![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-6789-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-6789-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nBut there was method in his madness.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Three days ago I found this immature White-crowned Sparrow in a mixed flock of songbirds that included a few Dark-eyed Juncos and a single American Goldfinch. It was the coldest morning I’ve seen so far this year (16\u00b0 F. at sunrise) so at first the birds were more than a little lethargic. But it didn’t take long for hunger to trump the freezing temps, so they soon began to actively forage for food in the bushes.<\/p>\n Normally I wouldn’t post this photo because it’s rather run-of-the-mill and the setting is busy and not particularly attractive. But I like to post a photo that shows what the bird was doing just prior to the beginning of the action (these three shots are sequential in a burst, with a cumulative elapsed time of less than 3\/10ths of a second).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Suddenly and without warning ‘he’ raised his wings to take off. I get a kick out of this posture because the only portion of his body that seems involved in the strenuous activity of takeoff is his wings. The rest of his body looks like his intention was to remain perched for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n But his actual intention was to take off vertically, so this seemingly relaxed body posture didn’t last long.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 1250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n His legs sprang into action and, along with his wings, launched him straight up. I suspect he took off vertically to avoid twigs in front of him. Either that or his intended next perch was above him.<\/p>\n In this photo I had oodles of room in the frame above him but in the next shot in the burst he was completely out of frame – not even the tip of his tail remained. It was as if he’d been launched from a slingshot or shot from a gun.<\/p>\n Whatever his motivation for taking off vertically, I really like that second shot because his wing position seems to contradict his body posture. It’s just different enough to tickle my fancy.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS – Just so you know, I now have my primary computer back from the shop. All it needed was a deep cleaning (they performed a “tune-up” on it while they had it). <\/em><\/p>\n I had no idea that dusty, dirty innards in a computer could cause the “blue screen of death” but that’s what happened. I always thought that blue screen, along with the error message “Inaccessible boot-up device”, meant that the hard drive had failed. Live and learn.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" But there was method in his madness. (3 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-6790-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-6790-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-6791-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-6791-ron-dudley\\"")
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