A Snowy Egret with a fish and a grooming Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Every bird photographer knows, some days are slow for birds. Or at least for quality photos of birds. For me it was like that three days ago in a remote area of Box Elder County when the only photos I got that I liked were of the Song Sparrow eating midges I posted photos of yesterday and the two birds I’m posting photos of today.
1/8000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
This Snowy Egret spent a long time doing their patented ‘shuffle-step’ with his feet before ‘he’ eventually scared up this small fish that he actually caught (he had quite a few misses). His black bill doesn’t show up particularly well against the dark water but the fish stands out a little better.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Earlier that morning I found this male Yellow-rumped Warbler (aka butterbutt) grooming on an isolated branch in a thicket of twigs and emerging leaves that were at least far enough behind him to be rendered into a soft bokeh by my lens. He wasn’t very close to me but my shots of him were sharp so they stood up reasonably well to substantial cropping.
You’re going to see more of this bird soon because he put on quite a show for me. He had just taken his morning bath so he was doing the shimmy-shake and performing some pretty impressive gyrations in his attempt to dry off and get his feathers in order. This bird photographer went more than a little overboard with the shutter button so I have 696 photos of him to review and cull before I can post photos of his performance..
I think/hope it’ll be worth the wait.
Ron
On an unrelated note:
For those of you who ordered amaranth seeds from me last fall, my ‘volunteer’ amaranth seeds have sprouted. When the young plants first emerge they’re teeny-tiny (of course they are, the seeds are almost microscopic) and they’re reddish-purple. They’re very easy to miss unless you look for the color so I thought I’d tell you what to look for.
Speaking of “easy to miss”, yesterday I accidentally tilled up a row of Swiss Chard that had just barely begun to sprout (I planted them late) so I thought a heads up to my readers was in order. Don’t do what I did. I had to re-plant.
I should have taken photos of the tiny amaranth seedlings. I’ll try to remember to do it today and post one of them soon.
Looking forward to a few of those 696 photos. He is a very cute fellow!
The rumpled butterbutt makes me smile. 💛
Oooh. And ahhh.
Both are stellar photos in my eyes.
Birds always seem to approach their ablutions so enthusiastically. Always a delight to watch.
I am wincing and aching on your behalf at the thought of that much processing ahead.
Thanks, EC. Most of my wincing and aching at the moment is due to working in the garden too much.
Two beautiful examples of their species…. I see egrets fly overhead only occasionally, but (lucky me) I have about a half-dozen Audubon’s butterbutts hang out in my yard every year from late September to late April. I love their cheery presence and chirps at the feeders and fountain. I might have a total of 696 pics of them on my iPhone, no culling required! Good luck to you, sir. 😬
“Good luck to you, sir.”
I’m going to need it, Chris. Thanks.
Your definition of success is a bit different than mine. I would rate these a huge success.
BotW lists 14 Yellow-rumpled something or others. I guess there is only on butterbutt, though.
No worries about tilling under seedlings. I’m a no till gardener.
Lyle, if I didn’t till, especially this year, all I’d have is weeds.
I think I hear that egret’s mom saying “I just got you all spiffed up, and now you are standing in that muddy water, splashing fish juice all over yourself! What am I going to do with you?!” It really should be on the runway at the Westminster dog show, in with the fluffed and puffed Bichon Frises! Best of Show for sure.
Looking forward to the warbler post – we had a few here in Central WA last week, but they are so flitty, it’s hard to see their details, just little flashes of butter and slate grey.
Carolyn, I agree about them being flitty. If this guy hadn’t been attending to his post-bath he’d never have stuck around- just like all the rest of his kind.
Snowy Egrets are among my favorites but I have to go east of the Cascades to see them. Yellow-rumped Warblers were amazing this year. We always have a few every winter. But, we had more this year than we have ever had. From mid-winter until just a couple of weeks ago we had 50+ everyday at our feeders, suet and Bark Butter. They were mixed with about 80% of them being the Myrtle form (white throat) which breeds across Canada and the eastern US. They all left for breeding grounds one night 2 weeks ago. One day we had over 50 and the next morning there were 8 and none the day after that. It was fun while it lasted.
Sounds like you had a blast with them, Dan. An extended one. I’m jealous.
New fav bird – Butterbutt! Excited to see more shots of this cutie!
Kathleen, they’re definitely lookers, that’s for sure. Especially when the males are in breeding plumage like this guy is.
Makes my neck hurt just to think of combing thru 696 images, and then
another go-round tweaking the ones with promise ! I hope that you baby your back with plenty of stretches and twists in between…..if you’re anything like
me, you tend to forget to baby your body when you’re that focused on a new
task………
Yup, I”m EXACTLY like you in that way, Kris. And then I pay the inevitable price.
Have always liked Snowy Egrets from the very first time I saw one. Nice shot especially with the fish. Love those filmy plumes that a long time back almost caused them to be wiped out due to the fashion industry’s demand for the plumes.
Will be looking forward to the Warbler’s photos, but cannot even imagine culling through 696 shots. I feel bogged down if I have to cull through 20 or so.
“cannot even imagine culling through 696 shots”
I can hardly imagine it myself, Everett. But then I go and do it again. And again…
Beautiful capture of the Egret. Bill with the fish shows up well enough IMO. 🙂
Amazing what a mess of bird can turn into once groomed…… 😉
Scattered the Amaranth seeds last evening in a well marked area as I KNOW with all the weeds the wind blows in I’d “do it”… 😉
Thanks, Judy. I hope you have some luck with the amaranth.
Butterbutt, huh. Not very nice of the other warblers to tease like that.
I think they mean it as a compliment…. 🙂
696! Been there. Done that. I have an excitable trigger finger I guess. The processing is a bit painful but the anticipation and satisfaction are sometimes worth it.
The egret shot is moody and evocative. I like it a lot. The warbler ?butterbutt? is cute. We don’t have those here so I’ll have to look them up to see if I can find out why you call them butterbutts. Or maybe one of your next series will show me that portion of the anatomy.
Granny Pat, when I post the grooming series of that bird the reason they’re called butterbutts will become perfectly obvious.
I like that egret photo. The ripples in the water and the fish add so much to this moment in time.
When I read 696 butterbutt photos I cringed. The only people who really appreciate what that means are people who have walked through that process themselves. I appreciate you and your work.
Thanks very much, Michael. That many photos of the same bird make me cringe too. But the only way to separate the wheat from the chafe is to dig in and get it done. Painfully.