One cooperative bird in six hours and 220 miles. I won’t be doing that again anytime soon.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
My very long trip to the west desert yesterday morning was largely unproductive, with the exception of this surprisingly cooperative Dark-eyed Junco. “He” spent about 10 seconds on this relatively isolated perch which allowed me to get quite a few shots of him. He didn’t give me many poses but considering how the rest of my morning went, I’ll take what he gave me without complaining. Much.
I find that out of focus, vertical twig directly in front of the bird to be distracting so…
I played around with getting rid of it. I like this version better but it isn’t exactly what my camera saw, or what I call “real”.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
This is the only other pose he gave me. I actually prefer it over the first pose, which seems a little too stiff and formal to me. With the bird facing away from the out of focus twig, I don’t find it to be nearly as distracting.
What I really wanted was takeoff and/or flight shots but…
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
the darn bird had other plans and took off away from me.
Dark-eyed Juncos are one of the most common and familiar passerines in North America, which probably explains why many photographers tend to ignore them. This is what Cornell’s Birds of the World has to say about their familiarity:
The Dark-eyed Junco “is familiar because of its ubiquity, abundance, tameness, and conspicuous ground-foraging winter flocks, which are often found in suburbs (especially at feeders), at edges of parks and similar landscaped areas, around farms, and along rural roadsides and stream edges. Audubon (John James, in 1831) stated that “there is not an individual in the Union who does not know the little Snow-bird,”… and to some people “snowbird” is the junco’s name today. A recent estimate set the junco’s total population at approximately 630 million.”
630 million is a lot of birds but in my view “familiarity” is no reason to ignore them, even if they insist on taking off away from me.
Ron
PS – It wasn’t like I wasn’t tantalized and teased by other birds yesterday.
I counted at least 15 Bald Eagles in a grove of trees but they were all strongly side-lit, partially blocked by branches and twigs, they weren’t very close and none of them were flying. All I could do was drool over them, so drool I did.
“Common” they may be, but still I find such joy in seeing these cheery little birds out and about (especially in my yard). So I ♥️ all your photos, distracting twig not withstanding. (As Michael said, it wasn’t very noticeable until you mentioned it!)
But the Bald Eagle tree — never mind drooling, I think my heart would stop altogether if I came upon that scene, whether or not I could get an unobstructed view of them! Tantalizing is the word!
“it wasn’t very noticeable until you mentioned it!”
I do tend to point out the flaws, don’t I Chris. Guilty as charged.
He is a lovely little junco! His colors show beautifully in these photos. We have lots of white crowns now here is central CA and a few juncos. Used to have more of them and I miss them.
Catherine, there were far more White-crowns in the bushes than there were juncos. White-crowns are about the only birds that are in that area in what used to be their normal numbers.
Beautiful photos. Great to see all the eagles, sorry they were not cooperative for you. I have juncos in the yard and such amazing variations in their colors. I have not been able to get photos of many of the passerines in my yard this year. Too many hawks have taken up daily residence. Literately sitting on tree branches and fence lines. One merlin has taken up residence on my air conditioner trying to capture the birds eating under the bushes where I place meal worms for the towhees. I was thinking of going out to the west desert next week. I thought I would try out the new 4 Runner. I have to laugh because every time I type 4 Runner I seem to reach for the caps and type $ Runner. Appropriate, I still have sticker shock!
I know what you mean about sticker shock, April. Especially when it comes to vehicles but virtually everything else too.
Yesterday I broke down and bought a small bucket of chicken at KFC. Their price had already gone up at least twice during the pandemic but yesterday the price for the bucket had gone up an additional $2. And like they often do, they screwed up on the selection of chicken pieces that are supposed to come in the bucket.
No more KFC for me. Oh well, it’ll be better for my arteries.
1 Junco/220 miles, not a great ratio, ouch! But you did see some eagles, so that helps. And the tree they are sitting in is wonderful, all twisty/turn-y in the big branches, and ending in the feathery, lacy stuff.
So, you saw some nature!
(I’m counting birds today for Project FeederWatch – so far 6 House Sparrows, 3 Juncos – hmmm.)
Thanks, Carolyn. I saw a few other birds too but not nearly as many, or the variety, as I used to in that area.
‘He’ is beautiful and I would delight tn seeing him and his relatives. A long drive like that? Not. Emphatically not.
I hope that the birds are much more cooperative on your next outing.
Thanks, EC. About 60 miles of that drive was going slow and looking for birds in beautiful country so… there’s that.
Sensational series Ron, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Charlotte.
I laughed out loud at the third image. Not at you but at your luck with the bird facing away. I love the second image with the light on the bird’s face. On dreary days like we’re having now, seeing any bird is a delight for me.
“On dreary days like we’re having now, seeing any bird is a delight for me.”
Linda, Birds are so scarce now I feel that way pretty much any day.
Glad you mentioned how common they are. I did a list of ten birds I am likely to ignore and it included them of course. They are everywhere at a few of our lakes, but they really are attractive birds and I do sometimes that a couple shots of them. Wow 220 miles is a long trip for bird photography. I salute you for that. Two of our lakes I go to are one and a half miles from my house.
Envious too of that area with all the eagles. Good post Ron.
“Two of our lakes I go to are one and a half miles from my house.”
Envious of that, Everett. I have a couple of ponds close but not much else.
I’ve always admired and enjoyed juncos and would love to have
even just one down here in S. Utah–haven’t yet seen a ONE so far
this fall/winter– no goldfinches either. Very short on even “common”
birds this season…….
We’re short on pretty much everything with feathers, Chris. Although I did see a fair number of goldfinches yesterday. From a distance of course. And White-crowned Sparrows.
I really like seeing Dark-eyed Juncos. For us here in So. Cal. they come with Fall and Winter, and my wife and always happy to see these pretty birds feeding on the backyard lawn and bathing in the fountain. Note: Still no White-crowned Sparrows though.
I like the first photo, and I did not feel distracted by the out of focus twig, well that is until you mentioned it. Then it became real distracting. Now the cleaned-up version looks better.
You might say it was long trip for very little. I for one enjoyed what you got and shared.
Thanks, Michael. I suspect that we’ll need significant snow in the valleys, and accompanying cold, before I see juncos in my neighborhood and at my feeder. I look forward to both the snow and the juncos. Extreme cold, not so much.
Nice view of this hardy little sparrow. Yesterday morning I had the same luck in the back yard– another cooperative junco and nothing else nearby. Nearly froze to death.
Kenneth, our shared experience is another reason to appreciate juncos.