As I mentioned on this blog a couple of months ago I’ve been after quality images of the Green-tailed Towhee for years but they’ve always eluded me. This species has a special place in my heart and memory because it was my field project study species back in 1969 when I took a college ornithology class at the University of Utah from the legendary Dr. William H. Behle. That class provided the inspiration for my almost life-long love of birds. I’ve been trying to get some nice images of them for years now but their secretive nature and my bad luck always got in the way.
This past May I did get a few fairly good images but I was too far away from the bird for good detail. I posted about that bird here.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, cloned two leaf tips poking into frame edge
But yesterday morning my luck changed for the better on a back road drive to Bountiful Peak (elevation 9259 feet) on the rough, dusty and beautiful Skyline Drive. This bird let us get close while it was on a nice perch and in good light and it was cooperative for almost two minutes.
There are lots of things you can screw up when you’re photographing birds and screw up I did on the first shots where the bird was facing me. These towhees are long-tailed and since the tail of this bird was in the shade and largely hidden I didn’t pay much attention to it when I was composing the shot. The result – a cut off tail. You can see it, out of focus and shaded as it disappears at the bottom of the frame. Lesson learned, once again…
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
I was pleasantly surprised to get this shot. I was really too close for take-off shots (it happens so fast you normally need to leave plenty of room in the frame for them to fly into or you clip something) so I had actually changed my f/stop to 7.1 to give me more depth of field for the perch which sacrificed some shutter speed.
But suddenly the bird pooped. That can be an indicator of imminent take-off (even in songbirds) so I made an instantaneous decision and fired off a burst. Sure enough, the towhee took off during the burst and I was able get an early shot of the process. This image is almost full-frame so you can see that I had very little wiggle room. My setting adjustment caused some motion blur in the wings but I’m ok with that.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
Surprisingly, when the towhee took off it only went a short distance, landed and then proceeded to sing.
We had a fun morning on the mountain – saw a few birds, enjoyed many spectacular views, encountered deer, two moose and a variety of ground squirrels. And the company was great, as always.
Ron
gorgeous birdie … great capture of all his delicate details!!!!!
I suspect (know) that Dr Behle handed over more than his ornithogical passion. Your enthusiasm and your skill mean that I learn from you with each visit. Thank you.
Sensational shots Ron! CONGRATULATIONS! Your patience definitely paid off in a big way. All things comes to he who waits! Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful shots with us!
Charlotte
Thanks to your photos, if I ever see one of these at Hueco Tanks, I will recognize it. The green-tailed towhee is one of those birds that everybody but me sees at the park… Your photos give me hope of seeing one.
Thank you, Susan. I wish you luck!
Another bird on my mental “someday I hope to see” list. These shots are wonderful and show the bird as no other photos I’ve seen…the color! I had mentally lumped them in with “little gray jobs” but that list just got shorter. Thank you once again for a lovely start to my day.
You make a good point, Sharon. So many “little gray (or brown) jobs” really have some nice colors and patterns when you get an up close look in decent light. And these colors are real as the only time I ever adjust colors (increase saturation)in my images is when there’s very little light and even then my adjustment is minor. I’m not a fan of unnatural and/or oversaturated colors in nature photography.
I meant “wings” not “wigs”, but you can see why the slip! That bird is obviously wearing a wig…something else I didn’t know…. or, maybe he’s a traditional dancer and that’s a roach??? In which case, I hope you asked his permission before taking his picture!
Thanks. Ron, for such beautiful shots…and thank you, Dr. Behle for setting Ron on this path…a gift that keeps on giving, one so many of us get to enjoy and learn from every day. This bird is new to me. I love its red Mohawk, the touches of yellow on the wigs, and the composition, esp. in frames 1 & 3…so, you did it! And you heard him sing, too! Our Towhees are so different…black,sienna and white. They’re ground feeders and have a funny way of scratching for food with both feet at a the same time. What a trip! I wish I could have been there…the scenery and the other wildlife….ahhh!
Thank you, Patty. Dr. Behle was pretty special to a lot of people – completely immersed in birds and his passion was contagious. The Green-tailed also uses the bilateral scratching technique (double scratching) that you describe.