When it comes to being aware of their surroundings birds don’t miss much but this little fella was an exception. Color him clueless.
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 photographed him yesterday morning in the mountains as he was gleaning tiny insects, mostly aphids, from a willow tree. Here he’d leaned way over to harvest bugs from near the base of a clump of leaves. He must have found some goodies in there because he kept sticking his head into the same spot, again and again. The bird is soft because I always try to focus on the eye and my active focus point couldn’t get past the leaves in front of it but in this case the leaves may be the most important part of the story.
Do you see what this bird is missing? From this perspective we can see what the bird apparently didn’t or couldn’t see.
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
In this shot he’s pulled his head back an inch or so from the leaf he’d been reaching around in the previous photo. He had a few aphids on the tip of his bill but there’s an entire army of them in the shade on the underside of the leaf that he never noticed, even though his eye had been only millimeters from them a split second earlier.
He flew off a few seconds after this photo was taken but the clump of aphids on the leaf, including what appears to be a few white larvae, was left undisturbed. When I looked at this and many other similar shots I kept wondering how he could not see them but I guess he just had an oblivious moment or two. It happens to the best of us.
No big deal of course but when it comes to birds little things like this amuse me.
Ron
PS – Sharp eyes may have noticed that this bird is largely missing its tail. Molting season ya know.
Such interesting photos and like the explanations especially.. thank you for sharing..
Maybe his lack of tail gave him a lack of balance to stretch further to see the rest of the aphids. Another day, perhaps. Have you seen a warbler with a lighter eye ring? It has me stumped.
Did you know aphids give live birth? I did not know until Haley told me about it and I watched and photographed it.
Actually I did know that, April. Aphids have very complicated reproduction strategies but I used to teach about parthenogenesis in my zoology and biology classes so I’d occasionally use aphids as an example.
You capture the most amazing details.
I think he knows the aphids are there. A bird can only handle so many at one time. I love French fries, but after a while….
Lyle, perhaps he did know but I’m far from convinced. But your point about French fries is well taken (I love them too).
He is practising moderation.
Even in moult he looks a great deal better than I do on a good day. Clueless resonates here too.
“Practicing moderation”
Either that or the bounty around him was just too much for a single meal…
I’m with Everett. He’s saving those for a snack. Thanks for the chuckle this morning.
P.S. Didn’t notice the tailless state or your note about it the first time through. Guess I’m as oblivious as the warbler (although I doubt I’d miss food 😜😋).
Thank you, Marty. There’s quite a few birds running around without tails these days. Song sparrows in that condition especially
Maybe he’s full and just going to leave those there for his next meal. 🙂 Scruffy looking guy for sure. Definitely would not hire him to work on my roses.
Could be, Everett. He sure looked like he had enough to eat around there.
SO funny! 🙂 Locked in on what he COULD see and must have gotten enough there – or tired of stretching THAT far! 😉 The do look scruffy when moulting. Documenting the behavior appeals to me even if the photos aren’t “portrait” material……..
P.S. Harvest under way in Ft. Benton area – 3 combine fires over the weekend with our hot, dry, harvest weather……..
Combine fires are scary, especially when they spread through dry fields. Obviously wind doesn’t help either. Thanks, Judy.
Take some. Leave some. Lol
🙂
These are great shots, he is just being neighborly leaving something for the next one after him! They do look scruffy when they molt.
Thanks, Dick. I don’t know about “great shots” but I like the behavior they document and for me at least the resulting humor.