I sat near this green heron for the better part of an hour and watched it hunt bugs and poke around the ponds at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. It thankfully tolerated my camera and me, even walking toward me on several occasions. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of two solitary sandpipers hanging around at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1250, f6.3, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An Eastern Phoebe trying out an autumnal look at the Blue Mash Nature Trail in #Maryland 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A black-and-white warbler showing off an earwig it discovered 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 5600, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

If we named all birds by their calls, most would go by "Chip." Fortunately we have the Eastern wood pewee to break that monotony. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1600, f6.3, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A red-necked phalarope darting around the Capitol Reflecting Pool in downtown Washington, DC. These tiny birds breed in the arctic and winter off the western coast of South America. This one was a little off-course mid-migration, but a welcome surprise. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm 🪶

A gray catbird doing some golden-hour preening 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f8, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Happy first #wrensday of autumn to all who celebrate 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A well mannered red-eyed vireo covering its beak while it coughs 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f6.3, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A head-turning squeaky little guy: the brown-headed nuthatch 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 560, f8, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A snowy egret fishing in a mirror-like, placid lagoon on Kent Island just after sunrise 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A Carolina chickadee enjoying an autumnal snack 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A backlit, but still bold, green heron 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An immature Cooper's Hawk hanging out on a neighbor's fence 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f7.1, 1/320s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A magnolia warbler peeking through a gap in the canopy. You can easily and quickly pick out magnolia warblers in their fall plumage thanks to their eye ring and streaky bellies. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f7.1, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A black and white warbler watching bird watching 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1250, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

The white-eyed vireos will soon be gone for the winter, but this one was kind enough to pose and give me a few looks with its namesake. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f7.1, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Female indigo buntings may not be as brightly colored as their male counterparts, but they are every bit as beautiful. This individual was patiently awaiting her turn at a sunflower at the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f7/1. 1/640s) 🪶

A green heron taking a plunge for a tiny fish 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f8, 1/4000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An elegantly understated ring-billed gull on a dock post 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 220, f8, 1/1600s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of the American white pelicans hanging out around West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge. The island is Ohio's only Wilderness Area and crucial habitat for numerous heron, egrets, cormorants, and other species 📷 #Nikon Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 560, f8, 1/5000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Osprey holiday card photo: ✅ 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f7.1, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An aura-farming green heron 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1250, f6, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A singular black tern put on quite the airshow at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Usually just passing through between its summer and wintering grounds, this bird has been turning heads at the refuge since it first appeared. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f9, 1/4000s) 🪶

An semipalmated plover catching air on some rocks near the Kent Narrows 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1000, f8, 1/4000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Just when I was starting to accept that August was, in fact, Meh-bruary, I noticed a brilliantly orange eye gazing at me from the shadows of a tree. This yellow-crowned night heron posed for what will undoubtedly be their new LinkedIn profile pic 📷 Nikon Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 720, f8, 1/50s) 🪶

A song sparrow taking a brief break from foraging to serenade the forest 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2200, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A recently molted indigo bunting hanging around the sunflower fields at the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm + 1.4x TC (ISO 2200, f9, 1/3200s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Photo lifer #250: The horned lark. This species, named for feather tufts that look like horns, calls one of America's most at-risk and declining ecosystems, grasslands, its home. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 400, f9, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A group of young northern mockingbirds were chasing each other and hunting wasps as the insects emerged from their underground colonies. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 900, f9, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography