Post #199 - A Morning of Marsh Photography in Sierra County, California

My goal when I head out with the camera is simple: capture one high-quality frame of whatever species I'm seeking. Sometimes I'll get lucky and end up with multiple shots of the desired target -- as occurred on the Canyon Wren and Whimbrel outings I chronicled in my last post -- but it's really, really rare that I come home with keeper shots of different species from the same outing. That's what happened in while I was shooting in Sierra County, California last weekend, and I'll use this post as a photo essay to recap a pretty memorable morning at the marsh.

Let's start with one of the most striking birds in North America - the male Yellow-headed Blackbird. This species is common in the Sierra Valley in summer, and the birds can be very confiding along the region's rural roads. It can be tough difficult to get birds on a natural perches with so many available fenceposts, but I was fortunate to intersect this individual as he belted out his song from a low shrub. The vegetation is a bit busier than ideal, particularly between the wings and tail, but I think it makes for a natural-looking frame.

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/1000 at f/7.1, ISO 800

The blackbird bagged, I turned my attention towards the morning's primary target, Virginia Rail. With marsh on both sides of the road, I laid down in the deserted thoroughfare and used a bit of playback to see what I could draw out of the reeds. I've had decent responses from this species in the past, but this was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, two birds sprinting across the road twenty feet in front of me within twenty seconds. They recrossed the road a minute later, and the more curious of the pair walked to within fifteen feet me of as I remained prone. I'll certainly remember the encounter for a long time! Fortunately, I was so low that the gravel road is mostly unrecognizable in these shots.

Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX2
1/1600 at f/8, ISO 800

A bit later in the morning, this Wilson's Snipe landed on a roadside post. That perch was very big and blocky, so I decided the only way to minimize its distraction was to eliminate it altogether by going for a tight headshot. This bird permitted unexpectedly close approach, and I was really happy with the resulting feather detail. He wouldn't turn perfectly parallel to the light, so I'll have to live with diffuse shadows across the breast. Can't complain about the engaging head angle though!

Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/2000 at f/8, ISO 1000

And lastly, I'll include this American Bittern since I photographed it at the same location, albeit on the previous evening (I ditched camped in nearby National Forest overnight). Cloudy conditions rendered the light pretty dodgy on that first visit, but I cranked up the ISO to combat the conditions. Topaz Denoise AI did a great job at reducing the noise and recovering the feather detail once I put the file into the computer. If you haven't used that program, it's definitely worth checking out. It can be used an a plug-in in Lightroom or Photoshop, so even Luddites like me can figure it out. I'm super stoked with this result because it's my first good frame of this species!

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/2000 at f/5.6, ISO 3200

So yeah, a sweet pair of visits to the same spot. I'll certainly go back in the future, if not this summer then perhaps sometime in the fall. Cheers!