Great Backyard Bird Count with the Nikon Z9 + Bird Autofocus Tested

[@rj01690]

I just started looking and listening for birds (last week!) and I found your channel to learn more. I had a very similar experience yesterday where I was looking for a locally rare bird that popped up on Ebird emails alerts. After I spotted the target bird after 30 minutes of searching I thought my morning was done but I heard all the crows were going mad and was able to witness them dive bombing/harassing a red shouldered hawk! After the hawk flew off, I wandered around and then heard more screeching. I followed the sound to another tree where two hawks were hanging out together! It was such a wonderful experience and has easily got me hooked.Thanks for the videos, it's nice to learn from your experiences so I can be better prepared the next time I make a trip out!

[@alanyoungphoto]

I love to hear stories like yours! Birding can be really exciting like that! If you don’t mind me asking, what was the locally rare bird?

[@rj01690]

it was an ovenbird which isn't too common around here @@alanyoungphoto

[@ItsAMbutyoutubechangedmyname]

Happy to hear you are recovering after your health scare just be careful and listen to your body . I have found myself lately really enjoying to find local spots where it’s easy to miss the birds and other critters must admit my latest obsession is squirrels to try to get a shot of them doing something else then I normally see them doing

[@woodymallory9058]

Got mine done Sunday

[@alanyoungphoto]

Hope you had some interesting finds!

[@jeffwestrick8594]

Alan, what parks do you like in your area? I live in Yorktown and I spend time in the battle grounds and York State Park. I am lucky to have a eagle's nest about a mile and a half from our home. My wife feeds the birds in our back yard with about 20 feeders. She too has been doing the bird count.

[@alanyoungphoto]

We have a lot of nice parks around here that I enjoy. Powhatan State Park, the Wetlands, Pony Pasture, Tuckahoe Creek Park, Dutch Gap. All greats!

[@jeffwestrick8594]

So you enjoy the benefits of the James River. I also like the Virginia Capital Trail. Now that I am riding my bike more with a camera with me, I am looking forward to riding the Capital Trail and taking photos. I am not a professional photographer. I retired from my second career in 2018 and needed something to do to keep me active both physically and mentally. In 1975, I bought my first SLR, and used to take a lot of photos while active duty Navy. At this stage of life, I only take photos for my self and family. Thank you for the list of parks that you like.@@alanyoungphoto

[@woodymallory9058]

are you going to tell the local photographers(me) the 3 parks you went to?

[@alanyoungphoto]

Certainly! In this video, I was shooting at the Wetlands, Echo Lake, and Three Lakes Park.

[@woodymallory9058]

I photograph at Echo and Three Lakes...don't know Wetlands @@alanyoungphoto

[@AlexanderYoung-fw9de]

The birds that lay in the backyard