Sony a9 Prep for Warblers - 06 Apr 2019


Robin and I took a drive to Magee Marsh in NW to test out the new Sony a9 Firmware 5.0 Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot focus mode for warblers. NOPE. Couldn't get it to work. The mode works great for birds in the open, and even when flying against busy backgrounds, but it failed miserably when I tried to focus on birds in thick brush (such as the boardwalk at Magee Marsh).  I may get a brief lock on the bird, but as soon as it moves the nearest branch gets the tracking. Or, the nearest tree.


It did not matter how lightly I touched the BBF. I suspect that the tracking sensor is looking for a vertical edge and heads for the nearest horizontal edge to lock on. This Golden-crowned Kinglet was a perfect test subject to test the Tracking mode and I could not get it to work no matter how much I tried. The solution was to switch focus mode to Expand Flexible Spot. Boom! No matter how fast the kinglets were moving I could take advantage of the blazingly-fast AF and lock on. At 20fps I could get a half-dozen frames before needing to re-focus, but I could focus on the bird.


We would hear Fox Sparrows, Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and the first Eastern Phoebe of the season, but the kinglets were the only subjects close enough to photograph. We did hear the familiar knocking of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but it was across the creek and high up in a tree to get anything other than a record image or two.


A Downy Woodpecker was a bit more cooperative.




Again, Expand Flexible Spot was able to focus through the branches to the bird and get me the images I desired. 


Out in the marsh things were a bit more open and I immediately switched back to Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot. The Blue-winged Teal and Northern Shovelers were nice subjects to photograph. One teal even gave me 30 straight frames in focus as I tracked it in flight down the canal.





Bald Eagles are on the nest next to the Boardwalk parking lot. This adult was preening just at the edge of the east entrance and gave me a chance to do a bit of digiscoping as well as Sony a9 shooting.



We drove over to Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge but found the Wildlife Drive closed. This Tree Swallow allowed some nice portraits as we drove by it perched on a bluebird box.



Magee Marsh--Boardwalk, Lucas, Ohio, US
Apr 6, 2019 8:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
10 species

Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  4
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  6
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  1
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160851535

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

We made a quick loop through Howard Marsh (didn't get out of the car) but did not see the Black-necked Stilt that was reported earlier in the day. I did see this cooperative Horned Lark and took a quick shot before we left for the Maumee Bay Brewery for lunch.


Howard Marsh Metropark, Lucas, Ohio, US
Apr 6, 2019 10:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
1 species

Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160851739

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