Bay-Breasted Warbler - a first

Although I've seen them elsewhere, this is the first bay-breasted warbler I've ever seen on our property. It arrived yesterday with some other warblers, one of which was the blackpoll which, in fall, it can easily be confused with. I have now seen 24 out of the 25 species of warblers which routinely pass through our area in our yard; I am missing only the Connecticut. I have seen the beautiful breeding male a couple of times, but my photos of them have all been junk. Bay-breasted warblers are birds of the spruce forest so, like the Connecticut, it is not strange that they don't frequent our yard. Still, one never knows what will show up.

Great shots Al. Awesome location you have to get so many different birds passing through.

Beautifully executed captures of this little guy Al!
The first image is a wonderful collection of all the field marks necessary to ID it.....at least for you Your 2nd image is simply adorable.
It does pay to be alert as I know you are and congrats on nabbing this one. Now go get that Connecticut!

Good for you Al, excellent shots of this little guy. I would have dismissed it as a Goldfinch and not even taken its pic

2n10 wrote in post #17133118
Great shots Al. Awesome location you have to get so many different birds passing through.

CamFan01 wrote in post #17133121
Beautifully executed captures of this little guy Al!
The first image is a wonderful collection of all the field marks necessary to ID it.....at least for you Your 2nd image is simply adorable.
It does pay to be alert as I know you are and congrats on nabbing this one. Now go get that Connecticut!

Wallace River wrote in post #17133168
Good for you Al, excellent shots of this little guy. I would have dismissed it as a Goldfinch and not even taken its pic

Thanks you kindly, guys. I thought I'd post a photo of a fall blackpoll, taken the same day, so you can see the differences, slight as they may be. The undersides of the blackpoll are white, those of the bay-breast buffy. The hint of bay on the sides of the bay-breast can be definitive, but it is not always present. The blackpoll has slight breast streaking, the other none. And the feet of the blackpoll (who looks at feet?) are yellow! I found a good ID article on line related to fall plumages of these two species and it said folks often refer to them as 'baypolls' because the distinctions can be tough to spot in the field.

Just spectacular shots this fall Al! Enjoying all of them. Are these natural light or are you filling a little with flash?

G3G4G5 wrote in post #17133292
Just spectacular shots this fall Al! Enjoying all of them. Are these natural light or are you filling a little with flash?

Thank you kindly, Chris. I have used a Beamer in the past, but last year started experimenting with dropping my shutter speeds as an alternative and find that I much prefer the results. I never get any of the harshness which a flash can impart, nor steel-eye either. My ISOs can be a bit higher than I'd like, but they have been manageable. I process my photos in LR and am a great fan of the radial filter for darkening the periphery of the frame; this may make it look like I'm using a flash.
Al

Great catch and detail!

Pretty shots Al.

And yet another beautiful capture!

CDMOOSE wrote in post #17133331
Thank you kindly, Chris. I have used a Beamer in the past, but last year started experimenting with dropping my shutter speeds as an alternative and find that I much prefer the results. I never get any of the harshness which a flash can impart, nor steel-eye either. My ISOs can be a bit higher than I'd like, but they have been manageable. I process my photos in LR and am a great fan of the radial filter for darkening the periphery of the frame; this may make it look like I'm using a flash.
Al

Im in complete agreement with you Al, This is my preferred method but takes a very different approach but can be very rewarding in the result.

bigjohninva wrote in post #17133351
Great catch and detail!

Peter2516 wrote in post #17133734
Pretty shots Al.

SJC from VT wrote in post #17133844
And yet another beautiful capture!

Pondrader wrote in post #17133863
Im in complete agreement with you Al, This is my preferred method but takes a very different approach but can be very rewarding in the result.

Thank you kindly everyone. I'm surprised, Jeff, how low a shutter speed I can use; the IS counts for a lot. A rest is of course desirable, but I'm becoming much more bold in slowing things down.
Al

Thx for the explanation Al! I've been using my Beamer a little more this late summer, but spend a lot of time trying to "dial it in".

G3G4G5 wrote in post #17135457
Thx for the explanation Al! I've been using my Beamer a little more this late summer, but spend a lot of time trying to "dial it in".

You're welcome, Chris. I think Beamers have their place, certainly, but I'm glad I've weaned myself off of using it so much.
Al

Great shots as always, Al. And your warbler id skills are apparently second to none. And, thanks for the radial filter thought.