When songbirds launch themselves into the air with their wings closed they can appear to be defying gravity.
A quickly prepared post today. Once again I’m under the gun, this time because my new carpet is scheduled to be installed today. Originally it was scheduled for November 4 but they called at the last minute and asked if they could move it way up, giving me only a day and a half to move out all my furniture and get everything else done in time. To complicate matters, our forecast calls for 2″ (or more) of rain over the next three days and I still have a lot to do before the installers get here in a few hours.
So, two quick photos of a White-crowned Sparrow to the rescue.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Three days ago, while I was trying to photograph the mated pair of Red-tailed Hawks I posted about yesterday, I also spent some time with White-crowned Sparrows in the same area. Most of them were immature birds like this one, although there were a few adults sprinkled in.
For this bird I had oodles of shutter speed for takeoff shots so I gave myself extra room on the left side of the frame and rolled the dice.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 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 got lucky and kept ‘him’ in frame but instead of flying to his next perch he mostly jumped. Either that or he just waited longer than usual to open his wings, I don’t remember which. .
I still like the shot, in part because there’s no potential perches to be seen in front of him and the position of his feet makes it look like he’s running through the air. He’s sharp and we can see his face and eye, including catch light.
Common sparrows, ya gotta love’m.
Ron
Sky Dive – love it 🙂
Great photos of one of my favorite locals. Yes the do defy gravity. I love how they kick off, fold in wings, dive down, open their wings and then take strokes with their wings to gain altitude. Good luck with the carpet too. you work is moving faster than mine! I am still bogged down with our work. I still want the stairs rebuilt with hard wood, before the vinyl and carpet. Between lack of crews and lack of materials it has been hard. Two of the stair companies are not even taking new jobs til the first of the next year, and they told me that way back in May. . The one who said they could do it is booked out til late this year, no exact date and they are very expensive $200 a tread and that is not finished with stain and polyurethane finish. we will have to do that. Like your french doors, time will tell.
That’s such a fun shot! He really does look like he’s running.
Thank you, Arwen.
“Common sparrows, ya gotta love’m.” And I do! Charming photos of a charming LBJ. Those little wings no doubt started pumping as fast as they needed to for a soft landing at the end.
Glad your “installation torture” is nearing its end. 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Chris. So many folks just ignore sparrows, common or not. I don’t understand it.
This cute LBJ is definitely channelling his inner Wile E. Coyote in the second shot. (I looked for the ACME packing crate in the background, but he must have already recycled it.) Thanks so much for the giggles. 😀 And the ear worm, as I now have the Loony Tunes theme song stuck in my head.
Hope your installation goes smoothly. Looking forward to seeing the new carpet. 😉
Enjoy the tune, Marty! 🙂
Nope, I won’t be posting photos of new carpeting. This time I’m sticking to it.
Never say, “Never!” 😈🤪
Ha, where have I heard that before!
Installation moved forward is new to me. I am all too familiar with the opposite.
Good luck. And look after that back as best you can.
I love this subtle little charmer and envy his/her ability to run on air. Thanks.
Thanks, EC. This is the second time an installation of mine was “moved forward”. The same thing happened a few days ago with my new wood floors.
I wonder if this might be an immature bird. Perhaps he hasn’t quite figured out that the wings need to be extended at the moment of take off. Or maybe just an adolescent showing off.
Yup, he’s an immature bird Lyle – just like I said in my post… 🙂
Adults have a distinct black and white head but on this particular morning there were very few adults in the crowd.
That is so cool. Gotta admire the bravery of birds – launching themselves from heights and counting on their wings to work.
Kent, I often think of it as a leap of faith. Thank you.
Love the second shot! So crisp and you caught him/her at the perfect instant.
Yup, I think I did. Thanks, Kathryn.
OK, I finally got my computer set up in my kitchen and working (sorta) right so I should be able to respond to comments and perhaps even work on tomorrow’s post at some time today. It feels so weird to be working at my computer in the kitchen….
Take it easy on yourself for awhile, Ron. Unless it were a request-for-info type of comment I’m pretty sure many of us, certainly I could manage quite well without a basic acknowledgement response. I know I would feel guilty reading a response from you, thinking about how much it cost you. (Makes me think of what is purported to be an old Irish curse where they say ‘May you live in interesting times.’ I’ll therefore have to hope for very boring days for you for at least the next few weeks until the stress fades.)
Don’t feel guilty, Granny Pat. There’s not much else I can do right now anyway with most of my floors torn up and workmen moving all over the house. I’m mostly stuck in the kitchen at my ‘puter.
Ah, well. In that case, glad to be of assistance. 😉
The “running in air” shot is a real kick……but I really admire shot #1– it seems
to me to be a real “classic”– calm, beautifully composed, and even the silvery gray background is very flattering to a subtly colored little bird……..
I’m glad you liked them both, Kris. Most of my shots of these sparrows had attractive, out-of-focus yellow rabbitbrush flowers in the background. This bird was an exception.
Our White-crowned just started arriving a little while ago. That is a super photo. Just launched itself into space. You definitely know you have wings to lift up when you take off like that. Hope all goes well with the carpet install.
Thank you, Everett.
Although not generally a great fan of the puffball birds like sparrows and chickadees I do admit to a fondness for just this type of run/jump/suspended-in-mid-air shots that they often provide because they inevitably bring me a smile to brighten my day. Hope you had fun too.
You bet I had fun with them, Granny Pat. They helped to fill in the time in-between opportunities with the hawks.
How FUN! 🙂 It does look like it’s running on air!
Thanks, Judy.
As with male Mallards I never tire of Sparrows even if common. I especially like Spizella arborea. It would be nice if you were to make a new post of Spizella arborea with some informed content sprinkled in sometime this winter.. yup, definitely. While a new subscriber and admittedly in no position to make suggestions I am also not always good at following “conventions”. Take care.
William, I rarely see or photograph Tree Sparrows. Here’s one of the few photos I have of them.
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2021/03/06/a-tree-sparrow-a-bald-eagle-and-a-request-for-medical-advice/
Interesting photo. The “oodles of shutter speed” served you well.
Your adventures in updating your home decor has seemed more than a bit stressful. Hopefully you’ll be able to relax a bit while the carpet is installed. Doesn’t sound like you’ll be able to get away from the noise, however, unless you go out for a LONG coffee break. None of this has sounded good for your back!
Thank you, Nancy. It’s been stressful in many ways but then I knew it would be. It had to be done. The upside is that the actual installation shouldn’t be nearly as noisy as the hard flooring installation was.