Bird Photography at the San Pedro River
New Sigma 150-600 mm lens in the field
The first time I lived here in Arizona I used to take a lot of wildlife pictures. Then my big 500 mm lens broke while I was in Texas. So for the past 2 1/2 years since I moved back, I haven’t been out with my camera nearly as much.
Until today …
Kelly got me a new lens for my birthday. This lens (Sigma 150-600 mm) had been in my online shopping cart, then deleted because I didn’t really “need” it as least a half dozen times over the past couple years. Well last week Kelly took the decision out of my hands. Of course I objected at first, but now after taking it out to the river, I definitely appreciate her.
An Accidental Birder
I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures. Then back in 2014 when I started going out with my camera into the mountains and down by the river here in Arizona, I started running into birders. Apparently people come from all over the world to see birds here in Sierra Vista. At first I just took pictures of birds because they were among the most interesting things I saw. But then I would come home and start looking up the birds I’d taken pictures of on the internet. Eventually I got pretty good at ID’ing species by sight and sometimes even sound. I somehow turned into a birder.
Fast forward to 2025 and I’m excited about getting back into bird photography (as well as other wildlife I may happen to encounter out on the trail).
The San Pedro has always been one of my favorite places. I can grab my camera, head to the river and just wander around for hours. This morning it was only about 40 degrees and kind of overcast, but I just got the new lens yesterday, so was anxious to try it out as soon as possible. It turns out the clouds were a good thing. Nice somewhat thick high clouds actually give a nice soft light effect for most shots.
I also actually ran into some pretty cool birds while walking around 3 miles.
About 200 yards down the first trail I saw one of my favorite birds, a curved-billed thrasher sitting on a tree not too far away. Love those orange eyes.
Even if I hadn’t gotten another picture this morning, I was already happy. That lens is quick (focused right away almost as soon as I brought it up), and super sharp. 600 mm of reach also makes it much easier to take pictures of birds before they see me and fly away.
The fun thing is, I wasn’t at all done yet. After walking down by the river and stopping by a couple of ponds, I decided to cut back through a field and this young red-tailed hawk (in the first picture) flew almost right past my head and landed on the top of a tree about 10 or 15 yards away … then it just patiently sat there and let me take a dozen pictures.
Then finally, as often happens at the San Pedro House, just before I got back to my car this Northern Cardinal popped onto a branch and also posed.
I’m sure this will be just the first of many wildlife/bird photography adventure for me this year. Feel free to follow along if you’d like.
Til next time,
Todd