A shot like this has been one of the most difficult for me to get.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, 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’ve been trying to get a takeoff or flight shot of a warbler I like for a while now. I’ve struck out many hundreds of times so you can imagine how happy I was to finally get this one yesterday morning. I really like this takeoff posture. A little better eye contact would have been nice but I’m not complaining.
Takeoff shots of warblers are unusually difficult to get because they’re so damn fast. Generally the smaller the bird the faster they are and warblers are smaller than most songbirds. Of the two warblers I photograph most often, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Yellow Warblers, Yellow Warblers are the smallest (thus the fastest) so it’s a little ironic that the species I finally succeeded with was this one.
An additional difficulty is their preferred dense, brushy habitat. As they take off there’s usually vegetation in front of them or so close behind them that it ruins the photo so in this shot I was lucky to get a setting that was unusually clean for a warbler.
And that brushy habitat often reduces the light they’re in so it can be very difficult to get enough shutter speed to get them sharp at takeoff. I’m convinced that warblers require a SS of 1/3200 at a bare minimum.
Did anyone notice anything unusual about this bird?
Look at the base of its right foot. There appears to be a swelling down there of unusual color and the color of the leg also seems strange to me (I don’t think it’s just reflected highlights).
A huge crop of the same image (5% of the original photo) shows us a little more detail, even though the feet are pretty soft in part due to depth of field issues.
I have to wonder if it might be avian pox.
Ron
PS – I have bad news, devastating news for me. I had two (yes two!) computers die on me this morning, my primary computer and a backup. I’m having to publish this post on my far-from-adequate laptop. If I hadn’t saved these two images to Word Press last night I probably wouldn’t have been able to post this morning.
So I may be offline for a few days until I can get the issue resolved, one way or another.
Shit happens…
Addendum at 6:48 AM:
Mia saved the day! She suggested my computer problem might be because it needed to be cleaned out and she was right. After some big blasts from my air compressor in my garage (my 3 cans of canned air were all nearly empty) my primary computer booted up just fine. I’m using it now. Man, was, it ever dirty in there.
May I suggest that we all keep the guts of our computers clean. If the fans don’t cool adequately computers often won’t boot up.
Mia rocks!
Dear Ron,
From a retired orthopedic surgeon, that looks like a nicely healing, slightly angulated, tibial fracture.
Well, given your credentials that would now be my vote, Thomas. Thanks for jumping in.
You are right about that leg. I do hope it comes good.
Congratulations on yet another difficult shot. (Difficult for you, and requiring a HUGE amount of luck for me.)
My PC had difficulty this morning. I wonder whether pulling it apart and cleaning would help (it has in the past).
I am very glad your issues were so readily fixed. Thank you Mia, you have made a lot of people happy this morning.
Thanks, EC. Getting this shot required luck for me too. They’re too fast to react to when they take off so I have to try to anticipate takeoff which doesn’t work very well with these tiny birds. I already had a burst going when this one took off.
For some reason the warbler looks as if it’s launching for a bungee jump. If only that was a bungee cord on its leg. Whatever it is I hope it clears up.
I gave up on computer “towers” long ago and use a laptop and all-in-one. Probably impractical with your photo/computing requirements.
Lyle, there are times I wish I used something else but as you mention I don’t think it would be practical for me.
Hooray for reSolving the PC issue. And yes there is something not right about that leg. 🙁
I’m pretty happy about solving it so easily, Arwen. I had to spend $900 yesterday on new tires for my pickup so I wasn’t happy about the possibility of coughing up the cash for a new computer.
Thank you Mia! I would be so sad if I couldn’t look forward to these magical posts! As an artist myself, I seldom find images of wildlife so incredibly detailed that I can imagine myself becoming the animal. Ron, you are an amazing photographer, and an observer.
Thanks very much for the kind words, Sheri.
What a cutie ❗️ I was out bird watching yesterday or trying to.
