Two autumnal birds

 

As always, click the photo to enlarge

A rather disheveled looking male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) plunders seed from a robust native sunflower, the Jerusalem-artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus).

Last week was a whirlwind of talks: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The latter two gigs were in the Cincinnati region. And those last two were about moths, a common speaking topic for me the past few years, following the release of THIS BOOK.

The Thursday evening talk, which was delivered via Zoom, was for a class at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was about plant photography, another talk that I really enjoy presenting.

Anyway, on Friday, Shauna and I headed southwest to the Fernald Preserve in Hamilton County. Despite its history, Fernald is evolving into nearly 1,000 acres of excellent and diverse habitats. I've done a number of trips there, and it is always interesting. I gave the moth talk in their nice meeting room, then we went outdoors for mothing and caterpillaring.

The next day, we went exploring before my talk that night, which was at the Oxford Lane Library in Oxford (home to Miami University). Kudos to the library staff for creating a very inviting setting for a program and packing the house. Lots of students and some faculty, and lots of good questions.

Anyway, back to the exploring. The goldfinch above was photographed at Gilmore Ponds, a preserve in Butler County, owned and managed by MetroParks of Butler County (The odd presentation of "MetroParks" is on them).

I hadn't been to Gilmore Ponds in ages, and it proved productive. We mostly tried for birds, but the middish-day mostly bright light was not stellar. Tons of turtles, too, and I might post images of a few later. But I did enjoy documenting the goldfinch on a native seed source that I had not shot them on before.

A female Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) investigates Black Walnut leaves (Juglans nigra). It was part of a mixed-species feeding flock, and we saw/heard lots of fall migrant songbirds at Gilmore Ponds.

As far as subject matter goes, few groups can be as tough as getting presentable images of migrant fall warblers. Their colors are generally muted, the foliage is still thick, and the birds are mostly silent other than the odd chips and other soft calls. They can blend remarkably well with the senescing foliage, and moving birds resemble blowing leaves.