With emphasis on the word “potential”.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
A few weeks ago this Western Meadowlark on Antelope Island serenaded me for about 30 seconds while ‘he’ and his mullein perch were bobbing back and forth and up and down in the morning breeze. A moving target like he was used to be a significant challenge for me to keep in sharp focus but in this situation the Canon R5’s animal/eye detection performed like a champ, so virtually all of my photos of him were very sharp. What a treat.
I like the photo for its singing pose, diagonal perch (I’ve always been fond of diagonal perches), clean background and unobstructed view of the bird. In the majority of my meadowlark photos the bird is perched on sagebrush, which has numerous vertical twigs that usually block our view of a significant portion of the bird so I appreciate being able to see the entire meadowlark.
Old, dried mullein flower stems are extremely common on parts of the island but in my experience birds don’t perch on them very often and I’m not sure why. I have a few photos of meadowlarks, Horned Larks, shrikes and even Burrowing Owls perched on dried mullein but not nearly as many as I’d expect to after nearly 14 years of visiting the island regularly with camera in hand.
What I really lust after is photos of birds perched on mullein when it’s flowering but that happens even less often. I’ve imagined in my mind what a singing meadowlark, with its brilliant yellows, would look like while perched on a flowering mullein stem with its cascade of matching yellow flowers.
The reason I don’t have photos like that isn’t for lack of mullein. In July, huge swaths of Antelope Island are festooned with so many flowering mullein that entire hillsides look yellow but finding a bird perched on one of them is a bird photographer’s version of a snipe hunt.
Mullein is invasive on the island and all those dried flower stalks can be a pain when trying to photograph birds and critters on the ground but their potential as attractive perches when they’re flowering is almost limitless.
For me at least, that potential remains almost entirely unfulfilled and that’s frustrating. .
Ron
I really wish that someone would go harvest that mullein. It is a very useful herb! Love that angle on the singer, too.
No harvesting allowed on the island, Arwen. It’s a state park.
I can hear that meadowlark from here! A lovely picture that might—just might—be enhanced by flowering branches, but I’ll enjoy as is. And keep fingers X’d for you that someday (perhaps this summer) you’ll get your wish of a meadowlark/flowered stalk combo!
It could happen this summer, Chris. But another strike against me is the fact that by the time mullein blooms, meadowlarks have largely stopped singing on territory and they’re much less “sticky” after breeding season.
Invasive plants thrive in the most inhospitable environments don’t they?
Your wish would make an incredible photo. I so hope you can realise it.
If I realize it, you’ll be seeing it EC.
A bit jealous of your 30-second serenade. Glad the R5 is removing one challenge to your mullein and wondering if there’s something about the “active” flowers that is deterring the birds using them for perches.
Marty, I believe I remember reading that there’s a compound in mullein seed pods that is a strong roach repellant. So who knows what might be in the flowers that birds don’t like.
I can visualize him swaying to and fro on that skinny perch. Makes one marvel at their ability to balance given that and their long toes and claws not being able to really grasp the stem. And singing on top of it. Quite the performance. Another win for you and the R5.
Lyle, birds on moving perches used to be one of my most difficult subjects to get sharp. In that situation I’m usually close to the bird so it’s critical that I focus on the eye for reasons related to depth of field. And keeping my active focus point on a moving eye wasn’t easy with my 7DII.
Beautiful words and photos.
Thank you, Michael.
What a wonderful shot THAT could be– “Meadowlark with flowering mullein”
—-I surely hope you get it. I’ve never before seen mullein in flower-only the
dried seed-stalk– and it’s spectacular– thanks !
Kris, if I ever get that shot you can count on seeing it here!
That is one heck of a lot of Mullein there on the island. Did not realize it was invasive. Long past anyone being able to remove it. Seems almost impossible that you can’t find a perched bird in all of that.
Love the Western Meadowlark. Always one of my favorites.
While you wait, you are sure accomplishing a lot even with the hurting back.
“While you wait, you are sure accomplishing a lot even with the hurting back.”
I’m not accomplishing as much as you might think, Everett. I have a litany of things I’ve been putting off.
Nice! That is a helluva patch of mullin (on Indian Tobacco as Joe knows it)! We have some of it and can be tough to kill with it’s “fuzzy” leaves that shed herbicide easily. Snipe Hunt indeed – haven’t heard that one in awhile…. 😉
Young Killdeer are out – past the cotton ball on toothpick stage and following adult trying to lead the car away from them – bit of a challenge. Northern Saw Whet’s have returned – heard but not seen.
“haven’t heard that one in awhile”
I’m just a… wellspring of outdated terms and phrases, Judy. Comes from being an old fart I guess.
Jealous of your Saw-whets.