I love wildlife photography and birds are one of my most common prey. I seek out birds even when I don't have a camera with me (very rare but it happens) and can sit and listen to them for long periods of time. I wrote an post for "
From the Mind of Joe Valencia" titled "
Stop and Listen to the Birds Sing" about this very topic.
I was walking along a trail at Lake Topanemus Park in Freehold, New Jersey one afternoon and saw an unfamiliar bird in one of the trees. It was making a whole lot of noise and flapping it's wings which is what initially drew my attention. I wasn't able to get too close but I took a couple pictures so that I could try to identify it when I got home that night. It turns out the bird was a Gray Catbird - never heard of it before. It wasn't long before it seemed like that the only birds in the park were gray catbirds, I was seeing them everywhere and they quickly became one of my favorite subjects. The opening shot of this post is a nest that I found in a tree at the edge of the lake. I had spotted a bird going in and out of the thicket and slowly moved in to investigate. Sure enough it was a nest. This is the only time I have been able to shoot any bird at a nest and it was quite exciting.
The other images are from different times in the park. I have spent many hours sitting on one of the park benches listening to the call of the gray catbird and waiting for an opportunity to shoot. I got to learn where they frequented so that I could increase my chance of success but sometimes I just had to be satisfied with hearing them and catching an occasional glimpse. You can get more information about the gray catbird by visiting the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website -
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/id
All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com
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