Mike Saccone
@mikesaccone
Conservation advocate and amateur bird photographer. Ohioan by birth, Coloradan by choice, living near the nation’s capital. No reuse or reference of photos without permission. DM me for prints. 📷
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
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
What better way to experience the golden hour than rolling around in the grass at Antietam National Battlefield photographing grasshopper sparrows? (Luckily the ticks were sleeping in.) 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f9, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
An uncommonly handsome common yellowthroat hanging out in the reeds near the trailhead at Hughes Hollow at the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm + 1.4x TC (ISO 2000, f9, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography #warblers
A brown thrasher doing its best to avoid the crowds at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
An osprey taking a brief break from fishing in the Anacostia River 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f9, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f9, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A hungry, hungry cedar waxwing hunting for berries 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 4500, f6.3, 1/250s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
An American goldfinch posing on a stem and showing off some uncharacteristic white patches on its back, head, and sides. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2200, f8, 1/640s) #birds #birdphotography
If the caller ID shows red-tailed hawk, you know your bald eagle is a movie star. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 220, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
When I moved East, one of the first things I noticed was how green it truly gets in summer. Green herons might not be as verdant as their name indicates, but they too are an abundant and welcome sign of summer. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f6.3, 1/160s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
Gray catbirds are one of the more unique and ubiquitous sounds of the summer in the Mid-Atlantic. This individual took a break from its meowing to pose for me. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A red-winged blackbird takes to flight 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1600, f8, 1/5000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A Carolina chickadee so voracious it tore into this trumpet vine 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A barn swallow in flight 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 800, f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A yellow-billed cuckoo hanging out trailside near Goose Pond at the Patuxent Research Refuge 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2500, f8, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
One of the few warblers that stick around eastern Maryland for the summer, pine warblers are a buzzy presence throughout the warmer months. This individual was foraging near Goose Pond at the Patuxent Research Refuge 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1000, f8, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
Happy #wrensday to all who celebrate 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 800, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
One of several snowy egrets hopping around and hunting in the lagoon at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 900, f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A worm-eating warbler near its summer home at the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia along the Tuscarora Trail. There was almost no light in the understory, but I managed this one photo. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f6.3, 1/50s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A red-winged blackbird with a great reminder 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2200, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A group of black-bellied whistling ducks — including this feisty pair — has inexplicably shown up in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 800, f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography
A gray catbird with a freshly caught dragonfly 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography