/photographers and I can’t wait for another meeting like this to come up.

For me the day started at sunrise which was a little before 6am this May morning, I had an hour drive to pick up my father and then about another hour to get to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Brigantine, NJ.

The sun rises over the marsh as the birds begin to start their day

I have been here many times before and have shown many pictures from this location but it is one of those places you can go again and again and again and still see new things every time you go (as I’ll point out later). I’m sure it sounds pretty cheesy but there is certainly something special about being at the refuge for sunrise. If you are there a bit before the sun comes up it will be somewhat quiet and not too much activity. As soon as the sun gets close to showing itself the bird activity increases tremendously. The sounds of all the birds beginning their day fill the air and at times that becomes all you can hear.

Before the sun has fully risen a Canada Goose flies overhead

Some birds start the day flying out in search of food such as this Canada Goose making it’s way out to the marsh flats to start feeding, while some birds are the opposite such as the Black-Crowned Night Heron heading back to it’s roost for the day.

A Black-Crowned Night Heron flies back to roost in early morning light.

Then all of a sudden the cool blue morning transforms into a warm spring day as the sun lights up the refuge. The sunrises here can be quite unbelievable. Actually, sunrises anywhere can be quite amazing, it’s not too often that most people are up to enjoy a sunrise and for me it always has a bit of a different feeling than a sunset.

It's a beautiful sunrise this morning, the clouds make for some gorgeous color and patterns.

My father and I decide to start our morning by parking the car and waiting in one particular spot. On this morning there isn’t too much activity in our chosen location but every once in a while a bird or two cruises by. There is a small group of Forster’s Terns fishing right out in front of us, and as the sun breaks through the clouds it presents me with the photo below. I love how the warm sunlight lights the bird up against the cool blue of the cloudy background.

A Forster's Tern begins it's morning fishing over the shallows as the early sun lights up it's body.

A female Red-Winged Blackbird keeps flying around in the low marsh grass. The sun isn’t hitting this area yet so it’s quite colorless and somewhat dull. The bird really blends in with it’s surroundings and if it wasn’t constantly moving, I probably wouldn’t have known it was there.

A female Red-Winged Blackbird perches on the low marsh grass.

It’s been about 30 minutes since we arrived and we are still the only ones in the area. I love it, just my father and I and the birds, and the incredible view. These mornings make it totally worth getting up so early! The sun is still trying to light up the day and rise above the low clouds. Higher in the sky it becomes a beautiful bright orange and I notice a flock of Glossy Ibis flying through the sky. I press the shutter button on the camera and the image is captured.

As the sun rises a small flock of Glossy Ibis cruise overhead to look for a good place to start foraging for food.

The Forster’s Terns are still fishing out in front of us and the one below makes a hard turn which I manage to grab. I try not to forget the sounds, as a male Red-Winged Blackbird lands in front of me and belts out a loud call. The sun is finally starting to hit all the areas even the low marsh grass where this male is singing his song.

A Forster's Tern makes a hard bank to the right with the morning sun lighting up it's underside.

A male Red-Winged Blackbird starts his morning in song.

Every once in a while there is a downturn in the bird activity and it becomes almost quite. During one of these short silences a magnificent Mute Swan flies between myself and the sun which lights up it’s wings quite nicely. It’s a little farther away than I’d like for the shot, but it comes out better than I expect because of the lighting on the wings. This photo will be a keeper.

A huge Mute Swan flies in front of me with the sun lighting up it's wings and the water droplets falling from it's body.

A friend of mine shows up at the same location and we hang out there for a little while just chatting about nature photography and random other things. As nice as it is to enjoy nature alone, it’s sometimes equally as nice to share it with friends, plus you can always learn a thing or two about the birds or photography. After a while our friend decides he is going to go check out some other areas so we say goodbye knowing that we’ll most likely catch up with him again later in the day.

A Forster's Tern flies right in front of me, I really like how the sun is shining on it's wings and body.

