And it’s probably not the kind of stretch you think it is. This wasn’t one of those leisurely stretches often done after resting and meant to get the circulation going and increase flexibility. Far from it.
1/2500, f/6.3, 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
Instead it was a stretched out posture near the end of a mighty jump. This Yellow Warbler in the Wasatch Mountains twelve days ago decided to jump to a higher spot on the same branch and it was done without using its wings. The intended landing spot is exactly where the bird is looking on the branch but those pesky leaves had to be cleared so it took some effort without the use of wings – thus the stretched-out pose during the jump.
I guess it’s no big deal but the pose amuses me so I decided to share. Besides, I like most of the setting and the leaves and branches framing the bird.
1/2500, f/6.3, 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
The next shot in the burst was taken just as the warbler was touching down on the new spot. The wings never came out even a little for assistance so it was a precision landing.
I’m hoping to see some new migrants coming through pretty soon but in the meantime Yellow Warblers and a few other species I continue to photograph on those rare occasions when I can go shooting make entertaining and often colorful subjects.
Ron
Very nice images. You make a seemingly mundane subject an interesting study in physiology.
Thanks, Lyle – it’s the “little things”…
I am glad to be back from Ouray, CO [jeeping] so I can again see your wonderful postings every day.
It is pretty amazing that this Yellow Warbler can jump on the branch without using its wings.
BTW, very few birds in the mountains, for some reason. But lots of sheep.
Thank you, Ron
That’s pretty country, Alice. Hope you had a good time, despite the lack of birds.
Love this determined and successful athlete. A tad jealous too.
Thank you, EC.
Just this morning had a long and pleasant but unphoto session with two yellow warblers. I now recognize one of their vocalizations. They were checking me out from deep within the alder branches, so that I never could get a clear shot. But I very much enjoyed their curiosity, as they hopped around looking at me from one perspective to another, up, lower, left, right. . .they now know what I look like. Good thing they didn’t sound the alarm call, I will take it to mean that I passed their inspection as a so-far harmless human. I will go again tomorrow, see if I can get a clear shot in the open, now that they aren’t spooked by me. I like these birds because they are much more savvy than I had thought. Only took me about 70 years to figure that out.
“I never could get a clear shot”
Par for the course with Yellow Warblers, Martha. I wish you luck with them tomorrow.
Olympian posture.
🙂
Neat jump! Also I noticed his body orientation changed with the jump…agility in air. One never knows what these little ones are capable of doing. Great photos also! Slow days here in NE Wisconsin…waiting for the arrival of ‘birds of prey’ anxiously. More and more of the summer visitors are departing. I just received my new lens… Canon’s 100-400 L ISll USM…what a beauty for me…especially after using the 70-300 for a few years. Having the extra reach will be welcomed! 😊
I think you’ll like that lens, Kathy. I have it too. That’s the lens I used for yesterday’s Red-tail post.
Avian Olympics. Great shot and beautiful setting.
Avian Olympics is a good way to put it, Betty. Thanks.
Great shots Ron! I’ve been busy with schoolwork recently so I haven’t been able to comment as often, but congrats on your 8 year anniversary of the site! It brightens my morning, and has helped me with my own photography quite a bit.
Thank you, Xavier. It’s been a (mostly) fun 8 years, that’s for sure.
Great shots Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Pretty amazing they can do that BUT a useful skill in tight quarters for sure! 🙂 Such lovely little birds..:) Ours should be on their way where ever they go as I haven’t seen any for awhile. Yard is VERY quiet with a few gold finches, a couple of robins and thrashers, a few swallows and screaming king fishers left of those that migrate!
I’m jealous of your kingfishers, Judy. I’ve had no luck with them for a long time now.
I know you’ve posted shots like these before, on a few occasions, but it always surprises me when a bird jumps this way, without using its wings. Clearly this one knew what it was doing. You seem to have been having really good luck with Yellow Warblers lately, which is nice to see given how difficult they are to photograph.
Yes, my luck turned around with this species. Susan. Prior to this summer decent shots of Yellow Warblers were sorely lacking from my portfolio. Thank you.
Looks like he stuck the landing. Perfect 10s all around! 🙂 I needed this beautiful bright yellow sunshine at 0-dark-30 this morning. (Loading animals for spay/neuter at 5:30 then in school meetings all day.)
Sounds like you have a busy day in front of you, Marty. Those “meetings” before school started were one of the three things I despised most about teaching. I pretty much loved everything else.
I’ll bite; what are the other two?
Government putting up roadblocks to effective classroom teaching and Parent/teacher conferences. The conferences were potentially a good thing but in my case the parents I really needed to talk to almost never came. And the conference schedule was brutal – full teaching days with conferences tacked on to the end. Made for 14 hour days which took us teachers through the next weekend to recover, both physically and emotionally.
I’m with you on that first one — Those that can, teach. Those that can’t teach pass laws about teaching. We don’t have the same parent conference thing for middle and high school (would be hard to do individual conferences for the parents/guardians of 185 students).
Marty, Some years while I was at South High I had a little over 200 students. Thankfully I never had quite that many during my years at Highland High.
Needless to say, folks in Utah don’t like to pay for the education of their kids. Utah families have the most children out of the 50 states. Hawaii and CA (your state) come in second and third.