Photo challenge, Photography

A Birder in the Making

by Ingrid

Hobbies are wonderful considering they can provide entertainment, knowledge, social engagement, physical activity, or merely serve as a diversion. We may intentionally set out to engage in a given hobby or perhaps we’re accidentally introduced to a hobby. Such is the case with me and bird photography.

An accidental birder?

I never set out to be a birder, and quite frankly, I don’t consider myself a birder. I’m merely a gal with a camera who became fascinated with photographing shorebirds during her Texas Gulf Coast travels.

A birdwatcher, also known as a birder, observes or identifies birds in their natural habitat.

The more time I spent exploring the Gulf Coast, the more shorebirds I encountered. The more birds I encountered, the more photographs I took. The more photographs I took, the more I wanted to learn about these birds.

I stop for pink.

The first time I glimpsed the stunning pink hue of the Roseate Spoonbill had me yelling at Al to stop the truck. We were driving along Fulton Beach Road along the Gulf Coast in Texas when a shimmer of pink in shallow pond water caught my attention.

I had never seen such a beautiful, yet weird, bird in my entire life or such a beautiful shade of pink. That was just the beginning of my journey into photographing birds …. the beginning of my interest in birds as a photographic subject.

The makings of a Craniac

And then there were the cranes I stumbled upon; particularly the endangered whooping crane. I think we can all agree that they are magnificent birds. I became obsessed with cranes, so much so, that we made a special trip to the International Crane Foundation located in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

I was officially a Craniac and couldn’t get enough of these rare beauties!

I never imagined I’d develop such a passion for photographing birds, but I find that they make such an interesting subject to photograph that it’s almost impossible for me to pass up the opportunity to make at least a few images …. or more like a few hundred images when I encounter these entertaining beings.

Is it possible that I am indeed a “birder”? Nah, I’m still just a gal with a camera who merely enjoys photographing beautiful subjects.

Stay tuned for more bird images in future posts. My friend, Terri, has declared February as “Feed the Birds” month for her Sunday Stills Photo Challenge, and boy, do I have some bird images.

79 thoughts on “A Birder in the Making”

  1. Stunning bird portraits!!
    Every word about birds and becoming a birder resonates with me. The more I see, the more I learn and being with and capturing the beauties in nature gives me immense pleasure. Lovely, lovely post, Ingrid.

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    1. Thank you so much. I love getting out into nature and discovering new things including birds. Along the Texas Gulf Coast, there are an abundance of birds to see and photograph. In Arizona, it is a bit more of a challenge and a different variety that we see. I love the diversity. 😊

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  2. Birder or not, we all find ourselves fascinated with them in their native environments. Fabulous capture of the pelican. Wow. those spoonbills ARE quite interesting. I don’t believe I have ever seen one, and I laughed when you said…Al Stop the truck. When we traveled the US I often wish I had a penny for every time I said that. lol It is a beautiful country we live in.

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    1. I don’t think I had ever photographed a bird until we spent time along the Texas Gulf Coast. I was intrigued with all the shore birds. I’m very grateful for the years we traveled around in the RV and the sights we saw. Hope to meet you at Jodie’s 🤞

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        1. I’m obsessed with photographing shorebirds. Unfortunately, we no longer visit Texas like we used to so I’m trying my best to find birds in Arizona to photograph; a very different environment.

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  4. Ingrid. If you are still in TX, (if not next time) you MUST visit Richard Chambers Wildlife Mgmt Area. I’m attaching a link to another blog that will explain it. When I lived in Dallas I would visit this place at least once a month…I too had become addicted to shooting birds. It has a rookery of egrets and anahinga’s that is breathtaking!!! There are so many species there, you could spend days and want to stay more 🙂 https://dfwurbanwildlife.com/2020/09/06/chris-jacksons-dfw-urban-wildlife/a-richland-creek-re-route/

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    1. Oh, that sounds amazing. Our last visit to TX was back in 2018, and boy, do I miss our visits. Thank you for the link. I’ll definitely keep it in mind for any future trip to TX. Unfortunately, that won’t be anytime soon, but I do have a target 🤞

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  6. Excellent blog post Ingrid. I can tell that you are a bird lover or a birdier in the making as the title states. I agree that hobbies are good for social engagement, fun and entertainment.

    Keep up the good writing and photography🔥👌📸📸📸

    Bird life rocks, seeing all these God created animals is great🐥🐤🦃🐔

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  9. Of course you are a birder at heart, you just don’t know it 🙂 You see, they appreciate how well you photograph and publicize them. Okay, Okay, a die hard bird enthusiasts for sure!

