Category: Blackbirds
Displaying Yellow-headed Blackbird And A Ghoulish Apparition
You never know what you’ll find, or see for the first time, when you go back and look at older images.
Female Yellow-headed Blackbird
Four blackbird posts in a row. You may wonder if I’ve gone daft but there’s a method to my madness.
Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying On A Phrag Plume
Sunrise Performance By A Male Yellow-headed Blackbird
A fun ‘first bird’ on my trip to Bear River MBR two days ago. In some ways he turned out to be my best bird.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Doing The Vertical Splits
The New Eccles Wildlife Education Center At Farmington Bay
Yellow-headed Blackbird (and getting good detail in deep blacks)
This image grabs me for reasons that only other bird photographers might appreciate.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Snagging Midges Out Of The Air
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird, Begging For And Then Receiving Food
I’ve been stuck in the house for what seems like an eternity because of the gloomy weather and lack of light. It rained all day yesterday (which is unusual for us here in the semi-desert) and I keep thinking of all the early summer bird activity I’m missing so this morning I reached back into the archives for some shots that would remind me of what I’m not seeing and photographing. I’m a glutton for punishment…
Blackbird Snagging Midges Out Of The Air
For me it’s highly entertaining to watch Yellow-headed Blackbirds through my lens as they pluck flying midges out of the air.
Displaying Yellow-headed Blackbird (and revisiting RAW vs JPEG)
The purpose of this post is two-fold – to feature some interesting blackbird behavior and to demonstrate why I always shoot in RAW instead of JPEG.
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird Begging For Food
Young Yellow-headed Blackbirds leave the nest long before they can fly, at the very early age of 9 – 12 days. From then until they can fly they spend their time hiding in the dead vegetation near the surface of the water and begging incessantly for food.
This youngster had the begging routine down to a science.
A Blackbird Who Taught Me A Lesson
Back in June of 2008 I still had many lessons to learn about photographing birds. This male Yellow-headed Blackbird was one of my more memorable teachers.
Blackbird On Stilts (subtitled JPEG vs RAW)
This is one of the oldest bird images in my files, taken on 6/17/07 and very soon after I became serious about bird photography. At the time I was still shooting JPEGs (rather than RAW). In my ignorance, making the decision to start shooting RAW was stressful for me. I was already overwhelmed by everything I had yet to master, from camera and lens operation to computer and processing skills and I was reluctant to add yet another layer to the mountain of “stuff” I had to learn. After about 6 months I finally took the plunge and changed the setting on my old Canon XTi from JPEG to RAW and I’ve never looked back. The only thing I’ve ever regretted was taking so long to make the change. To this day I dread having to process one of those older images that was taken as a JPEG (like the photo below). The JPEG vs RAW debate has been around for a while and I don’t mean to settle it here. All I know is that I much prefer processing RAW files for a variety of reasons. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I always get a kick out of seeing birds in spread-eagled poses like this Yellow-headed Blackbird is demonstrating – it makes me think that if they don’t let go they’re going to split down the middle clear to the wishbone (furcula). Usually when I see this pose the two “perches” the bird is grasping are green reeds with many other reeds of similar colors nearby in the frame. But…
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Displaying Yellow-headed Blackbird And A Ghoulish Apparition
You never know what you’ll find, or see for the first time, when you go back and look at older images.
Female Yellow-headed Blackbird
Four blackbird posts in a row. You may wonder if I’ve gone daft but there’s a method to my madness.
Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying On A Phrag Plume
Sunrise Performance By A Male Yellow-headed Blackbird
A fun ‘first bird’ on my trip to Bear River MBR two days ago. In some ways he turned out to be my best bird.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Doing The Vertical Splits
The New Eccles Wildlife Education Center At Farmington Bay
Yellow-headed Blackbird (and getting good detail in deep blacks)
This image grabs me for reasons that only other bird photographers might appreciate.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Snagging Midges Out Of The Air
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird, Begging For And Then Receiving Food
I’ve been stuck in the house for what seems like an eternity because of the gloomy weather and lack of light. It rained all day yesterday (which is unusual for us here in the semi-desert) and I keep thinking of all the early summer bird activity I’m missing so this morning I reached back into the archives for some shots that would remind me of what I’m not seeing and photographing. I’m a glutton for punishment…
Blackbird Snagging Midges Out Of The Air
For me it’s highly entertaining to watch Yellow-headed Blackbirds through my lens as they pluck flying midges out of the air.
Displaying Yellow-headed Blackbird (and revisiting RAW vs JPEG)
The purpose of this post is two-fold – to feature some interesting blackbird behavior and to demonstrate why I always shoot in RAW instead of JPEG.
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird Begging For Food
Young Yellow-headed Blackbirds leave the nest long before they can fly, at the very early age of 9 – 12 days. From then until they can fly they spend their time hiding in the dead vegetation near the surface of the water and begging incessantly for food.
This youngster had the begging routine down to a science.
A Blackbird Who Taught Me A Lesson
Back in June of 2008 I still had many lessons to learn about photographing birds. This male Yellow-headed Blackbird was one of my more memorable teachers.
Blackbird On Stilts (subtitled JPEG vs RAW)
This is one of the oldest bird images in my files, taken on 6/17/07 and very soon after I became serious about bird photography. At the time I was still shooting JPEGs (rather than RAW). In my ignorance, making the decision to start shooting RAW was stressful for me. I was already overwhelmed by everything I had yet to master, from camera and lens operation to computer and processing skills and I was reluctant to add yet another layer to the mountain of “stuff” I had to learn. After about 6 months I finally took the plunge and changed the setting on my old Canon XTi from JPEG to RAW and I’ve never looked back. The only thing I’ve ever regretted was taking so long to make the change. To this day I dread having to process one of those older images that was taken as a JPEG (like the photo below). The JPEG vs RAW debate has been around for a while and I don’t mean to settle it here. All I know is that I much prefer processing RAW files for a variety of reasons. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light I always get a kick out of seeing birds in spread-eagled poses like this Yellow-headed Blackbird is demonstrating – it makes me think that if they don’t let go they’re going to split down the middle clear to the wishbone (furcula). Usually when I see this pose the two “perches” the bird is grasping are green reeds with many other reeds of similar colors nearby in the frame. But…