Mayflies and a Stupid Camera! - 25 Jun 2016

Robin and I headed down to Lake Erie Metropark for our daily run/walk. I decided to take the camera in case a hatch of mayflies occurred (it did!). I didn't expect the camera to get switched from A-Priority to Manual. Instead of shooting 1/1000 sec using Auto-ISO under Aperture-Priority (f/8) I ended up shooting at 1/160 sec at Auto-ISO.

So, you can imaging my upset when a Least Bittern flushed in front of me and fly across the creek several times, in full sunlight, only to be photographed as a blur. Grrr.

I did managed to salvage a few pics, though.

Curiously enough, the mayfly hatch was concentrated to a single light pole in the middle of the parking lot at the LEMP boat launch at the foot of Lee Rd. in s. Wayne Co. No other light pole had even a single mayfly on them; just the one.

A pile of mayflies hatching and molting on the ground looked like a reenactment of last Sunday's "Battle of the Bastards" episode of The Game of Thrones.

Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jun 25, 2016 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Marina and bike trail
5 species

Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  16
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  6
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S161446112

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)