I’ve been trying to get close to Mountain Bluebirds here in Wayne County for three days now without a lick of success. This time of year they’re about as skittish as any bird I know and most of them will be until breeding season behaviors make them considerably “stickier”.
But yesterday I tried a different tack and found a single cooperative bird.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, processed on a laptop, not baited, set up or called in
We’re camped out in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain at about 8,000′ and our primitive campsite is surrounded by Pinyon Pines. From my camping trailer window we noticed that bluebirds and jays habitually perched in a clump of 3 pinyons near our campsite so I moved my pickup near the clump, used my vehicle as a mobile blind and waited for birds to appear.
A few did and this female Mountain Bluebird actually came in close enough for some photos. From her demeanor she was obviously curious about us and that big piece of shiny (actually muddy) metal we were in. In fact she may have been actually challenging us as she sat on this close perch for 3 minutes, staring intently at us the entire time.
The light was just a little harsh and I’m definitely not happy with the out of focus cluster of needles in front of her rump but as far as I can tell on this laptop the image is sharp and I have plenty of detail.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, processed on a laptop, not baited, set up or called in
I was quite close and shooting with the teleconverter attached so I knew I’d have to get lucky to avoid clipping body parts when she took off so every time she fluttered in the considerable wind I fired off a burst just in case it was preliminary to launch. In this case it was and I caught her just as she lifted her wings and pushed off.
In the next shot of the burst I cut off both her beak and her raised wings.
Par for the course…
Ron
Beautiful
Lovely!
I hope she is the first of many. An equisite charmer.
And I can’t tell you how happy it makes my mean self to learn that as well as making the errors which only your picky self identifies you also do some amputation of important parts.
I’m really glad you added the phrase,”not baited” It was only recently that I became aware of baiting, seems like cheating to me. It’s not kosher!
Just lovely! Glad she cooperated with you, if only for a little while! They’re just SO beautiful. Yeah, I get redundant 😀
Lovely shots of a beautiful bird I’ve never seen.
Charlotte
Always enjoy your pics. I was at the Grand Canyon, AZ a week ago and because a nice gentleman sitting on a bench (that I wanted to sit on but he was taking the whole thing) said to me, “Look at the birds!” With that vast canyon as its backdrop and a dead tree branch poking its head up near the walkway, there sat perched a pair of western blue birds. They were beautiful. Yup – patience, and yes, I thanked the fella for pointing them out. I never did get to sit down but I did capture the bird moment.
Always nice pictures from you. I always cut part of the bird off when I take pictures. They are so fast. The female bluebird is lovely.
What a beauty!!! Her colors are so subtle and beautiful…how wonderful that she was so curious and cooperative…may the rest of your trip be as successful….
How beautiful the mountain bluebird is. So wonderful to see it up close. Please tell me how long you waited for this shot. Nature photographers must have plenty of patience,
Beautiful even if the pine needles cluster got in the way a bit! Glad you’re having some success! 🙂
“Some” success says it all, Judy. It’s been a difficult trip for birds. Thank you.
Wonderful detail Ron…always tight shots.
Thanks, Zaph.