Taking her best shots: Geneva photographer is a birder on a joyful mission

Extreme rarities are famous for luring birders into trains, planes and automobiles. The prospect of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting is a powerful force.

But the hobby offers no guarantees. Rare bird chases, when successful, produce a birder’s version of the runner’s high — pure exhilaration served with a side of relief. The alternative, when the target bird goes AWOL, can be a soul-crushing disappointment.

Geneva resident Jackie Bowman weighed the risk and decided to go for it, booking a flight to New Jersey along with her friend Nancy Schnaitman in early 2024. Her goal: see and photograph a wayward Red-flanked Bluetail, apparently blown off course from northern Europe. The bird was visiting a feeder inside a senior living community and could move on at any moment.

Thankfully, the bluetail was still on view when Jackie arrived on site. Life bird No. 800 secured.

Fast forward to last June, in Adak, Alaska, where Jackie, again birding with Nancy, achieved her 800th photographed bird, a Common Greenshank.

Birders never forget a milestone species: the number, the place, the person (or people) we were with. Taking no chances, Jackie’s upper right arm bears fresh ink depicting tail feathers of both the bluetail and greenshank.

The same appendage features artistic renderings of her 700th lifer, a Blue-billed White Tern in Hawaii, and her 700th photo bird, a Red-breasted Sapsucker in Seattle.

Being semi-retired, Jackie has the flexible work schedule every listing birder craves. She loves to travel, especially for birds. Husband Chris, a serious birder himself, ushered her into the hobby. Jackie latched on in a big way, with a particular focus on photography.

It began with a bird, of course, when she and Chris were vacationing at Badlands National Park in 2009. They spotted a Western Kingbird by a restaurant parking lot. It was not shy, virtually begging Jackie to raise her Nikon. The experience — followed by a photogenic family of Western Flycatchers in Custer State Park — made a large impression. She realized that taking pictures of birds could be challenging and fun, plus it paired up perfectly with Chris’ birding addiction, which had reignited in 2007.

Gearing up for more

Predictably, Jackie was soon yearning for a long lens, since most birds are seldom as close and cooperative as those first ones in South Dakota. For guidance, she turned to her small network of birder/photographer friends.

“The overwhelming advice,” she recalled, “was to buy the best and biggest that you think you can afford, and then maybe a little bit more, because you’ll never regret it.”

Jackie settled on 300 mm that she remembers costing and weighing as much as a used car. She took up kitchen counter pushups to build arm strength. Using a tripod, she found, limited her movement, a particular disadvantage when shooting birds in flight.

More equipment upgrades followed. Her current gear, acquired in 2022, is a Nikon Z9 mirrorless body with a matching 400 mm lens. A 1.4 teleconverter brings her subjects even closer.

It’s not unusual these days to see birders carrying enormous 600 mm or even 800 mm lenses in the field. Jackie prefers her 400 mm for its manageable size and weight. She also likes using aperture priority (F8 or F9) as opposed to shooting in manual mode. “I really try to simplify my photography,” she said.

Jackie doesn’t consider herself a professional photographer and yet her images are on that level. She developed her skills through an online course and by hours of browsing on Flickr, studying the camera settings of bird and nature photographers whose work she admired. Most valuable, however, have been the tips received from fellow birders who also prioritize photography. Don Blecha, Vic Berardi, Rob Curtis and Nolan Lameka are among them.

Not all incoming advice is camera-related or technical. For example, Blecha, a former hunter, coached her on how to get closer to birds without disturbing them.

Another key to success, Jackie said, is to go where the birds raise their families.

“When they are on territory, they are calmer, they’re in a different mindset. Birds on migration are in a hurry and tend to be fidgety.”

Have camera, will travel

Jackie has so far birded in 29 states and Newfoundland, the latter being a bucket-list trip with friends in 2025. Geographically, her birding and photography focus is the “ABA area,” which primarily includes the U.S. and Canada. ABA stands for American Birding Association, the preeminent membership organization for the hobby (aba.org/).

The official ABA-area checklist currently shows 1,161 species. Jackie has seen 842 of them and photographed 815. Her photo total places her in the top 10 of all ABA listers.

Adding birds to the portfolio isn’t easy. Jackie said she’d have to travel to the remote islands of Alaska and stay for weeks to shoot 20 new species to move up in rank.

“I don’t see myself doing that, so, for now, it’s one bird at a time,” which explains that quickie trip to New Jersey. There were also two separate missions to Brownsville, Texas, also in early 2024, for a vagrant Fan-tailed Warbler. She got a glimpse of the bird on the second try but was unable to nab a photo.

Despite missing that shot, the Rio Grande Valley remains one of Jackie’s favorite birding destinations. She’ll be going back. However, she follows a rule: “no new trips until the last one is finished.” Her Nikon rips off 20 frames per second, so a birding trip can bring home 10,000 to 15,000 images. Weeding through them to find the best shots can take weeks.

Jackie’s favorite bird is the Steller’s Jay, a western species. She’d love to see it more often but still appreciates the bird-rich Chicago region. Her Kane County list totals 302 species, her Illinois list 349. The numbers identify a birder who is always informed, and always up for a chase. Chris’ numbers are even higher.

The couple’s yard list is eye-popping, too: 172 species. When I visited, a Sandhill Crane they call Junior strolled by the patio.

Jackie’s rarest local bird came in 2014, a Fork-tailed Flycatcher at Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve in Geneva, discovered by Chris. About 150 birders enjoyed the epic bird, a bonus lifer for nearly all of them.

Treat yourself by visiting Nature’s Joy Photography, Jackie’s website and store. The well-named site is nicely organized and searchable, packed with remarkable bird, wildlife and nature images. Many have accompanied this column over the years, for which I am deeply grateful.

• Jeff Reiter’s column appears regularly in Neighbor. You can reach him via his blog, Words on Birds.