My father and I have been in the same spot for a little over an hour now and it’s starting to look like the sun is only going to be shining for another half hour or hour at best, so we make the decision to head out and begin the drive around Wildlife Drive to take advantage of the sunlight. As we begin our drive the sun starts to come in and out behind the clouds, it’s starting to look like it’s going to be one of those cloudy days. This can be a good thing or a bad thing for a bird photographer depending on what and where you are taking pictures. It turns out to be a good thing for the first bird we come upon, a Great Egret. This all white bird can be very difficult to photograph in full sunlight, today with the thin cloud cover it works to my advantage as I snap a few shots of it fishing in the shallows. I can see that it’s getting ready to make a strike at some prey so I quickly change the settings on the camera to it’s fastest mode. I see the egret tense it’s neck preparing for a strike and I mash down the shutter button. At 11 frames per second the camera continuously captures the lightning fast strike of this beautiful bird and I still manage to miss the initial neck extension. I do manage to capture most of the fishing sequence and the Great Egret lifts it’s head from the water triumphantly with a fish in it’s beak. It was a successful try and I managed to get a great sequence with lots of detail in those bright white feathers thanks to the cloud cover.

A beautiful Great Egret still sporting some of it's breeding plumage is stalking small fish in the shallow marsh.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A sequence of a Great Egret making a succesful strike on a small fish which is so incredibly fast.

A Great Egret swallows his catch.

After watching the Great Egret fish for a while we continue our drive and come upon more Forster’s Terns doing their acrobatics in the sky. The one below sees something and completely commits to the dive. It turns directly vertical and heads straight for the water without slowing down. The tern makes a successful dive and comes up with a tiny fish, but the action isn’t over. Another tern has been eying the action and attempts to come in and steal the catch. They splash around in the water and then take to the air, and in all the turmoil I have no idea who was the victor or if they both lost the catch. I figure at the time I’ll review the photos on the computer at home and be able to figure out what happened. I’ve reviewed them and I still have no idea, but they make for a great sequence of action photos.

A Forster's Tern really commits to it's dive.

A pair of Forster's Terns have a small challenge to gain the fish.

A pair of Forster's Terns have a small challenge to gain the fish.

A pair of Forster's Terns have a small challenge to gain the fish.

A pair of Forster's Terns have a small challenge to gain the fish.

A pair of Forster's Terns have a small challenge to gain the fish.

Continuing down the Wildlife Drive after the intense tern action, I’m driving the car along really slowly and all of a sudden a Common Yellowthroat pops up out of the tall grass and perches on a branch. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one of these beautifully bright yellow birds. When I see a bird for the first time that I’ve never photographed, it pretty much goes like this.
1. Point camera and hold shutter button and hope to get some picture, any picture, before new bird flies away
2. Decide I’ve probably got something after taking probably more than 50 pictures, and try to slow down and check camera settings to make sure any pictures I get will be properly exposed
3. If bird still hasn’t flown away, I now fine tune the exposure and start to mess with the composition of the photo a bit and get something a little better.
It’s always pretty funny to see me shooting like a madman at first, and then slow down and try to get a good photo. Thankfully this Yellowthroat allowed me the time to go through my whole process and I managed to fire off a few good shots of him singing before he took off. In this shot I would have preferred a little more sunlight but you take what you get and continue on.

Here a Common Yellowthroat belts out a song not long after the sun has risen.

Some times a mildly funny photo presents itself like the pair of Willet below who flew in behind a couple of vehicles and began wildly flapping around as if to say “over here, over here”

This pair of Willet seem to be announcing their presence to all.

The Forster's Tern is showing off his catch to a potential mate.

A Greater Yellowlegs wades in the shallows.

Further along the Wildlife Drive, we cruise up on another Great Egret who decides it doesn’t like our presence too much. It doesn’t take long for it to take off and thankfully I was completely ready, camera set, bird in the frame, ready to rock when this one took off. It is also another sequence that turned out great with the slightly overcast morning. It’s always neat to see the mechanics of the wings as a bird this large takes off from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

A sequence of a Great Egret taking flight from the water.

