Warbling Vireo In The Willows

Plus a challenge for wannabe bird photographers. How fast are your reflexes?

  • I have a busy day today so this will probably be a short post. 

 

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’d only photographed Warbling Vireos reasonably well twice in the past until yesterday morning when this one bounced around in the willows for some time and close enough to me for fairly good shots. But it was while it was perched here that I got the only shots I like (in spite of the bright blob at lower left that I attempted to make less annoying with my copyright logo).

This species is plainly colored so they’re far less conspicuous to the eye than they are to the ear. They have a complex warbling song which they sing persistently in the spring – to the point that they even sing on the nest which is highly unusual. If Springsteen was “Born to Run” these birds were hatched to sing.

Nope, I still can’t (and won’t) refer to birds as being “born”. It just ain’t right.

Ron

 

PS – I can’t resist doing this.

If you’re up to the challenge pretend you’re a bird photographer trying to get a takeoff shot of this vireo after he sings and then eats the moth. Your finger is on the shutter button like a hair trigger as you wait for him to take off and you have to capture him early enough that you haven’t clipped or cut off any body parts.

Try it by using the pause button at lower left in the video as your shutter button. It isn’t perfectly analogous to using a camera (here you can’t fire a burst or selectively frame the bird prior to takeoff) but it’s close. Could/did you succeed? Even with multiple attempts? 

THAT’S why I find takeoff shots so difficult, especially with speedy little songbirds.

 

 

20 Comments

  1. It is nice to see such healthy feathering on the birds this year!

  2. Unsurprisingly I failed. Each and every time I tried.
    LOVE that cheery song, and hope your busy day goes well.

  3. Amazing!! Thanks for sharing Ron!
    Charlotte

  4. Nice to see one of these warbling vireos, we don’t have them here.

    I suppose what I would do to solve this problem is
    1. have the camera setting appropriate for the amount of light.
    2. Bump the ISO up to get more shutter speed in the dappled, shady, low light.
    3. Focus on the bird’s shoulder/neck area – that’s where the motion appears to originate.
    4. Put her in burst and let her rip.

    Does that make sense to you all? Wide open to suggestions.

    • Martha, what I would do is pre-focus on the eye, then reframe the bird so there’s more room in the frame in the direction the bird is looking and likely to take off (I use back button focus so I can do that without losing focus on the bird, at least while it’s perched), and then try to anticipate takeoff by a few milliseconds by watching body language for cues of imminent takeoff. Then fire a burst and…. HOPE!

      And after all that I’d probably strike out anyway.

  5. I’m toooooo sllloooowwwww. 😉

    Beautiful song! Totally lifted my spirits — and I needed that this morning. Hope your meeting with Erin is going well. Looking forward to your thoughts.

  6. Must be that the pause button on my computer is not responsive enough. Ahhh, reconsidering, no way, which is exactly what happens when I try to do this with Vermillion Flycatchers and other little birds. And bigger birds for that matter.

  7. HA! One half decent “shot” at the end of the sound with the mouth open and twig almost blocking it! 🙂 At least I didn’t have to hold the camera “still” 😉 Know how that goes but fun anyway…… Beautiful capture, Ron. 🙂 Hope the meeting goes well today……

  8. Plainly colored, yes, but still a beauty. Watching the takeoff in the video reminds me of the Star Trek Enterprise going into warp drive – only faster.
    Hope you have a good talk at BRMBR today.

  9. Great challenge there Ron. Don’t think I could unless just blind luck. So much movement that there are no clues given as to when take off might occur. I mostly do that with eagles who move so much slower of course, and also give off numerous signs that take off might be imminent. Really pretty bird even though very plain. Nice post thanks.
    PS: Have only seen them here on a couple occasions.

  10. WOW! Great Shot, thanks for the tape! Wish it could be in my life time, but don’t think I’d be fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with my camera set correctly! Thanks for sharing, have a great busy day.

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