Fall Migration Magic

Fall migration is one of my favorite times of the year to photograph birds. Daytime temperatures have dropped from 90-100 degrees down to 70-80 degrees. Most days the clouds are high and thin, offering that perfectly filtered soft lighting that photographers live for. And the best thing about fall is it signals the migration of hundreds of bird species. Among the earliest arrivals are the Warblers and Vireos. Both of these "dickey birds" as they are often called are relatively small and move continuously through the trees as they forage for morsels of food. They are building up fat reserves to carry them through the rigorous migration, sometimes covering thousands of miles each year. Occasionally these birds are in small groups, but usually they can be found in pairs of by themselves. The best way to find them is to remain quiet for several minutes after entering a promising wooded area, while watching and listening for calling birds. Many birders and photographers alike use taped calls to draw the curious birds out of hiding. Making a repeated "pfisssshhhing" sound will often work also. I have had a great deal of success with various recorded calls, and my favorite taped call is an Eastern Screech Owl. Birds of all types and sizes will come to my tape, and their intent is to mob the owl, if they can find it. Sometimes hard to find species, such as this Bell's Vireo will respond. I have had Chickadees land on my lens barrel and tape player, frantically looking for the owl. Do not use taped calls during the nesting season, as it may disrupt the birds and affect nesting.

Migrating birds are tough to find and photograph because they are nearly always on the move. The woods may be full of warblers on Saturday and then be empty when you return with camera gear on Sunday. Consult birding guides, and some states, through local organizations, publish "Date guides to the occurrence of birds," showing exact dates of all species occurring throughout the state by region. My favorite technique is to enter a wooded area or hiking trail on foot, carrying my camera rig over my shoulder. I always use flash because deep woods means heavy shadows. I normally set the flash at -1 EVA, and use a moderate shutter speed. The result is an image with little or no shadows, lit mostly by natural, ambient light, and the flash puts a catchlight in the bird's eye. It takes some experimentation with your particular camera/flash to find the right ratio of ambient/flash mix. Both of these images were taken using fill-flash as described, and I bet you could not otherwise tell flash was used at all. I usually walk slowly listening for familiar bird sounds. Stopping every 30' or so, and playing a recorded tape now and then, I cover the entire area. Rarely do I walk right up on a bird - they are much too wary. Most often they show themselves only after I have been quiet for several minutes. On occasion if I move very quietly, I can sneak close to migrating birds. Such was the case with this Red-eyed Vireo. He was busy feeding, hopping from one branch to another. I got to within about 15' before he stopped and posed for me. You just can't beat the Magic of fall migration!

I'll see you in the field!

Both images taken with Canon EOS IV, 600 F4 lens w/1.4X teleconverter, 550 EX flash
mounted on a Gitzo 1548 carbon fiber tripod topped with an Arca Swiss B1 ball head

Exposure data
Bell's Vireo: 1/160 @ F8 with fill-flash