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    1. Haha! You are definitely a birder and I’ve learned a lot from you. It was fun going through the hard drives and seeing pics of our birding adventures together over the years.😁🐦🦆

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  10. Laughing. I certainly get it. I have lots of subjects that attract my camera, but birds are certainly one. Like you, I can’t resist. On Saturday, our kids took us to the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, where there are lots and lots of beautiful plants and flowers, many of which I photographed. But the Flamingos stole the show. I may feature them on a post Wednesday. But I am not a birder. Grin.

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    1. I love Flamingos. So, do pls share. The coast offers so many beautiful birds. I have no doubt, that if I lived anywhere near the coast, I’d probably turn into a ‘birder’. 😁 But the flora and fauna are pretty spectacular as well.

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  11. These are great bird shots, with the reflections really enhancing them! Like you I’ve developed an interest in birds purely through my enjoyment of photographing them. I completely identified with what you said, ‘ The more photographs I took, the more I wanted to learn about these birds.’ 😀

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  12. You, my friend, have amazing shots of birds! I have never seen a roseate spoonbill. You introduced them to me years ago though your posts. What a unique bird.
    We enjoy watching our backyard birds at both houses, along with the birds in the wild. It’s Always fun to figure out what the new birds are.
    Happy new week to you!

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    1. I too enjoy our backyard critters. I don’t put out bird feeders (for obvious reasons 🐀) but I do have a few hummingbird feeders. There’s a gila woodpecker that likes to swing on one of the feeders which is always entertaining. And of course, we love our quail.
      Be sure and reach out when you’re back in town. We need a coffee catch-up.

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  13. Beautiful photos, Ingrid! Those shorebirds are addicting, I know. Birding, bird photography, birds, nature, everything ties in together, eh? I crossed over, ha, I admit, I am a birder! hehehe I count birds almost every day some where and submit checklists. I cannot help myself, I enjoy it too much. 😍

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    1. You take some amazing bird photos and lucky you to be living in an area where birds of all kinds are in abundance. I can see how over time that it would be easy to fall into the ‘birder’ realm. Enjoy! And nice hearing from you.

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  14. Beautiful photos, Ingrid. I, like you, consider myself someone who enjoys taking photos of birds, but not a birder. I haven’t been to the Riparian Preserve for months and months, so my photography of birds has lapsed. But I look forward to getting back to it, even with my non-enormous lenses. 🙂

    Hope you’re feeling better.

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    1. Thank you Janet. I am finally feeling better but still have to deal with the funky eyes. I have an upcoming appt. to come up with a plan.
      One day, I’d like to get over to the Riparian Preserve but I’d like to be sure I time my visit right. Perhaps you know which months are best to visit.

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      1. I don’t offhand. But I’m happy to meet you there when you come. 🙂 I haven’t been for so long that I don’t even know what’s there right now. Maybe that will be incentive enough for me to get there and give you an update. 🙂

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        1. I vote that you go there and assess the conditions 🤣🤣🤣 I would imagine that by April, many birds will have flown north but that there’s always a steady population of regulars that never leave.

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  15. I have taken a lot of bird photos too – so many, in fact, that people think I’m a birder. But I know some real birders and they go places to find birds. I simply photograph the birds that come to me which is normally in my yard!

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    1. Totally agree! I have friends that keep a list of birds and know the names. That’s not me and that’s fine by me. Half the time, I’m not even sure of what kind of bird I’m photographing. Occasionally, I will do miner research.

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    1. I watched that pelican for at least 20 minutes as it tried to swallow that fish. It was quite fascinating. Eventually, a big white pelican swam up, stole the fish, and quickly swallowed it.

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      1. That would be us, too – watching in fascination. We’ve driven an hour and a half downriver just to sit on the shoreline in our winter coats and watch migrating eagles drift by on the ice floes and fish from them. And we easily spent a half hour on the coast of Georgia last year watching pelicans dive bomb the ocean to grab some lunch. Alan says I have hundreds of photos of ducklings taken at our favorite camping lake over the years. He’s probably right. We can’t identify most of the birds we see in our travels, but we sure do enjoy watching them. Gorgeous photos, as usual, Ingrid!

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        1. Thank you Mary. I’m like you and can’t identify most birds but have gotten better over time especially photographing the same bird over and over then I tend to look it up.

          The last time I baked those cinnamon rolls was during your visit. I learned Al and I can’t control ourselves. Thus, better to leave the sugar in the pantry. 😁 However, that may change this week as I have a friend who is requesting. 😋

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  17. Hi Ingrid, great post and images! Bird photography is a great hobby and can be quite addictive. I have been birding seriously since 2019. This is when I first visited the Chiricahua Mountains, particularly in the Cave Creek Canyon area. That area is know worldwide for the excellent birding. During spring migration it is amazing. From then on I was hooked. My husband is a lifelong birder, starting in his teens. We have made several birding trips since we have been married and I love it! We are actually heading to Phoenix today from Tucson to fly to Costa Rica for a 2 week birding tour.

