Over the last few years I've developed a real obsession for birding. Not so much for identifying as many species as possible, though that is part of it (my eBird life list stands at 105), but for photographing birds.
My father shares this obsession. As he contemplates retirement and moving back to upstate NY he decided to do something about my lens situation. For several years I've been using a 55-300mm lens. It is a fine lens in the right conditions, and if you can get close, but I needed something longer. I had considered switching from Pentax to Nikon as the selection of lenses wider for Nikon, and the lenses are more available. But this weekend he surprised me with a Sigma 150-500 F5-6.3 APO DG OSM (lil'Bigma). It still needs the right lighting conditions, and it helps to get close, but it is much more flexible than a 300mm lens. (Much heavier too)
A few test pics from Friday...
Birds after the squiggle.
The first bird pic, American Robin
Saturday morning was the first outing with the new lens. Great Bear Recreation Area was my destination. It's not far from home and there are lots of warblers (my primary obsession). I was hoping to see a Scarlet Tanager or Indigo Bunting, but no luck.
Brown-headed Cowbirds
Yellow Warbler father collecting breakfast for his brood.
A different Yellow Warbler in better light
The bird that I was really looking for (I had one poor picture from a few weeks before) Blue-winged Warbler.
Possibly the easiest of all warblers to photograph, the Common Yellowthroat. This one actually seemed curious about what I was doing. It was also the best light of the morning...
And on my way out, a back-lit Cedar Waxwing.
Sunday morning was time for a Zoo visit, but that is another diary. On Sunday evening I took the dog for a walk at Onondaga Lake Park. There are always plenty of Canadas and Mallards...