Photographing a Stonechat on a River in Autumn

October 6, 2020 / Saitama Prefecture

Photographer / Takanori Sugawara

The extremely hot summer is over, and autumn has come to the Kanto region. I make bird watching and photography my life's work. For birds, autumn is migration time. Birds that have been raising their young in the cool northern countries and highlands during the summer pass through the plains all over Japan on their way back to the warm south. It's a fun and profitable time to see birds in your neighborhood, which you would have had to travel far to see in the summer.

The Stonechat I was looking for this time is a member of the flycatcher family, which, as its name suggests, loves the fields. It's a bird I've seen every autumn since I was a child on the riverbank near my house. This year, the first autumn since I moved here, I researched noteworthy places in the neighborhood during the summer. Now that autumn has finally arrived, I'm excited to visit the spots.

When you arrive at the field, take your time and check the situation. Stonechat has the habit of perching on the tops of plants, so it is easy to see from a distance. Set up a tripod with a Markins BV-HEAD attached where you parked your car and use a field scope to search for it from a short distance away. The scope comes with a PL-55 lens plate already attached, so it can be set up instantly. The two-axis Markins BV-HEAD works well with field scopes.

By observing from a distance, you can get a wide view and see the birds' natural behavior. During the day on a sunny day, the sunlight is strong, which makes it easy for heat haze to appear and for shadows to fall on the birds' bodies, so in my case, I spend the daytime observing their behavior, and then in the evening when the light is good, I often wait in ambush at a place I have determined based on my observations and take the actual photos.

Soon, I spotted them flying through the grass. Once you find one, you will often notice others nearby, which is a pattern with Stonechat. First of all, I was happy to see them again this year, and took a commemorative photo from a distance.

This time, I took out the KOWA PROMINAR 500mm F5.6 FL for the first time in a while because I was shooting small birds. Although it is the heaviest lens I currently have at home, the entire system weighs less than 3kg. Lightweight equipment has become a recent trend. When combined with an Olympus camera, the angle of view is equivalent to 1000mm, so shaking is a big problem. I also tried using a teleconverter to shoot at 1400mm or 2000mm equivalents, but the Markins BV-HEAD was able to support it with ease. I was able to shoot without any problems. The lens has a long plate PL-15N, so it is easy to switch from observing with the field scope to shooting. When the front-to-back weight balance changes, such as when attaching or detaching a teleconverter, it is easy to adjust the center of gravity with a long plate.

There are benefits to using a tripod when photographing wild birds. One is to ensure the stability of the equipment. The second is to finalize the composition. The third is to minimize movement when shooting. Wild birds will fly away if you chase them, but if you lie in wait, they may come surprisingly close. In order to determine the location, it is important to observe them beforehand, but even if they do come close, they will fly away if you move in a hurry. By using a tripod and deciding the composition to some extent in advance, you can minimize your movements when the bird comes, which I think has the advantage of making it less likely for the bird to escape.

Unfortunately, the day of the interview was cloudy. My hope of a pleasant autumn day was not fulfilled. However, it was a pleasant time to face the stonechat while feeling the slightly cool autumn air. I was able to see four stonechat that day. The migration season is still ongoing, so I would like to find time to go out to the field again. Hopefully, I will be able to look forward to clear autumn skies when I do so.

Takanori Sugawara

Born in Tokyo in 1990. Interested in living things from an early age, he started bird watching at the age of 11. After studying oceanography at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology and studying abroad in Norway, and the ecology of seabirds at Nagoya University Graduate School, he became a photographer. His latest publication is "Illustrated Introduction to Bird Photography" (Genkosha). His other publications include "An illustrated guide to bird photography based on bird calls," "Capturing the decisive moment of living things," and "SNAP!BIRDS!". Member of the Japanese Society of Natural Science Photography
Olympus College lecturer
Foxfire field staff