Geez, what some birds will do just to get at a sweet and juicy berry.
Yesterday morning I finally got out and found a few birds. For some time now it’s been so damned smoky around here the effort hasn’t been worth it but we had slightly clearer air in the valley and it was even better in the mountains (it isn’t always that way so you just have to make the trip to find out). As long as I’m close to my subject in those conditions I think the smoke is undetectable in my images.
1/4000, f/6.3. ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I believe this is a juvenile Song Sparrow. I’m not great at sparrow ID to begin with and the fact that it’s a juvie makes it even more difficult for me so please correct me if I’m wrong.
This particular Utah Serviceberry bush was loaded with berries and most of them were ripe and sweet so over a period of about an hour several species came in for breakfast. The bush is close to a mountain to the east so it took the sun a very long time to reach it and as you’ll likely see in some future posts I was shooting birds in the shade most of the time. But only moments before these shots were taken light finally reached the bush.
At first the sparrow was further to the right on the branch but it had its eye on those ripe berries at the bottom of the frame so it moved over into position to see if it could reach them from the perch. This is one of only two shots I got with a reasonably good side view of the bird.
1/2500, f/6.3. ISO 1250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
The sparrow was successful in reaching its goal but it took considerable effort and agility. The berries are too big for them to swallow whole so the bird just repeatedly reached down and picked pieces off and slurped juice. You can see where it already took a bite out of the berry in front. Normally I could only see the back of its head during the process but I took a lot of bursts in the hope I’d get a turn of the head with a catch light in the eye. Thankfully I got a few but not very many considering how many photos I took.
At first I couldn’t decide how to compose this shot when I cropped it so I worked up two versions – this horizontal…
and a vertical. After thinking about it I’ve decided I prefer the vertical version, for its mimicry of the vertical pose of the sparrow and for the better detail and closer look we get of the feeding behavior of the bird.
But I suspect opinions might vary, they nearly always do.
Ron
I think that this bird is a female House Finch: https://www.google.com/search?q=female+house+finch&num=40&safe=active&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7ksz0kOTcAhVSM30KHeLaCVcQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=666#imgrc=-wAcs5JdI8VXKM:
A Song Sparrow doesn’t quite look the same: https://www.google.com/search?q=juvenile+song+sparrow&num=40&safe=active&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQtYXoj-TcAhW-ITQIHVCABYEQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=666
Fantastic pictures as well!
Vertical crop for me.
And admiration for the balance and determination of the sparrow (and birds more generally).
Yup, it was pretty impressive, EC – especially considering how many times and for how long it struck that pose.
I love Service berries. We call them ‘Indian pears’ in Nova Scotia. My Mom always made half blueberry/half Indian pear pies. Delicious. I have gone to some lengths to reach them too! I like the vertical crop as it goes with the shape of the bird.
I will upload a chart to help you get straight on sparrows!
“Indian pears” is a new one for me, Judy. I’ll bet those pies are great.
You might be interested that my daughter is in Washington State fighting the Angel fire as a GIS head. I can. imagine what the air is like out West.
I hope she stay’s safe, Dick. And yes, it’s awful out here and not projected to get better anytime soon.
I’ll keep your daughter wrapped in my heart for her continued safety. That’s one mother of a fire and I can only imagine what she’s enduring to fight it.
Oh! Dick! I hope she is and stays safe! Those firefighters are such brave heroes…so brave in such scary circumstances…don’t know how they do it…we’ve so much rain here(over two weeks of it so far) and they need it so badly out there…our middle daughter lives in No. Cal…we’re worried for her, too.
Ironically, our middle daughter left Lyons, Colorado for Humbolt County, California, because of flooding. Lyons, at the confuence of the two forks of the St. Vrain River, was almost wiped out…she was “unaccounted for” for about 24 hours…
I so hope she stays safe and the fires can be contained. I know a team of Australian firefighters has gone to California to assist there.
Yikes! A tough job for sure – safety first!
Beautiful photos as yoosh (I especially love sparrows – not great at identifying them but I love trying!) The second one is my favorite!
Thank you, Joanne.
Excellent photos as always Ron. Yes sparrows are my downfall as a potential birder. Song, Lincoln’s, Savannah, Chipping, Lark, Brewer’s, etc, all hard for me to distinguish. Only sparrows I can ID with confidence are White-crowned and Rufous-crowned.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
That’s about like me, Everett. I have no problem with White-crowned (adults or juvies), Savannah or Lark Sparrows but many of the others leave me scratching my noggin.
I love the feather detail here! How delicate and elegant those lovely body feathers are. It’s the vertical crop for me, too. Mind you, both are excellent, but the vertical crop does the bird more justice as the star of that show.
