The simple, tranquil setting of this Common Loon emersed in perfect morning sunlight light provided especially sharp features and color patterns down to the detail of its eye. The character of the bird with its beak open and not a ripple on the water almost convey the fresh air and quiet surroundings – these were moments to treasure, as is this photo for me (310mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1250 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

It’s that time of the year to organize your photo files, and if you are like me, you will be anxious to pick out the very best to create your “Best of ’24” collection. This week I started by combining the best photos from each month’s photo file, with the resulting collection numbering 810 bird photographs! These were the photos I initially selected and cropped during the review process I do after each photo session. But for this publication, I can’t share all those photos, so I reviewed the 810 and selected “the best 40 photographs,” plus 10 favorite feeder fotos. Hmm, that was still too many photos for 1 or 2 articles, so I narrowed it down to 31, and then to 14 for this feature; but who knows, there may be a second “Best of 2024” selection of images next week.

I always strive toward action photography, and the mating displays between a pair of Marbled Godwits provided a series of images as the female led the male across a shallow mud flat. Again, the calm water provides a clear background, and I judged the need for a wide aperture as the birds moved in and out of the focal plane initially. The shutter speed seems on the low side for such action, but proved to be fast enough to stop the action perfectly (500mm zoom lens, f-14 aperture, 1/640 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

Actually, while I was going through the original collection of 810 photographs, I imagined that it would be possible to produce a 2024 Top 10 Selection for shorebirds, raptors, waterbirds, songbirds, hatchlings and new fledglings – plus feeder birds, which I am presenting in the Backyard Birding article in this issue. That said, what a wonderful time I had looking at each of the photos, each with its singular merits, then selecting the absolute best from among the 810 – Woowee!

Often somewhat wary, a pair of Red-necked Grebes actually approached my white mobile blind (my car), providing a nice portrait before they began their display mode complete with unison calling. Ultimately, lighting is so important to every good photograph, and with the morning sun at my back and the birds before me, the colors are prime with no shadows showing, and the shutter speed was adequately fast (600mm zoom lens, f-10 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

For this presentation of my best and favorite photos of the year, I will provide descriptions of each image along with photo tips and tech info to help share what makes each one a “photo of the year” in my files, while hoping you gain from the information shared. Perhaps most of all, I would hope that everyone who reviews these photographs gets a bit of inspiration – the more the better. Inspiration that will get you into the field a little more often, with a little more information to add to the experience you already use as you meet each bird eye to eye. Good Luck in all your photo efforts in 2025!

Even a simple photograph of an American Oystercatcher is eye-catching. These large shorebirds’ black and white plumage is set off by their bright red bill and pink legs, with the most unusual eyes that attract your attention immediately. Although I was surrounded by a dozen different species of sandpipers and plovers, the attendant pair of oystercatchers always dominated my attention at a Florida beach lagoon (600mm zoom, f-10 aperture, 1/2500 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

It’s nice when you can convey the essence of the season in a bird photograph, and what displays the peak of spring better than a male Yellow Warbler perched among wild plum blooms? Actually, the tiny warbler was foraging at a fast pace in and out of the shadows created by the early evening sunlight. The yellow male created a flowing movement through the blossoms that kept my lens on the move as I tried to focus and re-focus on the bird, even while using auto-focus. It was actually a very typical workout when photographing small songbirds during spring migration (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/3200 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

During a spring migration stopover, I had a chance to photograph a number of Bald Eagles as they concentrated in an area north of my office. While I managed to get a variety of photographs, I picked this one as my favorite of the year for this illustrious raptor species for its classic look in flight: An adult Bald Eagle, the symbol of America the beautiful, the wild, the wonderful (600mm zoom lens, f-10 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 400 ISO).

