Between the Blackberries and the Thistle

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On the morning of August 13, 2015, on my way back to the house from my morning walk in WA Park/coffee with friends/breakfast, I drove by the local wetland (probably not the best way to describe it this year!) and saw a few American goldfinches in the thistle and other birds in the blackberry bushes. I returned to the house, retrieved my camera and a homemade prop that allows me to shoot out the passenger side of my car, and returned to the wetland.

I positioned my vehicle between the thistle and the blackberry bushes and almost immediately began taking photos on both sides of the car. Initially I concentrated on the blackberry bushes but as time went on I repositioned my car to concentrate on the thistle. Over a two-hour period I took 157 photos. Here are the birds I saw and, with a couple of exceptions, photographed:

American goldfinches (male, female and juveniles in many plumage phases)
American robins
European starlings (adult and juvenile)
House finch (female or juvenile only)
Western tanager (female and juvenile)
Cedar waxwing
Orange-crowned warbler
Wilson’s warbler (male and female)
Warbling vireo
yet (and possibly never) to be identified flycatcher 

Here are some photographs, American goldfinches first…

DSC_9048 Goldfinches, American - on thistle 20150813-02 Goldfinches, American - on thistle 20150813-24 Goldfinches, American - on thistle 20150813-28

Next up, a juvenile American robin with a mouthful of blackberry…

Robin, American - with blackberry 20150813-02

The Warbling vireo…

Tanager, Western 20150813-06

The female Western tanager...

Tanager, Western 20150813-12

And finally, the unidentified flycatcher…

flycatcher 20150813-08 flycatcher 20150813-05I was surprised not to see any Black-headed grosbeaks since they were at our house as recently as last week and every one I photograph has blackberry juice on its bill.

The photography conditions weren’t all that good. I had full sun with the sun coming across at an angle instead of from behind me, and both conditions tend to generate shadows on the bird from leaves and branches as well as from the birds’ beaks. There’s also a lot of contrast with lighting in various parts of the photos. But when you take 157 photos you can usually find some value somewhere within the group. Here are some of my best shots, but still giving some exposure to birds that are rarer.