After yesterday’s depressing post I decided a little whimsy was in order for this morning. This image was taken on a camping trip to the Fontanelle Reservoir area of southwest Wyoming. The bird is a flycatcher though I don’t know the species.
1/1000, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
The flycatcher was fully aware of the fly on the tip of its tail. It made several attempts to get at the fly by turning on its perch but each time it did so the fly went with the tail.
To be perfectly honest I didn’t even notice the fly until I got home and processed the image but at the time I was shooting I was sure curious about the strange behavior of the bird as it repeatedly turned on the perch and cocked its head at strange angles in what I now believe was an attempt to figure out why it couldn’t get at the fly (or whatever kind of insect it is).
Moments like this in the field are a delight for me. Even though I hadn’t noticed the fly, the behavior of the flycatcher had me grinning from ear to ear and the expression on its face cracks me up.
Ron
That’s the rare “Flycatcher Fly”. When he gets home, he’s gonna complain to the publishers of his field guide: “Who named that humongous bird “Pewee”??”
Great capture, Ron!
Great comment, Wally. Got a big laugh out of me!
Wow! This is really great What a nice surprise for you and thanks to you for sharing it with us!
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
Ha! Perfect! What a shot.
Looks like a Western Wood-pewee Ron. Very good stuff.
Thanks, Bryce! I was hoping someone would provide an ID. I’m terrible at flycatchers.
Thank you to all who have commented so far. I’ve been having kind of a down and discouraging day and I just now had time to view your comments. They picked me up and gave me the inspiration I needed so now I’m off to process images for tomorrow’s post. Thank you!
We got a gooooood laugh out of this one…almost as funny as ANYTHING a burrowing owl does…this is an excellent example of serendipity! This is just one example of why discovering your blog has been better than discovering gold….
Patty, you are so right about discovering this blog being better than discovering gold. It makes my day, too.
And who wouldn’t be a bit perturbed if their dinner was on their butt and they couldn’t work out how to get it.
Love that image – and thank you for a smiling start to my day.
Fun! My husband and I both got a good laugh out of this. It is just amazing the behaviors one can observe at unexpected moments. And it is just a regular ol’ fly the bird is dealing with.
Super fun! Thank you Ron.
Looks like he/she is trying to figure it out. I know, anthropomorphic remark.
Thanks for seeing and sharing
What a delight to enjoy the antics of a subject, then to discover ‘the big picture’ once you process the image! I enjoy the range of moods in your photo series.