Yellow Warbler Reflection Vertical, Dendroica Petechia (Paruline jaune) Point Pelee National Park, Essex County, Leamington, Ontario, Canada. Image Copyright©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com All Rights Reserved. Canon EOS 1DMKIII, 500mm F4 Lens with 2X II and 1.4II Tele-converters. Tripod and Wimberley Head II. ISO 400, F8, 1/80s Aperture priority (evaluative +2/3), Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II -2+2/3. CLICK HERE TO BUY A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION.
It often takes only one bird to have a great photography day. I had a blast with this Yellow Warbler bathing in a puddle on the road that joins the two parking lots of the Sanctuary trail at the North end of Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario. I had ventured off along the seasonal trail on my own to try to find warblers for the group, when I realized that Tuma (pronounced Duma), Nick and Gill had discovered a Nashville Warbler bathing in this puddle. I missed the Nashville, but am thrilled with this Yellow. After working the bird with the 500mm and 2X tele-converter for a few frames, I added the 1.4X and the resulting images from the stacked converters were the money shots for me. Good technique is the key to getting sharp images when stacking converters. I lock both knobs on my Wimberley Head and plant my face into the viewfinder, all the while using my left hand to compress the lens, both converters and the camera body into my face. I find this technique eliminates any play between the camera body, converters and lens; resulting in a much higher percentage of sharp, usable images. A solid tripod and head are also vital to success. While auto focus will work very slowly with pro camera bodies from Canon, it is much faster to focus manually.
Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist first described the Yellow Warbler (Dendroica Petechia) in 1766. Often parasitized by the Brown-Headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler nests can sometimes have up to six tiers; the result of them re-building their nest on top of the parasitized one. DNA based studies indicate that the Chestnut-Sided Warbler is their closest relative. Both sing similarly phrased songs. A group of Yellow Warblers are collectively known as a “stream”, “sweetness”, and “trepidation” of warblers.