The Final Stretch

Wow, where to begin with this latest update. As I’ve posted before, I was a little nervous about my goal to visually ID 100 birds in 2025. In my last update, I was sitting at 76 species and as of today I have increased that by 20 species and I now sit at 96! I have had a lot of great opportunities for some spectacular photographs these last few weeks as well, and I am eager to share them with you.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler | Fujifilm X-S20 | 750mm | f/5.6 | ISO 1250

I continue to visit a blind at my local preserve in hopes in capturing the perfect reflective, calm photo of a Grebe or Wood Duck. While I’ve been able to capture some decent pictures here, they never amounted to ones I was truly satisfied with, until now. A little over a week ago, I snuck in one early, sunny morning. The pond was not perfectly calm but more than good enough for capturing the aesthetic I was hoping for. As I snuck into the blind, I noticed a pair of geese swimming about. I was hopeful they would swim by me and within a few minutes of setting up, they were cruising along, a mere 10-15 feet away. I was able to capture this reflective moment - what you don’t see out of frame is a second goose, just behind the goose I was able to capture. The geese were so close that I could not fit both into the frame of my 500mm lens.

Goose On Goose | Fujifilm X-S20 | 750mm | f/5.6 | ISO 3200

The geese eventually swam off and did whatever geese do. Time passed, a few small birds showed themselves here or there, but never presenting a good photo opportunity. About 45 minutes later, a Pied-Billed Grebe suddenly appears. I’ve seen this Grebe here before, in fact, I believe a nest is nearby and I am hopeful for babies, soon. I captured a variety of photos in between the dives under water. After a few minutes, I was unable to locate the Grebe and assumed it swam off, only for it to appear directly in front of me.

I was able to capture this reflective moment - a moment that I’ve been trying to capture for most of Spring. I am simply over the moon with how both the Goose and Grebe photos turned out and I am excited for my photography skills to continue to level up.

The Dream | Fujifilm X-S20 | 750mm | f/5.6 | ISO 3200

I am confident that I will get to my 100 bird goal, this week. I’m only 4 away and migration is really picking up. In addition, I am attending a local birding event this Friday where I am sure that we’ll discover some new migrants during our two-hour trek throughout the preserve.

I am hopeful that I will continue to have the opportunity to get outside and capture moments like these.

As always, thanks for reading.

-Nathan