This summer in Michigan, most of my photographic efforts were put into helping Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore by taking pictures of activities around the park. If I'm lucky, some of my photos could go up on the park website. I also had the chance to do some birding, of course. Some birder friends were visiting, so we took them to my favorite spot, Esch Road. I didn't bring my camera that day, so naturally we saw some nice birds, including yellow warblers, a black and white warbler, and some swainson's thrushes. I went back a few days later with my camera, and was able to get some nice pictures.
I feel like I rarely see catbirds in St. Louis, but they're pretty common in Michigan.
I've never been able to get a good picture of a male redstart, but I now have two good, if similar pictures of the female. Or maybe it's a juvenile. They were nesting around our house again, although I only saw the mom and the young. Grosbeaks were also present in their usual numbers.
This killdeer was very friendly and walked toward me until my lens couldn't focus after I'd lain down to take its picture. I like these kinds of pictures because both the foreground and background are out of focus, which really emphasizes the bird.
All in all, I didn't get in as much birding or bird photography as I have in past summers, but it was still awesome just being on vacation up in Michigan.
