These pages present photodocumentation of birds (and other wildlife) I have encountered while out birding in various places. I post images here because I hope they show something interesting, illustrate fieldmarks or document an unusual occurrence. Images are not posted here on the basis of their artistic qualities. For more artisitc photography, please see the new Photography part of my website I am developing.

Birds are usually active and fast-moving photographic subjects that require short exposure times to freeze their rapid motion and create a sharp image.  A single photograph therefore only provides information on how a bird appeared for a fraction of a second.  The bird's posture, the lay of the feathers and the interaction between ambient light and plumage colors are all captured just as they were for that fraction of a second.  A single image can therefore communicate a misleading impression of how a bird really appeared in life.  Any birder who knows birds well and has tried to study them from photographs will appreciate this fact.  It is for this reason that field guides which use paintings are still preferred over those that use photographs, because a good artist can convey a more comprehensive sense of how a particular bird looks in a single illustration than a single photograph can.  On the other hand, photography is an objective method of collecting data on a bird's appearance and a series of photographs can document a bird's appearance in rich detail, in a format that can be scrutinized at a later time and which doesn't require turning the bird into a study skin in a museum drawer.  Because of the limitations associated with a single photograph, multiple images and series of photographs are used whenever possible throughout this site, to illustrate individual birds and convey a fuller sense of their appearance. Every image is also accompanied by full details of where and when the photograph was taken because these details provide information on the age and stage of molt of the bird, as well as any geographic variation that may occur within the species concerned.