Finding a newly hatched brood of 8 downy Gray Partridges following an adult pair was especially exciting, but even in short-cut grass, the tiny partridges all but disappeared, showing as shadowy figures as they foraged. When the adult female led the active brood in my direction, I tried to get low, closer to their level, and watched for chances to photograph a hatchling as it broke into an opening in among grasses. Trying to photograph the tiny partridges was hit and miss, mostly miss, but in a case like this, all you can do is take as many photos as possible, trying to anticipate where a little downy bird might step into an opening for a moment. I appreciate how this photograph gives the impression that I was lying down in the grass with the downy partridges passing by (480mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1250 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

Perhaps the crowning touch on the year was the opportunity to photograph Whooping Cranes – primarily while they flew low between a wetland and feeding field. During the second cloudy day, a flock of 11 Whoopers took flight from a harvested corn field and flew directly toward the Missouri River floodplain – just as the sun broke through the dark cloud cover for the first time. The flock flew low directly toward me as I stood next to my white car, and after a couple initial photos I zeroed in on a family group – a pair with their rufous and white colored young one. The low sun highlighted the giant birds against the dark sky background that emphasized the birds all the more. It was all luck: The super-rare birds flying low, flying close, the setting, the sunlight, the aperture, shutter speed, the positioning of the cranes, the sharp focus – and it all came together! This luck continued time and time again, so often that it seemed as though the Whooping Cranes were actually choosing to fly in my direction, keying in on me standing by my white car – what are the chances? Or was I just pretty good at parking at a location that I hoped would be near the cranes’ flight path? Either way, the 38 elegant 5-foot tall cranes with 7-foot wingspans made this a fall to remember! (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1000 shutter speed, 800 ISO.)

I especially like the moody background on this photograph, along with the pleasing perch that emphasized the dramatic full-color alternate plumage of this Black-bellied Plover. Providing a memorable portrait during a migration stop, this was only the second time I have found a Black-bellied Plover in the Great Plains en transit to the Arctic tundra, so to get more than a documentary image was a big breakthrough (600mm zoom lens, f-7 aperture, 1/4000 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

Still huddling together as though they were in their nest, newly fledged Western Kingbirds react to the return of an adult with insect food. These fledglings were interesting to observe, and I managed a few different photographs of them. Of course, when photographing any birds, but especially young birds, we always want to emphasize that “the birds come first.” If the fledglings showed any signs of concern, or if the adults were wary of my presence, I would have backed away to a point where they no longer reacted, or I would have left if necessary. But it’s fairly easy to judge the reaction of the birds, and I like to begin an approach from a more distant position, then edge closer if the birds don’t react, or back off if they show concern. That’s a good rule of thumb when photographing any birds, but especially when young birds are involved (500mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/2500 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

As a number of pairs of Western Grebes were active and interacting, one adult of each pair would try to catch small fish while the newly hatched downy hatchlings waited on the back of the other adult. The action was fast, and this photo was taken as an unrelated adult swam too close to the grebe with 3 hatchlings. The attending adult swept its sharp beak toward the other adult like a sword, and the action seemed to catch the young grebes off-guard as they showed a level of surprise or alarm at the sudden defensive move, while trying to collectively retain their balance (600mm zoom lens, f-13 aperture, 1/1000 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

It was a thrill to find a newly fledged brood of 4 American Kestrels involved in what must have been one of their first hunts for insects on the ground. Anxious to grab anything that moved, they even seemed to practice by catching a small feather that tumbled in the light wind. The ‘dreamy’ background in this image of a perched male fledgling was created by using an f-6 aperture to blur the background. I also moved the camera a bit to the right and left to find to the best background as the kestrel remained perched (600mm zoom lens, f-6 aperture, 1/3200 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

It was a banner spring for flocks of Hudsonian Godwits to stopover at a couple area marshes during their migration from wintering areas in Argentina or Chile to their nesting range in the Arctic tundra of Canada or Alaska. I particularly appreciated having the chance to photograph more than a single male Hudsonian Godwit in this close image, so I tried to get all the birds in focus by using a wider f-14 aperture, but the shutter speed is dangerously slow to get such sharp details of these rarely encountered shorebirds (600mm zoom lens, f-14 aperture, 1/250 shutter speed, 400 ISO).

A big surprise while photographing loons in central Minnesota was a Common Merganser that suddenly appeared near the boat, but that was only the beginning as downy ducklings began “popping” into view, surfacing in quick order: pop, pop, pop, until the full mega-brood of 21 ducklings was swimming beside the female. The ducklings were obviously the result of 2 or 3 female mergansers laying eggs in the same nest, leaving this female to incubate the combined clutch of eggs. The mergansers were so close I was glad to have a zoom lens that allowed me to zoom out to fit the female and her extra-large brood into the frame, while I also dialed the aperture to f-13 to get all of colorful ducklings into focus (210mm zoom lens, f-13 aperture, 1/800 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

Article and Photographs by Paul Konrad

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