Brewer’s Blackbird At Pre-launch

Sometimes a pose just grabs me and this image is one of those.

 

brewer's blackbird 0487 ron dudley

1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in 

Mixed flocks of Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds have been hanging around Glover Pond in Farmington for weeks now.  I photographed this male Brewer’s Blackbird the first week of November just as he was about to launch from a severely tilted post next to the pond, which is the background here.  I like the rather unique pose, the implied energy of the impending take-off, the bonky and unexpected angles of both bird and post and the overall gray and black simplicity of the photo.  Images like this often have limited appeal and at first I wasn’t sure about this one either but I kept coming back to it so I decided to go with the flow and post it.

Two days ago my friend Shyloh Robinson reported seeing a male Rusty Blackbird at almost exactly this same location.  The Rusty is classified as an “accidental” in Utah, meaning it is not expected here and is out of its normal range.  That species would be a lifer for me so you can bet that I’ll be keeping a sharp eye out (or at least as sharp as my old eye can get) on my next visit to the area.

Ron

21 Comments

  1. Great shot!
    Charlotte

  2. Beautiful!! How are you liking the 7D Mark II?

    • Gena, So far I like it a lot, though it still needs some testing in certain situations – birds in flight, especially. I got some shots today that I’d have definitely missed with the old 7D – might be posting and talking about that on tomorrow’s post.

  3. Love it. All that coiled power waiting to explode into flight.

  4. Everything is just so precise. Not a feather out of place. He could be a metaphor for a high school graduate.

  5. Diagonals are dynamic , always ! Lovely piece………..

  6. I, too, love the ‘wonky’ look of the bird. My neck is happy to know that it wasn’t frozen in this pose. It’s fun when the camera catches the unusual pose like this.

  7. Great pic Ron. The male Brewers have the prettiest eyes…They really pop out. I wonder what it was looking at!

  8. I’m very glad you posted this, as well. I love the focused intent in both stance and eye!

  9. I like it too … for the reasons you give. Quirky pose. My first thought was it looked like a wind-up toy bird ready for launching. The potential energy of the bird is flowing off the computer screen.

    • “The potential energy of the bird is flowing off the computer screen.”

      I agree, Dave. I probably should have left more room on the right to accommodate that energy. Thank you.

  10. I like the pose of the bird also. It seems to show the pending energy of flight well. As always thanks for sharing Ron.

Comments are closed