My time with this bird and others ended prematurely because of an encounter with a porcupine. A dead porcupine at that.
1/5000, 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
I rarely post photos of House Finches, not because they’re common but because I don’t get many of them in natural settings I like. I find them easy to photograph at my feeder or elsewhere in my yard but in the places I normally shoot they’re not very common and I’m often concentrating on other birds anyway.
But yesterday morning I was at my favorite serviceberry bush in the mountains when this male landed in front of me and started munching on berries. As you can see he was a messy eater and it only got worse.
1/5000, 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
Sometimes he had so much juice and so many berry gobs on his bill that he had to shake his head to get rid of them. I tried to get some photos of flying berry bits but he always had his eyes closed or I got no catch light in the eye when he did it.
1/6400, 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
This ripe one was his berry of choice for this feeding session.
1/5000, 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
Sometimes he got a pretty good chunk of it but man what a mess he was!
He fed here for quite a while and I got many photos of him eating but when he was through he was…
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
just as intent on cleaning his bill as he had been about eating like a pig (not to disparage pigs…).
He flew to a dying part of the bush for the cleaning activities and he worked his bill over for what I estimated to be at least two full minutes. Think about it – two minutes is a very long time for a songbird to be cleaning its bill. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bird of any species, including raptors, clean their bill for that long.
Perhaps he was embarrassed by how messy it was to start with…
1/3200, 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
But when he was eventually finished he’d done a reasonably good job.
1/4000, 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
This may or may not be the same bird several minutes later as it took off after another berry-eating session in a slightly more hidden part of the bush. I presume it’s a different bird because he sure was a more tidy eater.
I left the tree and headed for home almost an hour earlier than usual because of a dead porcupine on the side of the road. In order to get the best light on the tree and be far enough off the road for safety reasons I had to straddle that stinky carcass with my tires (over 7 miles of gravel road and the damn thing had to be exactly there!). The porcupine was beneath my pickup and it was rancid and ripe. The stink was truly hellacious and I could stand it only so long before I backed up a few feet in hopes the breeze would blow the stink away from me so I could choke down my chocolate donut. Moving helped a little but not nearly enough. I never did move forward again for the best light on the tree but I was able to get my donut down – a small victory.
In 1965 when I was 18 years old I had hernia surgery in a small-town Montana hospital. They anesthetized me with ether and for more than 24 hours after I woke up that ether smell and taste seemed to ooze from every cell and pore in my body. It was hideous and sickening and I’ll never forget it. My experience with the smell of the decomposing porcupine reminded me of that surgery experience because the smell was with me for the entire 45 minute drive back to my home. I had to eat something after I got home to mostly get rid of it. Growing up on a Montana farm I’ve been around many dead, ripe cows and a few deer and other critters but believe me, rotten porcupine takes the proverbial cake! And I’m usually not particularly sensitive to smells.
See, I told you in yesterday’s post I sometimes blabber on and on. Couldn’t help myself – I think that smell’s coming back again as I type this…
Ron
I wish the House Finches were as fastidious about housekeeping as they are about grooming. Their nests are covered with droppings. This must have some survival value– maybe it turns off predators. Oh, and I still vividly remember the ether dispenser descending on my face when I had my tonsils out in a doctor’s office when I was about 5 or 6 years old.
Ron, it is very late but I found it somewhat I should probably refrain from a reply, but can’t restrain myself. I enjoy the energy of this bird and am glad you posted it.
Thank you, as always, Ron.
Great series! What a mess. I admire your resolve to not let difficult conditions keep you from your donut!
Cheers
I can remember a fifty mile car trip with a German Shepherd who had rolled repeatedly in a VERY dead cow. There was absolutely nowhere to wash her, and even though it was decades ago that sickly sweet pong is still one I clearly remember.
Loved your enthusiastic berry eater. And your blabber.
Yes, such smells remain in our memories forever. Thank you, EC.
I think I’m grateful that there are no images of said porcupine.
I came very, very close to taking some, Arwen. With my long lens of course…
Super series Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Hi Ron. It has been a while in that we have been really busy finalizing our move to S. Arizona, but with today’s post I have to comment on what a pig that house finch is. Reminds me of what my kids looked like when they were little eating in their high chair. They needed a bath after a meal when you let them feed themselves. Then to top that visualization offf with the wretched odor of a decaying porcupine permitting your pickup. You must be dedicated. Thanks again for the posts!
Dedicated or crazy, Frank. Perhaps a little of both.
What a wonderful series of pictures of the little finch. I was thinking of a child eating ice cream! Well I have a stink tale also, Just the other day a dead snake in my yard and did not want to put in my trash can to smell things up, until trash pickup day. Bagging it up yesterday evening. Yuck.
Someday I should tell a rotten fish story I have, Trudy. That was almost as bad as the porcupine.