As we were driving along and getting near the end of the marsh area my father spotted a brilliantly blue bird. Neither of us recognized it at first, but thankfully for me it was on my side of the car so I was able to lean out and proceed with my haphazard “never seen before bird” sequence. It turned out to be a Blue Grosbeak which is such a beautiful bird. As I mentioned, the Grosbeak was on my side of the car so my father wasn’t able to get any photos and proceeded to bust my chops saying “sure I see it and you get the pictures”. We thought it only flew a little bit further down the road and landed on his side of the car, so we slowly drove up and as luck would have it the bird was sitting right there in front of my dad. It took him a moment to get set up for the shot (he shoots with a 500mm lens which isn’t the easiest to deal with inside a car). Right as he was ready to take his first picture I tried to put down the back window on his side of the car, planning to get myself a vantage point to photograph from. Well this didn’t work out so well since I accidentally hit the wrong button and put the window down which my father had his lens resting on. It really messed him up and he began to think I just didn’t want him to get a photo of this (new to both of us) bird. He regained his composure and managed to fire off a few, one of which is way better than any of my photos. It all worked out in the end and we both had quite a laugh about the whole scenario, although I think he would have had a different point of view had he not been able to get a great photo too.

A brilliantly blue, Blue Grosbeak sitting on a branch over the marsh grass.

The Blue Grosbeak didn't stay long.

Next we drove into the upland area, leaving the marsh and tidal water behind. This is another one of the great things about Forsyth National Wildlife Refuge, the multiple different habitats you can observe in one day. We started seeing some birds that are more common and some that can be found at the backyard feeder, but it’s always nice to get photos of them in their natural surroundings. This is one of the areas it pays to really take it slow, many of these birds are incredibly adept at blending in with their surroundings and if you go too quickly you will miss a lot of them. I always seem to get too impatient though and after a while of driving really slow, I usually end up quickening the pace. On this day I did manage to keep things going slow and I got another first, an Orchard Oriole as it took flight. It’s certainly not the best picture but it was the third species that day that I had not ever photographed before, so far so good! This was all on one drive around which wasn’t finished yet and it was only a bit after 9am – another great reason to start out early.

A Pair of Tree Swallows - that one on the right seems to have an attitude problem.

Not a very uncommon bird but for me it's uncommon to see them in a natural surrounding, not on a feeder.

A Gray Catbird turns his head just right to catch the sunlight in it's eye.

This Orchard Oriole didn't sit around very long for photos.

At one point along the drive you go over a bridge which straddles a few small ponds, some times you can see lot’s of wildlife in this area, other times not a thing. This morning we were treated to a Belted Kingfisher (which was very far off) but not much else. As we sat there for a bit I noticed some movement in the lily pads in the water. I didn’t think much of it but it was enough for me to keep my eye on the area. Just as I was ready to move along a river otter poked it’s head up out of the water, and I only managed a fleeting shot as it dove back under and continued on it’s way.

One of the most wary birds I've ever encountered this Belted Kingfisher sat for quite a while this day, although he was very far off.

Only saw this otter for just a moment before he disappeared.

I liked how you could see part of the plant under water as well as the pads on top.

We decided to head back to the area where we started the morning and just hang out there for a while. Just like earlier there wasn’t too much action but the Red-Winged Blackbirds were still hanging around making tons of noise and I even got a few far off shots of one chasing a crow around. It’s so funny to watch these territorial Red-Wing Blackbirds, they will chase almost any bird out of the area. I’ve seen them pestering crows, and even hawks which could easily kill them, I guess they are either very brave or very lucky.

Male Red-Winged Blackbird showing off his colors.

Sing it proud.

Red-WInged Blackbird chases off an American Crow

This Crow has certainly seen better days, it's feathers don't look so hot.

I decided to take a short walk by myself along a dirt road next to a small pond. It was still pretty overcast but it was starting to look like we might see some sun again later in the day. As I walked along I noticed a Cedar Waxwing hopping around in a tree branch. I tried to move as slowly as possible and get a little closer, which is pretty much impossible not to be noticed when on foot. This bird didn’t seem to mind me and I got within a reasonable distance and grabbed a few shots. Immediately after I took the photo below of the waxwing another bird (not sure what it was) flew from about 10 feet away, then a snake slithered away right next to my feet. Man on man the things you miss when you are distracted. There was a bunch of wildlife right next to me and I didn’t even know it. Next time I’ll have to pay more attention to what’s around, haha.

Cedar Waxwing proudly showing off it's incredible color scheme.

Yet Another Red-WInged Blackbird.

