I wanted to post two more recent Western Meadowlark images that weren’t take-off shots, like my last post of this species.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
This image, taken four days ago, shows the bright yellows on the belly, breast and throat but part of the bird is obscured. Obviously it was singing up a storm. Just looking at the image brings the song into my head.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
And this one, from two days ago, shows the backside. I was very close to this bird. So close that I had to shoot vertically, which complicates things with my long, awkward lens. By the time I had it framed and got off a few shots I realized that my settings were wrong for the situation (didn’t need the high ISO or shutter speed and more depth of field would have kept more of the sagebrush sharp) but by then it was too late and the bird took off.
Sometimes birds cooperate and then they don’t…
Ron
PS – As I was working on this post which was meant to be published tomorrow morning I hit “publish” instead of “update” before it was ready. So there’s some “hiccups” in it, especially for those who get the post emails. Sorry.
I’ve always worried about doing that…
i like the viewpoints and seeing a little of their environment. All we need is sound to hear their beautiful songs.
I see beautiful birds – no mistakes to me!
Such a stunning bird. The yellow mimics sunshine and the song which you so generously linked to a while ago is happiness as well. Thank you for these – and for an early publish I suspect no-one but you will know. Or care. The rest of us will just appreciate it.
I figured those splashy yellows might catch your eye, Elephant’s Child. I don’t think any of my recent meadowlark posts showed them off very well.
Ron, I haven’t commented before but I so much appreciate the honest humanity of your respect and love for the birds you photograph. You give us a sense of what you see and understand about their lives and a bit about your own experience. This only makes it a little more real. Thanks for being a humble human with an enormous artistic talent and love for nature, and the generosity to share your gifts with us. I look forward to your blog every day.
What a nice comment, Betsy. Thanks so much.
Great shots
! Only one criticism, you are wayyyyyy to hard on yourself. You aren’t satisfied with perfection. I hope you aren’t that way with yourself in other areas outside photography and my hat’s off to your wife. It can’t be easy to live with. I do enjoy your perfect photos. Thanks for sharing :>)
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte. I just don’t like making mistakes that are so very public…
Who could possibly mind seeing gorgeous meadowlarks in the evening, especially one singing as robustly as the one in that first picture! I am fortunate enough to have meadowlarks singing to me from my yard and atop my roof from early spring to late fall. I don’t get a lot of birds in my sagebrush surrounded yard, but I’m glad I get meadowlarks!
Peggy, I hope you get other birds that like sagebrush habitats, like Sage Thrashers and Sage Sparrows.
I’ve lived here four years and last summer I finally identified Sage Thrashers. I don’t remember seeing them before, but I’m so glad they came and hope to see them this year. I was first alerted to them when I couldn’t sleep one night and heard a beautiful warbling coming from a tree near the window. I later realized it was the Sage Thrasher. I also get G. Partridge, R.N. Pheasants, several birds of prey, a single Say’s Phoebe every year, an occasional rock wren, Lark Sparrow, plus others. There is a sparrow that I see in the sagebrush that I’m suspecting is a Brewers. Now that I’m listing them, I guess I get quite a few birds! I’m not complaining…I love them all!
Yeah, I usually see your post when I first turn on the computer in the AM, kinda nice to see it before I go to bed! LOL
But No problems here Ron, Excellent job, beautiful images, great DOF, eye sharp as a tack!!
I just KNEW I was going to hit that button early someday, Dick. At least I hit it fairly late in the process and the post wasn’t quite so much a jumbled mess as it would have been earlier.