Birding the Bluff

This week I managed to take a morning and go out to bird 'The Bluff' in Huron County with Ken.  This is a great spot to watch the morning flight of migrants when the winds are right and the birds are moving right along the Lake Huron shoreline.  I enjoyed trying to capture some photos of birds in flight and was happy with a few of the shots.  

Highlights of the morning included Yellow-headed Blackbird, Fox Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, Rusty Blackbird and lots of firsts for the year.

Flickers stole the show, with nearly 300 of them passing us by!  The full checklist is saved here:

https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S85128293

Below are a few of the photos I snapped.  All of the pix are heavily cropped.  I found that for birds in flight my best settings were at least 1/2000th of a second, F8 (sharper than wide open), Auto ISO capped to a max of 3200, Continual autofocus, shooting in bursts of 3-5 photos and all photos in raw!  What settings do you find work best for you for BIF?  I am learning, so always looking for tips!

Northern Flickers

Belted Kingfisher

Robin and Red-winged Blackbird buddies

Killdeer

Tufted Titmouse!  

Bonaparte's Gull

Mourning Dove

Bald Eagle (too far for great shots)

Common Grackle

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-winged Blackbird

Rusty Blackbird

Turkey Vulture

Snow Bunting