April in Bloom: A Month of Hatchlings, Hummingbirds, and First Lifers
April in the Pacific Northwest always feels like nature’s grand opening act. Trees budding, flowers bursting, and the forests alive with song. This month has been a feast for both the eyes and the lens, with wildlife stirring from the quiet of winter and color returning in full force. For my wildlife photography, April feels like the beginning of everything.
Hatchlings and New Beginnings
One of the most moving parts of spring is witnessing the emergence of new life. This month I had the joy of capturing some of the season's earliest goose and duck hatchlings. At Commonwealth Lake Park, I spotted my first of the year goslings. Tiny bumbling fuzzballs happily waddled around the feet of their ever-alert parents. The light was soft and perfect, an early morning mist filtered the sun just enough to make each shot feel delicate and intimate.
The ducklings were also out and about this month! Capturing these moments require quiet and patience, often sitting still for an hour or more, listening, watching. But when you finally see those little bills pierce the edge of the reeds, or a fluff of downy feathers shift in the breeze, it’s worth every second.
Hummingbird and Warbler Heaven
The hummingbirds have returned in full force this month, particularly Anna’s and Rufous hummingbirds. They were constantly zipping through the garden and wild areas of Champoeg State Park, feasting on early-blooming red-flowering currant and salmonberry blossoms. Photographing them is always a dance of precision and luck, these tiny acrobats dart faster than my autofocus sometimes likes to admit.
I’ve been playing with higher shutter speeds and wide apertures to freeze the motion of their wings while keeping the background creamy. One of my favorite shots this month was a perched Rufous, perfectly poised on a tiny, newly budding branch.
This month also brought a lively wave of warblers passing through the area, with both Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers making frequent appearances. The Orange-crowned warblers were especially active in the early mornings, flitting through the low shrubs and singing their subtle, high-pitched trills. They can be tricky to spot with their understated coloring, but once you catch that flash of pale yellow among all the leaves, it’s a rewarding find. The Yellow-rumped Warblers, on the other hand, were a bit more showy, dashing through the treetops with their bold yellow patches and cheerful energy. They seemed to be everywhere this month, especially around wooded edges near water.
Flowers and Macro Explorations
April’s flowers are not just food for pollinators, they’re a wonderland for macro photography. I’ve been spending more time crawling through the mossy understory with my macro lens, photographing the minute details of trillium, bleeding hearts, and emerging sword ferns. There’s something calming about focusing on the small textures; the spirals, wood grain, and dewdrops that most people walk right past.
One highlight: catching a tiny ear wig crawling around in the moss. The little guy was no larger than a dime, and the sprigs of moss were barely bigger than a grain of rice, but through the lens it became a sprawling world of detail.
A First lifer: Mountain Bluebirds!
The most thrilling moment of the month came during a quick trip east of the Cascades, my first ever Mountain Bluebird sighting! These brilliant flashes of sky-blue seemed almost surreal against the golden grasslands outside The Dalles. I managed to photograph a pair resting on a barbed wire fence, framed by whispy clouds and soft evening light. It was the kind of unexpected encounter that makes April so special, proof that the season of change always brings surprises.
