Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/320, ISO 640
The Prairie Warbler, despite its name is not actually a prairie resident, they love small pine forests. This species is in great decline, but is actually making a comeback with all the second growth forests. These birds can live a maximum of 8 years.
Prairie warblers are fairly early migrants, typically arriving in my part of the country (Ohio), from mid to late April
If you would like to help this struggling species please consider donating to the American Bird Conservancy, which helps with endangered birds like this
Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800
Photographing these birds was quite challenging. Knowing the sun set around 8:15 I strategically arrived in my shooting location around 5:15 giving me three hours. The first hour was spent scouting and observing behaviors, as I had never been to this location before.
Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/320. ISO 1600
After learning preferred perches and memorizing the call, I pursued these birds. Strategically hiding and placing myself in shadowy areas. Compositions were tough at first but I quickly discovered that after a little waiting, the birds tended to forage from top to bottom from the tree giving me close and clean-background looks
Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/500, ISO 2000
As far as gear goes, I used both my Canon R5 and the Canon R7 I am borrowing. I found the R5's autofocus to be a little slow to keep up with these closeup fast moving birds, where the r7 never missed a beat. However, I still used the r5 as the sun was starting to set as its file quality is still much better. All camera gear and settings used will be in the captions of the photos.
Please enjoy this curated gallery of my best work from this outing
Canon R5 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/640. ISO 1600
Canon R5 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/640, ISO 800
Canon R5 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/640, ISO 5000
Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/800, ISO 1000
Canon R7 and 100-500- F7.1, 1/500, ISO 2000
