In the first sunflower field that we visited yesterday morning at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, many of the sunflowers were drooping because of the weight of their seeds. They may not have been very photogenic, but the birds and butterflies seemed to love them, like this Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) and this Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) that I spotted among the sunflowers.
Several photographer friends and I made the trip to the sunflower fields in Poolesville, Maryland, hoping to see endless rows of tall sunflowers. According to its website, McKee-Beshers has 30 acres of sunflowers planted in nine different fields. I think that the sunflowers may have been a little past their prime and appeared to be a little stunted in size, compared to some past years.
It was tricky to figure out what kind of gear to bring on a trek like this. I ended up using my super zoom Canon SX50 to photograph the Indigo Bunting, which was a first sighting for me of this beautiful bird, and my Canon 24-105mm lens on my normal Canon 50D DSLR for the butterfly. I had both of the cameras with me at all times, which gave me a pretty good amount of flexibility. I’ve seen some photographers walk around with two DSLR bodies, but that seems like a lot of weight to carry around, especially when you are moving through vegetation as I was doing as I waded through the rows of sunflowers.
I did take shot shots of the sunflowers and I’ll post some of them eventually. Folks who know me, though, are probably not surprised that my first instinct was to post images of birds and butterflies, rather than ones of the flowers alone.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Absolutely glorious photos, Mike. And congratulations on seeing your first indigo bunting; once you see one, you just want to keep seeing more, they are such a stunning bird, eh?
Thanks, Jet. The Indigo Bunting truly is a stunning bird, especially in the context of a greenfield of bright yellow sunflowers–it stood out a whole lot more than the goldfinches that were also there.
Stunning detail in both images
Great photos. I spotted my first ever indigo bunting recently and was super-excited. It’s a gorgeous bird. It looks incredible in your portrait of it set against the greens and that bright yellow.
beautiful images, Mike. Marty 🙂
Thanks, Marty.
Hi Mike! I’m hoping to do a post on “indigo” soon and am hoping that you will allow me to use your photo of the indigo bunting. Will be doing the usual credit and links. May I use it please?
You are welcome to do so. As I have mentioned before, I really love the postings you do devoted to a single color or color combination.
Many thanks Mike! The indigo post is now published 🙂
What a wonderful posting. I really like your approach to these color-based posting. It was interesting also to note that you featured a photo taken by one of my good friends, Walter Sanford. He and I are fellow dragonfly enthusiasts and occasionally go out shooting together.
Yes, one of your latest posts mentioned him – I noticed that! I do hope he enjoys the post too. It makes me very happy that you like the colour approach that I use. Thank you Mike 🙂
[…] Indigo Bunting and Monarch | Aug 6, […]
[…] image that I captured in August 2017 of a breeding male Indigo Bunting on a sunflower. Click this link if you would like to see the final photo in the context of the original posting in which it was one […]
[…] I believe that Indigo Buntings will be with us all summer and I hope to get some shots at closer range. I have fond memories of the first time I photographed a male Indigo Bunting in August 2017 as he perched on the drooping head of a sunflower—check out the posting entitled Indigo Bunting and Monarch. […]