    Look forward to seeing more photos and hope you have great birding adventures!

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    1. Wow! I’m sure you’ll be snapping away during your trip. A gal in our local camera club shared images from a recent birding excursion to Costa Rica. She captured some amazing images. Enjoy and I look forward to seeing your photos when you have time to post.

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  18. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be an ornithologist. Then I learned that there is really no money in that field and changed direction. It all worked out, as I can enjoy the birds as we travel the country during our retirement!

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    1. Al’s buddy, who was our veterinarian, also wanted to go into ornithology, but like you, realized no money. He was a wealth of knowledge during our visits to Texas as we were all interested in birding…. the guys just used something other than a camera 😉😉😉

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    1. Thanks for the link. Yes, it can be addictive and fun. Do you have a blog where you share images? I just tried the link with your gravatar and it doesn’t link to an active site.😔

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        1. Congrats on getting the blog up and going. I just subscribed. Hopefully you’ll occasionally share tidbits of your RV travels in addition to your photography.

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  20. Hi, Ingrid,
    Roseate Spoonbills are quite common in South Carolina, and I have photographed several, but none as splendid as yours–the mirror reflection is pretty special. A Belted Kingfisher hangs around our trailer in Florida, but I never have the camera when he stops by. Gotta fix that. Thanks for sharing! Joe

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  21. What beautiful photos! I can’t believe you got that close to whooping cranes – we saw them from a huge distance at Aransas. On the other hand, our sandhill cranes come running to see me when I get home after going to the store. Love having them around every day. We installed a new nest box a couple of weeks ago and put a cam in it. Already had a screech owl visit at 2 am! I think the owl will be fighting it out with the woodpecker and the squirrel. I am in awe of the pelican with the fish – wow!

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    1. The first year we visited Lamar was the best year viewing the whooping cranes. We were camped just down the road from the Big Oak tree and the 8th Street field, so I was able to ride my bike around several times a day. It was a matter of right place, right time, and lots of luck. A good zoom lens also helped.

      I would love having sandhill cranes running around. Although I enjoy the dozens of quail passing through my yard. I had to set my hummingbird feeder on a table because the gila woodpecker kept swinging on it when it was hanging to get to the sugary water.😊🌵

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  22. Ingrid, Your bird photography is fantastic. Like you, I don’t consider myself a birder but I enjoy photographing them. Thanks to you I was able to find some Whooping Cranes to photograph in Texas!

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    1. Thank you Beth. I remember your trip to Lamar. We were lucky to have visited prior to hurricane Harvey. I heard that changed a lot of the birding sites. I’d still love to return to the area some day. 🤞

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    1. Thank you John. I don’t think our weather has been quite as inclement as yours. That CA atmospheric river is missing us or we’re getting the outer edge. I think it’s hitting Vegas straight on if I saw that correctly on the news. Hopefully there will be a great showing of wildflowers. Perhaps you should swing over to Death Valley in a couple of weeks. 🌺🏵️🌻

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      1. The radar indicates that it’s moving northeast the last time I looked, I can’t wait for summer! I miss the hot dry weather. Lucky you guys missing this crappy weather! I haven’t been to Death Valley in a long time, I want to capture the big desert bloom when it comes but I don’t recall when it happens! Oops. 😂

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    1. Thank you Suzanne. One day, I’d really like to return to FL for a visit exclusively for bird photography. For now, I’ll rely on my external hard drives for shorebirds and learn to focus on birds found here in the desert southwest…. and remember to carry my camera 🤪

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  28. You may not identify as a birder, Ingrid, but birds look spectacular from the perspective of your lens! Wow, these shorebirds are extraordinary! The colors (love pink!) and the clarity of these birds in action are marvelous! I’m sorry we couldn’t meet up and walk with our cameras when I was there…I’ll never forget our Cave Creek walk. Have a great week, my friend, and save some pink birds for next week’s (pink and red) color challenge 🙂

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    1. I’m sure I won’t have any trouble posting more roseate spoonbill images. A couple of years ago there was once here in the Phoenix area according to birding sites. She must have gotten lost. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to figure out where that water was where she was sighted.

      I enjoyed sharing some of my favorite areas of the valley with you during that visit. Fun times!

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      2. A couple years ago there was a Roseate Spoonbill at the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch. That is an eBird hotspot. It is a good birding location as there are several ponds. There has been a Streaked-backed Oriole there recently which is rare for this area and would be nice to photograph. Enjoy 😀

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        2. thank you, Deb! We visited the Water Ranch last April–it was amazing and I got a LOT of pics and many of a bald eagle perched. It had a tracker on its back. We’re back in Washington now, so I’ll be sure to visit next time. My step-daughter lives quite close to the ranch!

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