Wildlife Photography, Expect the Unexpected

Monday morning I once again headed out before dawn in search of images. The stars were shining brightly so there was no hope for a stunning sunrise. I decided to drive the top of nearby Sidling Hill Mountain is search of wildlife. My first two encounters ended in failure, first with a ruffed grouse and then with a red-tailed hawk. In each situation, try as I might, capturing a good image was not to be.

Some time after the sunrise I began noticing many birds flying low across the road and landing nearby. They were Robins! No, spring has not come to Pennsylvania, but this was an absolutely huge flock feeding busily in the woodland! After pulling off the road I eased into a concentration of them with my Canon 30D and 100-400 lens.

This was an amazing experience! The robins were moving across the forest floor by the hundreds. Robins were everywhere; hopping, flying, scratching, landing, calling and all were eating. It was like one huge noisy machine comprised of thousands upon thousands of small independent parts moving through the woods harvesting all edible morsels in its path.

I later learned as I drove out of the area that this flock was spread out along four miles of the mountaintop.