And this brutal heat.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Five days ago in the west desert I was trying to draw a bead on a Sage Thrasher buried in a bush (the same thrasher I posted photos of two days ago) when I had a very brief opportunity for a grab shot of this Lark Sparrow. A split second after I got ‘him’ in focus he took off steeply upward, which gave me a shooting angle and flight posture that some refer to as “angel wings”. It’s a term I generally don’t use but it works for some.
But whatever you want to call the flight posture, I like it. Especially with his flared tail and a near-perfect head turn in good light. The harlequin facial markings of the species are a bonus.
A vertical composition of the same photo reveals the perch he took off from.
I can’t close my post today without sending sympathetic thoughts to my readers who are suffering in this unbearable heat. Here in Salt Lake City it’s been 100° or slightly above for days and it’s supposed to be 106° today and tomorrow, before dropping a few degrees after that.
Birds are having a hard time too. I clean and refill my back yard bird bath daily and I’ve never seen so many birds using it in the mornings and evenings. During the heat of the day, birds seem to disappear as they seek relief from the heat in direct sunlight.
Each day about 1 1/2″ of water evaporates from my bird bath in this extremely dry heat. I can just imagine how much is evaporating daily from Great Salt Lake.
Ron
What a beautiful shot of his leap into the air!!
Thank you, Pat.
I love this photo and the bird! I see Lark Sparrows when they make their way through these parts (East Coast New England) in the Spring and Fall. It’s always special!
Stay cool youse guys… we are complaining out here about repeated days in the mid nineties and high humidity! Sometimes you feel like you can’t breath – Florida weather!
Thanks, Joanne – glad you like it. I don’t know why but I think of Lark Sparrows as western birds. Silly me.
Love, love, love the photo. And feel for you and the birds and other critters in that obscene heat.
Thank you, EC. “Obscene” heat is a good way to put it,
Without your camera I would certainly never seen a pose like this from a Lark Sparrow. Great shot.
The heat has finally broken for us here in western Oregon. Today it’s expected to reach a “cool”. 89. Far better than the 103 of a few days ago. A high of over 100 was once very rare here but no longer. It seems we can expect a few such days each summer now.
Thanks, Dan. I’m envious of your expected 89° as a high. That sounds so… refreshing.
Nice capture, I like the light and colors. It has been nice seeing them on Antelope Island again this year. They have been missing for so many years.
April, I agree about seeing them on the island again. Although I didn’t see any this morning.
I don’t think I have ever seen a better bird take-off photo. Awesome would not be an exaggeration. We are the same here temperature wise Ron. 100 every day and we are up here in the mountains of north-central AZ not down in the Phoenix valley where temps are ranging from 108 to 114 daily. We have had t-storms with hail two days in a row that gives us a little relief. It is monsoon season of course.
Thanks very much, Everett.
I keep waiting for your monsoons to make it up here, as they always do sometime in the summer, but it hasn’t happened yet. Not even close.
Like the shots – noticed the lark has an uneven upper beak – almost like a tooth – something I haven’t seen before! 🙂
New resident in the diggins – a toad about 2″ in diameter and BOY does it blend into our dirt! Had it not moved and brushed a plant I’d never have seen it – not easy to find even with that.
Heat is brutal here also – over 100 in front of the house for a couple of days now and 90’s will be the rule the rest of the month. Belt Creek going down fast so watering the trees etc. as much as I can – hope it leaves enough to keep the well going! Pond losing water fast and the birds REALLY like it and the sprinklers…….. 😉
” the lark has an uneven upper beak – almost like a tooth”
Good eye, Judy. I don’t think I’ve noticed that before in this species either.
Interesting about your toad. As I kid I used to see the occasional salamander on the MT farm but never a toad.
That beak almost looks crocodilian. And those tucked in feet seem very sweet somehow – dont know why.
“That beak almost looks crocodilian.”
That’s an interesting observation, Frances. I see what you mean.
What a neat photo! The tail is beautiful, and I love how it tucks its feet together for takeoff. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, although the eBird sightings map shows them in Central WA. Will have to look closer at our LBJs.
That’s a scary figure on water loss from your birdbath, multiplied on the bigger scale…not good.
“That’s a scary figure on water loss from your birdbath”
Carolyn, it’s probably less than an inch and a half but it’s definitely more than an inch. Every day.
Very interesting shot. Cannot seem to decide which composition to prefer. Both have their points.
Sounds like you are having the same weather we are having here in The San Fernando Valley in So Cal. It’s brutal. We have both a front and backyard recirculating fountain/birdbaths. Both are very busy these days.
Michael, I visited Antelope Island this morning. A whole LOT of birds were cooling off along the shore along the causeway. And that was before it got blazing hot.