Chipping Sparrow, Sage Thrasher and Northern Mockingbird. And it’s an attractive perch too so at first glance one might assume these photos had been set up.
They weren’t. I don’t shoot setups. Ever.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Two months ago I photographed this Chipping Sparrow on an isolated branch of a wild rose in Box Elder County. It turned out to be a popular perch, probably because it was the highest branch on the plant and set apart from the others.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 1600, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Seven minutes later this Sage Thrasher landed on the same branch. The thrasher was so close I had to shoot vertically with the bird in this pose so I couldn’t keep the end of the branch and the last two rose hips in the frame.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
And two days earlier this Northern Mockingbird posed nicely for me on the same perch.
Those mornings at the wild rose almost seemed like a bird frenzy compared to the bird drought we’re going through now. It’s discouraging. We need colder temperatures and significant snow to turn things around, especially with raptors. They’re forecasting cold and snow for the end of the week and weekend but I’m trying to avoid getting my hopes up.
Based on their track record around here forecasters don’t know squat about predicting weather more than a day or so ahead.
Ron
Note: In the three hours since I published this post both Accuweather and Intellicast have changed their forecasts from snow by the end of the week to no snow. At least they’re consistently inconsistent, I’ll give them credit for that…
You found the jackpot! It will be interesting if it is a popular perch next year.
Wonderful shots Ron what a fantastic perch as well. Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte Norton
interesting about the excellent perch and beautiful pictures.
About the forecasters – I have said for a long time that in my next life I will become an economist or a weather forecaster – no-one ever expects you to be correct!
Yup, very few of us hold their feet to the fire. I’m working on it…
Beautiful photos all three! Honestly I can not choose a favorite here! ❤️ That background is stunning also accentuating both the birds and the hips. Certainly feel the same way about the weather forecasters (predictors). Heading to Milwaukee yesterday to bring my mother for an early morning surgery, I left at 2 a.m. since this ‘big winter storm’ was forecast with suggestions to avoid the area. Needless to say I did not encounter any snow storm and got there nearly two hours early! I really think the weathermen want their ‘glory-time’ and compete with news-casters…my opinion only. Every snow forecast has turned out to be ‘an event’!
Thank you, Kathy. When I first published this post the mockingbird photo was my favorite of the three. But now I’ve changed my mind and prefer the thrasher image.
There’s nothing like weather and weatherpersons/forecasts to bring out opinions. I know I have mine…
Ron, the words “chance of” caught my eye when I just checked the forecast. The “chance of” gets forecasters off the hook, I guess.
Like you, sure wish we could get some much needed precipitation in our area.
BTW, I like the Chipping Sparrow’s hair style. The rose hips do a good job of framing all 3 photos.
Thank you, Ron
You’re right about that Chipping Sparrow. Pretty snazzy “do”. Thanks, Alice.
Years ago a weather forecaster friend said our area was a forecaster’s nightmare – bad enough to have to tear up a 3 day forecast, ridiculous to have to tear up a 3 hour forecast! 😉 They’re better, BUT is not advisable to just check the forecast in the morning as it often changes several times throughout the day! Too many variables come together here!
Yup, east of the mtns from about Great Falls to Cut Bank – weather doesn’t get much more unpredictable or more extreme than that in the lower 48.
Card series. 😀 I just love them. Especially that mockingbird.
Good! Thanks, Arwen.
Ron,
Just a note, because people love to bash weather forecasting: it is sometimes literally impossible to predict the weather one day out. At other times you may have 80-90% confidence in a prediction 10 days out.
How can this be? Weather is a chaotic system; this means that very small differences in initial condition can create huge changes very rapidly. Essentially some patterns that we observe can be easy to extrapolate, others will always be unpredictable no matter how sophisticated our data and models become.
If a forecast shows a less than 70-80% chance of something, it’s better to treat it as a possibility than a prediction. A more realistic weather forecast would plainly mark confidence intervals, the current prediction window, and maybe show the probabilities of multiple possible outcomes, but I’ll bet it wouldn’t see widespread use. People like certainty — even when it’s just the illusion of certainty.
I know you probably know a lot of this because chaotic dynamics play a major role in ecology as well; just thought I’d mention it for others who are frustrated by how ‘bad’ our forecasts are.