On the second trip around Wildlife Drive we went a little quicker but we still saw some interesting things and the sun started to make an occasional appearance. The first shot below is one I really like even thought the bird is very small in the overall shot and it’s also not the most beautiful bird (Common Grackle). I like the photo because of the really interesting texture on the dried ground behind the bird. I remember specifically placing the bird in the lower part of the frame to be able to include more the that cool texture. I have begun to realize that this is certainly a big part of my style of shooting nature and wildlife, where I sometimes heavily offset the subject to include more background or just empty space. I’m sure it’s not everybody’s taste, but at least it’s something I can start to see as a personal style in my photography. You can see a bit more of that in the two photos following the grackle, the snowy egret is offset as is the hard turning tern, haha turning tern!

I really only liked this shot because of the background.

The Snowy Egrets really like to fish near the water gates.

Forster's Tern with cool angles.

Another Snowy Egret fishing at a water gate.

We stopped and got out of the car to photograph the large group of Forster’s Terns at one particular spot they like to congregate when the tide is running right. I started out shooting a bit wider to show how many of them there were and how they fly in tight quarters together. I’ve taken probably thousands of shots of these birds in my many trips here, but I never get bored of trying to get a really good close photo of one filling up the frame. They fly so erratically, most of the time they are an incredibly difficult target which makes for a really fun challenge. I managed some of what I think are my best flying tern photos yet on this day, and I’ve shared a few of them below.

Showing off their flying skils these Forster's Terns are a blast to watch and challenging to photograph.

Showing off their flying skils these Forster's Terns are a blast to watch and challenging to photograph.

Showing off their flying skils these Forster's Terns are a blast to watch and challenging to photograph.

Showing off their flying skils these Forster's Terns are a blast to watch and challenging to photograph.

Showing off their flying skils these Forster's Terns are a blast to watch and challenging to photograph.

After the fun with the terns my father and I went off to meet the group of photographers that had assembled at a nearby cafe. Overall there were about 15 or so photographers that showed up that day which was a great turnout, and I got to meet some great people of whom I’ve only previously had contact with online. It was great to put a face to the photos that I’ve been seeing over the past few years and I hope we all get to do this again. We all had lunch together and everybody shared stories of what they had seen so far that day and some other interesting stories from outings in the past. It was a great time and it’s awesome to see all these great photographers together. After filling my stomach with pizza, we headed back out to make one more drive around the refuge. My father and I kind of split off from the group and took our time going around for our last pass, it started out great with the pair of Glossy Ibis flying right overhead.

I got to catch another glimpse of the Glossy Ibis on this lucky day.

Nothing special here, just a female Red-Winged Blackbird, but she's got a great pattern on her.

The last Glossy Ibis I saw on this day.

A pair of Wimbrel hunting in the marsh grass.

I managed to catch another sequence of a Great Egret fishing and this time I even got the full head extension, which looks hilarious to me with just it’s eye sticking out above the water. The bird was not successful on it’s first attempt, but it did manage to grab a small shrimp after a few tries.

This was a missed attempt for this Great Egret.

This was a missed attempt for this Great Egret.

This was a missed attempt for this Great Egret.

This was a missed attempt for this Great Egret.

Seems like a small meal for such a large bird but I guess food is food for this Great Egret.

The nesting osprey are cool to see, but they weren’t too active when we cruised by so we didn’t pay attention to them too long. In the same areas as the osprey a bunch of Willet were making such a loud ruckus I couldn’t ignore them. A fellow photographer who I had just met earlier at lunch was already set up on the Willet and the two of us got to watch a full mating sequence which was pretty cool, although I must say if I never hear another Willet call it will be too soon, man those suckers are loud!

An Osprey takes off from the nest.

From Flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

From flying around to a ridiculous amount of calling the end result of all the ruckus is a Willet pair mating.

I think she has had enough!

That was pretty much it for that day, we finished the drive around and didn’t spot that much more action. I did manage to get another first which wasn’t a great shot by any means, but hey, a first is always cool. As were were sitting in the car near a wooded area a Black and White Warbler showed itself for a quick few seconds and I was able to snap a few quick shots. The day ended with another Orchard Oriole sighting and we headed home a little before 4pm, which coincidentally was around 12 hours after I had awoke to start the day.

Only saw this Black and White Warbler for a split second but I managed to get something.

A final Orchard Oriole perched high in the trees to end the day.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me for a day of birding and I hope you get to experience a day just like it yourself.

Thanks,

Ray