When I had cherry and pecan trees, it was always a fight to get enough berries/nuts to make a pie. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I had to lower my expectations and use sampled goods. I don’t mind sharing, but birds/critters don’t seem to be that good at it 😉
My neighbor used to have a cherry tree too, Laura. A huge one. I didn’t mind eating cherries that had already been bird-sampled but what I did mind was all the “bloody spots” left on my patio and deck when the birds dropped them from my elm tree. There were often hundreds of them and they really left an unsightly mess.
Yeah, that was a problem, too, BUT, I ended up giving up on that human tidy thing for the joy of having the birds around. After a while, the stains wore away, just in time for the new mess to be created. Plus, in that house, there wasn’t a whole lot of cement to stain. LOL!
With the pecans, I not only had to fight the squirrels, but my Jack Russell TERRORIST learned to shell pecans with much less effort and greater skill than me–and all that without tools or thumbs 😉
Life is good!
Yes, Jerk Russells are too smart for their own good sometimes! 😉
Between the redtail, the HAHA, and all three dogs, I’m way far down on the IQ ladder. I just have to muddle along as best I can and try to keep up 😉
I can live with the stain on the ground (and have little choice). I do wish that they wouldn’t eat their fill and fly round and decorate the washing though. Mulberry poop stains are virtually indelible. Which I resent when I haven’t even got any of the mulberry.
EC, if you can get Oxi Clean in any form, it works wonders on indelible berry stains – as long as the clothing hasn’t been through the dryer (and perhaps the washer) prior to applying. That stuff has solved all the problems I had in the past with difficult stains.
Thank you. The birds defile the washing as it hangs on the line. I will look out for that product.
I like the verticsl crop, too…more focus on the bird…
Agreed, Patty.
We planted a Serviceberry for the birds, but have never tasted one of the berries…they look just as tasty upside down as rightside up!!!
I think the vertical crop is great. Juvenile sparrows are very difficult. You seemed to have correctly identified this as Song Sparrow.
Thanks, Greg. You’re the 4th person to confirm my ID so I’m feeling good about it. Sometimes even I get lucky with sparrows… 🙂
Count me in for “Team Vertical” (except for vertical phone videos — those are yucky). The tighter view of the “birdrobatics” in the vertical crop makes the whole shot so much more exciting!
So glad you were able to get out among ’em yesterday — both health-wise and smoke-wise.
I got out again this morning, Marty. But the smoke was quite a bit worse. I’m sick of it and there’s no end in sight.
YAY that you got out again and BOOOOO about the smoke. We don’t seem to be getting much of it here, although the sky is hazy. I don’t smell smoke. That’s a bit surprising to me, but there it is.
I’m with you on the vertical composition crop. You get all the detail of the branch the bird was on, but in my opinion, a better focus/emphasis on the subject.
I agree, Susan. And there wasn’t much interesting off to the right side anyway. And what was there was soft but sharp enough to be a little distracting for me. If the entire branch and the leaves on that side were sharp it might have been different.
I once raised a baby sparrow. These are fabulous.
Thanks, Arwen.
First, these are wonderful images. Second, I believe you are correct in its ID. Third, I agree that immature sparrows as well as some immature Warblers are tough. I’m waffeling (sp) between the last two shots, but leaning toward the last image.
Unfortunately, we have three Highbush Blueberries near one set of our feeders. Consequently, the birds don’t stay long enough for me to shoot a few images. Plus, if we want any blueberries we need to pick them quickly or many will be beyond recognition.
Thanks for the confirmation, Dick. I hate not being sure of ID when I post.
I’m sure she did!
Well vertical it is for me for sure! I think it gives more ‘star quality’ to the bird and accentuates the acrobatic touch of the photo. Those plumb berries sure do look tasty. I think if I ponder on it, I do prefer the vertical in most pictures unless it is a flight or water photo. Thinking about berries, I’m waiting for the Cedar WaxWings to make their second round coming now for the ripening red honeysuckle berries.
“Those plumb berries sure do look tasty”
I had the same thought the entire time I was at the bush, Kathy. My mouth was actually watering. I’m going to have to try one soon…
Cute! I know they can’t get the whole berry at once, BUT they also never seem to finish one before sampling another….;) The vertical crop does show the whole situation well, yet the horizontal gives more of the space the bird was in………..Like them both for different reasons…… It’s early………..:)
“they also never seem to finish one before sampling another”
That’s right, Judy. I didn’t see any bird of any species come even close to finishing a berry. I’ll bet your friend noticed that when she was picking serviceberries for her pie.