Love it❗️These serviceberries are giving you a lot of great pictures. That it took him a whole two minutes to clean up that mess is too funny.
As for smells, leaning over my dog in the tub that got skunked is smell that took awhile to leave my mouth and nose😩😩
Have a great day
That serviceberry bush has been a gold mine for birds the past few weeks, Diana. I’m very grateful for it (perhaps the porcupine smell was the price I eventually had to pay for the privilege…).
No wonder this bird had to spend so much time cleaning its bill – his berry covered face reminds me of little kids who have been eating spaghetti. Your ether story brought back my memories of a tonsillectomy when I was not quite 8 years old. Nightmare experience. I’m grateful that they now have better anesthetics. I must say that it was very rude of the dead porcupine to interfere with your enjoyment of your chocolate donut…
I couldn’t believe where that porcupine was, Susan. 7 miles of road, 14 miles of road edge if you include both sides, and it had to be in the EXACT spot I needed to park for good light and the best angle on the part of the tree where the birds were eating berries most. Stinking bad luck!
Great “blabber”..and I can almost smell that porcupine reading this… I can definitely relate to the donut…(personally I prefer a plain cake donut) The photos are excellent as usual. Thank you.
Thanks very much, Steve.
Great images, and an interesting post!
However, the part of your post that brought back uncomfortable memories was not the stench (had enough experience with those smells) but the Ether! In the 30’s and 40’s all hospitals had back then was ether to anesthetize you. I had several operations back then and can still visualize a nurse putting the cup over my nose and mouth, at least that is what I remember, and dreaded that smell each time. I try to stay out of hospitals as much as possible even tho their anesthesia is easier and better today.
Dick, I did some research and some hospitals were using ether until about 1970. One of the reasons they gave it up was its extreme flammability.
Interesting photos Ron. A messy eater indeed, but he did do a good job of cleaning up. I so often ignore House Finches when I am out because we have so many in the backyard. Speaking of carcasses, yesterday when I was out I took some photos of a couple Turkey Vultures who had temporarily taken over one of the Acorn Woodpeckers trees. I noticed that there were about five or six more nearby who were soaring overhead and then swooping down very low not far from where I was. I had already hiked about four miles and did not feel like hiking over to see what the attraction was. Out in the wild there always seems to be enough to keep those big guys satisfied. Have never run into a porcupine carcass though, and maybe after your description I probably don’t wont to.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott Arizona
Believe me, you don’t want to, Everett. At least not one as ripe as yesterday’s.
I ran into pretty strong skunk smell this morning and my immediate thought was that it was delightful compared to the smell of that porcupine. I’m not kidding…
I loved this series–made me laugh out loud, and reminded me of just about everybody’s “toddler eating spaghetti” pictures–EXCEPT that wild critters so rarely get a
splendiferous, delicious, abundant feast like this one that it was a joy to see–was it worth the “price” you paid ? Easy for ME to say—YES!
Looking back I’d say it was worth it, Kris. But it was right on the cusp at the time…
Lovely finch shots. He cleans up well! Olfactory stimuli are some of the strongest memory triggers. Glad the donut won in the end! (I once helped pull quills from an only sort of ripe ex-porcupine — it was bad enough.)
“Olfactory stimuli are some of the strongest memory triggers”
Boy, that’s for sure, Marty. The memory of that ether smell came back almost like it was yesterday.
Love the pics of that sloppy finch! I was just taking pictures of a house finch yesterday round these parts eating berries! I don’t think the berries were quite as juicy as the service berries though and she didn’t get all slathered in paint!
Sorry about the porcupine stink but it does paint a picture of the trials and tribulations of a bird photographer. Thanks for “blabbering”!
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Joanne, this was the messiest bird of any species I’ve seen eating berries. I liked his enthusiasm… 🙂
Who would think a bird could get so involved with eating! He almost looks apologetic in the second photo but the delicacy was too much to be ignored. Even juice stains on the feathers! A great series of photos! Now who would believe a photographer would sit above a carcass, a smelly one at that, for a photo session? Only another photographer…I’m dedicated but believe me…not that dedicated! And to eat a donut while doing it…there has to be some type of award for that! 🙂
Kathy, On days I go shooting very little gets between me and my chocolate donut. But there was no way in hell I could eat it before I moved my pickup a few feet and the breeze took some of the smell away.
Yes, bird photographers are crazy…
YUCK! Yes, some decomposing animals are MUCH worse than others for sure and the smell does seem to linger…….:( Certainly was a messy eater! Probably wishing a “shower” was close by even if the full belly was probably worth it 😉 Huge Golden Eagle on a deer carcass in the ditch yesterday – always forget just how big they are until I’m “up close” – no point stopping as it would have been “gone”. Stench does help some find their lunch….:)
“Stench does help some find their lunch
And sometimes it can help bird photographers find birds but there can sure be a (smelly) price to pay!