![\"loggerhead](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/loggerhead-shrike-2002b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4x tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nI was photographing hummingbirds and other pollinators at our flower patch on Antelope Island when this adult Loggerhead Shrike landed on an ugly perch nearby.\u00a0 I waited for takeoff\u00a0by placing the bird to the far right in the frame to give it plenty of room in the direction it was looking (my left)\u00a0and give me the best chance at avoiding clipped body parts when it launched in that direction\u00a0(usually birds take off in the direction they are looking).<\/p>\n
But this one fooled me and took off to my right.\u00a0 In a nanosecond it was already out of frame and in\u00a0frustration I instinctively\u00a0jerked my lens in that direction and fired off two quick shots – a strategy that almost never works because jerking\u00a0a telephoto\u00a0lens invariably\u00a0causes blurry subjects and the bird is nearly always out of focus by then\u00a0anyway.\u00a0 But this time luck saved the day in two ways:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
by mistake my shutter speed was extremely fast (1\/6400 sec) which helped to compensate for the jerked lens<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
the bird flew at a right angle to me so when the shutter clicked it was the same distance from me as it had been on the perch, which also contributed to sharpness<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The bird is\u00a0slightly past me but I really liked the wing position and the fact that it was in full flight rather than in the process of taking off.\u00a0 I seldom get shots like that of songbirds.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It isn’t often that I get a full-flight shot of a songbird but I did yesterday morning, thanks in part to Lady Luck who sat on my shoulder twice.<\/p>\n
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