2023 in Review

All in all, 2023 was a fantastic year for my journey as a bird photographer. Throughout the year, I added 57 new bird species to my Life List, ending up with 164 total. A few of the highlights for me included the Common Loon, Short-Eared Owl, and American Flamingo. In addition to those, I was able to spot several rarities such as the Purple Finch, Little Blue Heron, and Pacific Loon. While I was not able to capture great photos of all of these birds, I did still have a pretty good year in terms of nature photography. In the slideshow above, I have compiled some of my favorite shots from 2023.

Aside from the birds, I found many exciting creatures and inspiring landscapes during my 2023 adventures. A lot of time was spent exploring my local Metro Parks– discovering new trails as well as returning to familiar ones. I have learned much more about birds, nature, and my local area and I truly hope to use this knowledge to have an even better year in 2024.

Yearly Recap

Winter

The year began with a trip up to Hoover Reservoir to find a reported rarity- the Pacific Loon. As its name implies, these birds typically live along the west coast and not here in Ohio. With the help of some other birders, I was able to find the Loon (while also adding Common Loons to my Life List), but it was at too great a distance for any decent photographs. Not long later, I learned of a location for Short-Eared Owls and convinced my family to stop by during a nearby day trip. We did not stay for long, but got amazing views of the owls and luckily I was able to get a few good shots! These birds are not rare like a Pacific Loon, but they are an uncommon find and only visit Ohio during the winter season.

Beyond that, much of my birding in early 2023 was done through various nature walks around my local Metro Parks. Some of these are discussed in my other blog posts, but I did really enjoy exploring nature and seeing wildlife in the frosty, cold early months of the year.

Spring

As the months passed, my nature walks started to become less icy and more green. Spring arrived, and with it came migration. Many, many species of birds travel north from the southern states and South America during the springtime to reach their summer breeding grounds up north. For birders and photographers, this means an abundance of colorful new birds to find. While I did not go hunting for warblers as seriously as some others, I did see a lot of new birds and photographed many of them. In 2024, one of my goals is to try a bit harder and visit the migration hotspot of Magee Marsh!

Summer

Summertime is not my favorite for being outdoors, as it is simply too hot and there are too many bugs. However, I did still manage to get out there and find some wildlife. One of the birding highlights of my summer was seeing the baby Trumpeter Swans at Darby Creek Metro Park! The season also provided me an opportunity to do a bit of kayaking and canoeing, during which I practiced a bit of film photography on the Big Darby Creek River.

A big surprise for me and many other birders was the arrival of some very lost American Flamingoes. Many tropical birds were blown off-course due to Hurricane Idalia last year, and this resulted in quite a few wild flamingoes showing up in multiple states much further north than their typical range. While I don’t often go out of my way to chase rarities, I (like hundreds of others) jumped at the chance to drive to Caesar Creek State Park and see the two flamingoes reported there. I was one of the lucky ones who were able to see them, although they did fly off roughly five minutes after I arrived. As such, I only have two photos of them, but I’m just glad that I was able to see and photograph them at all.

Autumn

During Autumn, on the other hand, I spent much of my time outside. Not all of that was spent doing photography or birding, but I did have some amazing nature walks in the fall. October was a fantastic month for finding shorebirds (my favorite). The fall foliage was beautiful and vibrant last year, as well, which granted me some of my favorite images.

One of my favorite outings from the entire year was an early Autumn walk down to the river. It was quiet, early, and foggy. Upon arriving, I noticed a large tree further down the river that was bent over the water. While much of the surrounding leaves were still green at this time, the leaves on that bent tree were all yellow. I loved the scene, and now it’s one of my favorite (and most complimented) photographs. Once I was satisfied with my landscape photos, I sat down to watch the river, which is when I noticed a Green Heron stealthily hunting in the river just in front of me. Of course, I then photographed the bird as well and spent some time just sitting, silently observing and enjoying the serenity.

As Autumn came to an end, we entered the holiday season and I really was not getting out in nature as much. Life has been busy, and the few times I have gone out in recent months, I haven’t had much luck with weather or finding wildlife. On one such day, I was at least able to capture my Fog in the Wetlands image, at least. Aside from that, the end of the year involved setting up some new bird feeders and practicing some backyard bird photography.

Into the New Year

Now, we are a week into 2024 and I am looking forward to another good year of birding, exploration, and nature photography. As for blogging, I’m not sure what I can promise, but maybe I will do better than last year haha! To keep up with my recent photography work, everyone is welcome to follow my Facebook Page, as well. Thank you to everyone for the support this past year, and I hope you all have a Happy New Year!