“If a forecast shows a less than 70-80% chance of something, it’s better to treat it as a possibility than a prediction”
Agreed, Pangolin. But that’s not what forecasts generally do – they often treat possibilities and predictions the same. So I’ll continue to bash them for it.
BTW, my good friend Jim DeWitt blogged on a very similar subject this morning.
https://wickershamsconscience.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/some-turbulence-ahead/?fbclid=IwAR2YOxx0iIVZ-jnrZPehvDImwACUk7rJAEDEubaqn2fuavI13I05gujQBLM
“So I’ll continue to bash them for it.” We have to take out our frustration on someone, Right!
Absolutely!
“We have to take out our frustration on someone, Right!”
I’ve got a list! 😉
Care to share?
Delightful photos and Interesting color sequence: Chipping Sparrow with a patch of gray (thanks to Dick Harlow for pointing out), intermediate gray/brown on the Sage Thrasher, and the predominantly gray Northern Mockingbird.
Thank you, Lyle.
Wonderful shots — those of us who know you know these shots are serendipitous and NEVER set up! 🙂 Thanks for adding some much-needed beauty to my day.
We’re supposed to get some rain later in the week; I’ll believe it when I see it.
I see you’re a forecaster skeptic too, Marty!
Yes, I’m sure my blog followers know they wouldn’t be setups. I’m more concerned about others.
If I may, I will offer my congratulations on the ID of the Chipping Sparrow. I believe it is a first winter bird. It does not have the streaky plumage of a juvenile, but has the grayish nape, buffy on the sides of the breast, dark line running through the lores to the base of the bill, all diagnostics for a Chipping Sparrow.
The Sage Thrasher is superb, his eye just stands out with a bang when you first look at this image, and the Mocker is good as well.
We are in the middle of a snow storm, lingering and moving slowly. Forecast is for very cold weather to come down on us after this storm and it is ONLY November! That sound like I’m complaining – Not so! Although, I would like the roads to be clear so we could get out and I could photograph. Maybe a slight, little complaint.
Dick, I wish I could take credit for the ID but I had help. Thanks, and good luck with your roads.
The rose hips really add to the photo. Much more interesting than just the normal bird on a branch photos that we mostly get. Very nice Ron. Hope the bird populations pick up for you very soon. Your mentioning of the weather forecasters made me laugh. With all the computerized equipment and the ability to follow weather patterns as they move across the country you would think today’s professionals would be much more accurate than they are. I sometimes think that the old guys of my granfather’s time who pretty much went with their gut feeling were almost as good.
Everett Sanborn
Prescott Arizona
You may be right about the old-timers, Everett.
I find it (semi) amusing that on those relatively rare occasions when the long-term (several days) predictions of forecasters turn out to be right they usually brag about how accurate they were, but they very rarely own up to it when they’re wrong.
The Chippie must be an immature bird. It lacks the rusty crown and defined white/black markings on the head. Possibly it is a nonbreeding adult (frankly, that could be an adult in its first winter, in other words, an immature), but fully adult birds keep their summer plumage all year here in the Midwest. Is there a difference in the West?
By the way, I’m a new follower, and your photography is excellent.
Thanks very much, Leland. To be honest I don’t know. I’m out of my league when it comes to sparrows.
But you got the basic ID correct. I thought of Clay-Colored Sparrow, but the head markings are not correct, and I don’t know offhand if it’s found that far west.
I’m enjoying your photography and blog a lot. A client who divides time between Oregon and Iowa recommended it.
I actually got help with the ID. Sparrows often befuddle me. I’m really just a bird photographer with a strong interest in behaviors, rather than a traditional birder.
Welcome to my blog, Leland. Good to know how you found it.
VERY nice photo’s 🙂 I’m surprised they weren’t cleaning the rose hips off on their various visits. Some perches are “the place to be” – notice that here tho more with the raptors than the smaller birds. Yes, birds are scarce here also – WAY fewer than usual at the feeders. The Buffalo Berries and some Chokecherry bushes, which had a bumper crop this year, still are loaded with fruit. Generally by now they have been pretty well stripped by everything including pheasants…….
Thanks, Judy. If by “cleaning the rose hips off” you mean eating them, in the many hours over several days I spent at the wild rose I never did see a single bird eat one of the hips.
Your news about the lack of birds and “left over” berries is discouraging…