I thought I'd offer up a link to some of the purple martin photos which I've captured this summer here in MA...most of which came from the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
The reason the most of the backgrounds are white is because it's always hazy and foggy there :(
Hi Jim...What lens are you using on your Nikon. I see that your shots were taken a 500mm focal length. A polarized filter may help you get the blue sky.
Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
Hi Jim
Excellent pictures! You have made Parker river and its Martins famous!
Please The martin needs alot of help in New England if you could please pass
some pictures on to your local newspaper and see if they may want to
do a little story on the history of martins at Parker river and that special
banded martin. I was a 12 year landlord the cold spring killed my colony
and many birds in NE. I have been looking after a small colony of Martins
in Rehoboth MA because i have such a passion for the hobbie. I just did
not waste a season with out any martins to care for. Ray in RI
I'm using a Nikon D2X with a 500mm AFSII and no TC.
A polarizer wouldn't help in this situation as the direction of the light relative to the subjects changes rather wildly as I track the birds in before I take a shot. Also...it causes anywhere from a 1/2 to 1 stop loss of light and you really need to keep the shutter speeds up with these guys!
