Remember all the old Western movies, and the wagon train pulling out. The leader will yell … Westward Ho oh! Well someone finally told the birds it was time to move north, but then the cold North wind said STOP! There have been an amazing number of birds at the head of Lake Superior over the past few days, but the very late spring has meant limited food. I have seen lots of warblers battling the few returning humming birds for the use of my hummingbird feeder (seriously). If the warblers are not drinking from the hummingbird feeder, they are eating suet. It’s weird, but when you’re hungry …

Now most people might have thought yesterday was an ugly day for birding. The local weather had occasional showers, dark skies, high winds (25 mph) and only 45F. However, I decided differently. After taking care of some business items, I hiked over to visit my local Great Horned Owl family. I discovered the owls were up late (8:30 am), and the Mom was giving flying lessons to the kids. If you want food, fly to Mom. Finally, the parent owl perched out in the open and paused to allow her photograph to be taken.

Upon returning home, I discovered that now in addition to the migrating warblers at my feeders (and many other birds), Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks were chowing down. I often have four grosbeaks in my feeders at once with many more in the woods. While this is not unusual for Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, I am not used to hosting flocks of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. It was cool and exciting. More migration photographs coming as I have time to post.

I know some of you follow my blog because I am one of the first users of the Canon SX-70. All of these grosbeak images were taken with higher ISO numbers to allow for a faster shutter speed. I am thrilled with how well the ISO 800 pics turned out. Remember, all things being equal … an ISO photo 400 should have double the quality of an ISO image. I will admit to taking lots of photos using burst mode. You’re not seeing the blurry images. This strategy is smart photography when one has bad light. Adjust to the weather situation.

Finally, while the female’s coloration may seem drab, it’s great camouflage for sitting on a nest.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Male … ISO 800 pics

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Male and Female … ISO 400 pics