I barely have time to adjust my binoculars and they gone😩
Thank goodness my baby bald eagles are still in their nest and had something to look at❗️
I so appreciate you as a wildlife photographer.
Have a great day
“I barely have time to adjust my binoculars and they gone”
Yup, that description nails them, doesn’t it Diana. Thank you.
Wonderful take off photo! I have seen a few along the Santa Cara River but they are too deep in the willows and cottonwoods.
Hard to tell about the foot. It could just be an injury, there are no other signs of lesions on the other leg or face.
Yes, the computer cleaning, it is a frequent ritual in our house due to my techie son. He even cleans the keyboards and pops all the keys out! He hates using other people’s keyboards because they are greasy, especially women’s because they “use so much lotion on their hands”.
Ha, “deep in the willows” should be part of their name!
Computer cleaning will be a more frequent ritual for me now. Thanks, April.
That’s not a typical place for pox lesion, Ron – though I am no passerine expert. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them except on the toes or face. What first came to mind when I looked at the photo, before I saw your note, was scaly leg mites – or maybe a healed fracture. It also looks like the scales on the front of that leg up to the hock are gone. This happens routinely – they ‘molt’them and new ones grow in. I’ve had an inch and 1/2 or more suddenly slough off a red-tailed hawk’s leg. So I wouldn’t worry about that.It would have been nice to see him perching, to make sure the toes on that leg work. I would think having two functional feet would be very important to a warbler, as they get into rather awkward positions as they are gleaning insects – and need to hold on with both feet.
I was hoping you’d join this conversation, Louise. Thanks for doing so.
I’ve seen and photographed pox on a variety of birds and it’s usually been on the face but I’m pretty sure I read that it can occur on any bare parts. Sounds like it might be scaly leg mites.
Yes, I really wish I had a perched shot… but I don’t.
Congratulations on the takeoff photo of the Yellow Warbler. It is wonderful. And I agree with your concern about the bird’s right ankle. After enlarging the photo and focusing on the ankle and foot it seems like the toes are a bit withered. Did you get a photo of the bird perching before takeoff?
“Did you get a photo of the bird perching before takeoff?”
No, I didn’t Melanie and that’s surprising. I looked for one last night but this is the first and only shot I got. It must have taken off immediately after I locked on to it.
At first glance in the first photo I thought it was a band BUT! Almost looks like the front of the leg has no scales one it – dunno! It is an excellent shot of the bird however! 🙂 They are a challenge – saw my first yellow warbler of the season yesterday. !@#$%!! on the computers! 🙁 Strange that both would quit at the same time….? Thank God for backups, saving it to WP and that the laptop was still available! Hopefully it’s a quick fix……
“Strange that both would quit at the same time….?”
Exactly, Judy. At first that made us think it might be a virus. Sure glad it wasn’t. Later today I’ll clean the other computer and hope that works
Please see my addendum above.
Just saw that – a couple of years ago I had the “blue screen of death” – Microsoft and Norton had an issue – and part of trying to sort it out was taking the case off and YUCK! SO, even tho that wasn’t the problem, that happens every so often now particularly with our dusty house. Yea Mia! AND, hope the other one is the same thing……
“hope the other one is the same thing”
So do I, big time!
What a fantastic shot, Ron! I wonder if it may be scaly leg mites on the right leg? We see it most frequently in American Robins, but it can also occur in caged birds and chckens. Sorry to hear about your computer woes. Sigh…Thanks again for a wonderful start to the day!
Thanks, Diane. I didn’t think of mites and I know very little about them on the bare parts of birds. You may be right, I just don’t know…
Please see my addendum above.
Nice takeoff Ron. At first I thought it was some sort of a band, but then thought that no one is banding warblers. Bad luck with the computers, but as you say it____ does happen. Hope you are repaired and back soon.
Everett, I’m sure it isn’t a band but that thought came to my mind too. Please see my addendum.