Last year in this general location in the mountains I could only get harsh sidelight on the feeding nuthatches but yesterday morning I had a great light angle. It made a big difference.
1/8000, f/5.6, 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
Last year in this area the nuthatches always seemed to prefer Doug Fir trees where I could only get strong sidelight and my images suffered for it. But they’re finally actively feeding on the cones again this year and yesterday morning several of the trees they were using were in almost perfect light. With this species in particular that helps a lot because their bright whites are so very easy to overexpose in sidelight.
This is a fairly typical pose for Red-breasted Nuthatches as they hang upside down from the cones to get at the seeds. I think the cones and needles are attractive in the setting and when combined with the colorful bird and an interesting behavior the resulting images have great appeal for me.
1/6400, f/5.6, 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
Apparently they have to remove the bract before they can get at the seeds within the cones. They usually drop the bract before reaching into the cone with their fairly long bill for the seed. Here we see a bract in the tip of the bill before it was dropped. The bracts are those distinctive 3 lobed “rat tails” we see between the cone scales. They’re needle-sharp so it makes sense that they have to be removed.
Yesterday my experience with these nuthatches was one of a few triumphs and many frustrations. For some reason most of the hundreds of shots I took of them were unexplainably soft. I fiddle-farted around with my camera settings trying to figure out why and toward the end of my session with them I was finally getting sharp shots, including these two. So I hope to be up there in the mountains again later this morning to have another go at it.
Few things are more aggravating for a bird photographer than unexplainably soft photos so I’m anxious to find out if I’ve solved the problem.
Ron
Note:
Yesterday was a reminder of how uncomfortable it can be to photograph birds for extended periods of time in cold temperatures. I saw temps as low as 10° F and that was on the valley floor before I got into the mountains (for some reason my pickup thermometer no longer functions when I’m driving at slow speeds on dirt roads). I spent over 90 minutes at this spot without starting or moving my pickup with the windows down so my hands and feet were damned cold for much of the time.
I guess I’ve lost the “temperature hardening” I had when I lived in northern Montana so I’m now a bit of a wimp.
Sorry about so many soft shots, but these two are delightful! Love the Nuthatch acrobatics! 🙂
I have Reynaud’s as part of my fibro, so I’d REALLY be screwed in “frozen-finger” weather. 😉
Thanks, Marty.
And I’m sorry about your Reynaud’s syndrome. Nope, not a good mix for shooting in the cold.
Nuthatches and Chickadess are two of my favorites. They are so polite at the feeders: Take a nut, then fly off so others can get a nut; I assume they do the same with cones. A curious evolutionary adaptation: to deter predators, caching behavior? Off topic, but I really like the photo of the Doug Fir. Our variety in Washington has “rat tails” that hug the scales, i.e., that don’t curl out like yours.
Lyle, for the last two days I’ve been photographing nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees in these Doug Fir trees. Sounds like you’d love being here.
I think at least part of it is due to caching. These birds were sometimes caching a seed in the same tree where they got the seed out of a cone only seconds before. And then going back for more.
I do love this acrobatic charmer. Thank you so much for freezing your digits for us. We had a 20C (68F) temperature range yesterday from what I consider pleasant to downright hot. Sadly the pleasant temperatures were largely gone shortly after the sun rose.
I do hope the soft focus issues are gone.
Thanks, EC. I should know soon if today’s shots are sharp. I’m loading them into my computer as I type.
The first photo is soooo nuthatch! Love it. The clarity of what’s happening is great on the second one. Thanks for the explanation. Bob (husband) and I both use Canon equipment. We go through those photo-soft periods and are finding them equally frustrating. It seems that once the camera gets a slightly out-of-focus setting, it just won’t easily let go of it. I haven’t figured out whether other photographers, with Canon or other brands of cameras have the same problem but don’t want to talk about having soft photos. One thought I’ve had just now is to focus on something that’s much closer or further to “unstick” the focus. I’m not sure that would work, but I rarely have this happen with two different subjects in a row. I’m also rarely thinking clearly when my camera’s acting up, which may explain why I haven’t thought of this in the field.
Amazing how “tunnel vision” slips in when the camera is acting up in the field! 😉 Interesting idea on changing the focus to something closer to get it to unlock…….
Nancy, whenever I think or suspect I might be getting sharp shots I typically focus on the background for a second and then refocus on the bird. I’ve tried that many times in the past but I’m still not sure if it has any affect.
Yes, other brands have similar problems. Mia is usually shooting with me and she shoots Nikon. Nearly every time I’m having trouble getting sharp shots she does too. Yesterday was an exception. Most of her shots were soft while most of mine were not.
Beautiful photos! We have had the discussion before about cold air being thicker. Do you think that caused the softness in the earlier photos and as the air warmed the photos were sharper?
I’m not sure, April. One thing I’ve wondered about is if it could be related to variable contraction of the ends of my lens. Half of it is sticking out the window into the cold and the other half is inside and at least a little warmer (if the sun’s shining). That could be especially true early in my session when the inside of my pickup, and my lens, haven’t had time to cool off. Who knows…
Beautiful Ron. Love that first one. I always enjoy seeing them here and taking photos, but we only have the White-breasted. I don’t believe I have ever seen a Red-breasted. Stay warm 🙂
Everett, Red-breasted are less than half the size as White-breasted – 10g vs 21g.
Excellent shots Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
That first pic is a fave for me. I love when you have such interesting pics of the common birds.
Art, that first photo is my favorite of all the nuthatch photos I’ve ever taken (which admittedly isn’t a lot).
Love the shots!
Good. Thanks, Jean.
Great shots!! Is that dried sap on the cones or ice?
Love the scene, wonderful light.
“Is that dried sap on the cones or ice?”
I’ve been trying to figure that out myself, Dick. I suspect it’s the former but I’m not really sure.
Thanks, that is what I’m thinking as well.
BTW, we had 3.21 inches of rain in 36 hours and our field (not our house) is flooded. Very squishy sound when walking on the lawn.
Time to grow gills…
Don’t know how my comment ended up here……..
Neat! They are such cute little devils….. Have a few here, usually buried in shade on one of the spruce tree branches. Really got the colors and acrobatic poses. Looks like sap to me with the shapes of most of it. Not many cones for them to work this year here. Late freeze and high winds took care of most of them….. 🙁 Ungodly mess on the lawn/in the gutters and when green they neither rake nor mow well….. “Cold” doesn’t work at all for me any more and I still live here! 😉
Hope it doesn’t freeze!
Love both photos! And you got the most interesting cones to boot! Such an active bird and so elusive for me. I always seem to only see the ‘whites’ except at my mother’s feeders and I really don’t like feeders photos. I know the ‘frozen finger feeling’ all too well…not looking forward to that.
Thank you, Kathy. I’m not a fan of feeder photos either, whether we can actually see the feeder in the photo or not.