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![\"loggerhead](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/loggerhead-shrike-1648-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, tiny branch tip removed,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This adult Loggerhead Shrike (I’m also beginning to see juveniles) picked a clean perch and stuck as I approached. This is one of those cases where I was able to have some choice in my background by choosing where to stop my pickup. Instead of plain blue sky or solid white clouds (yuck) I was able to maneuver so that a shaded mountain formed my backdrop. The dappled light on the hillside gave me some dark color tone variety in the background that appeals to me. The\u00a0shrike was close, I had good light, the entire perch is sharp\u00a0and the\u00a0subject was cooperative (at first).<\/p>\n But what I like most about this image is the way the shrike is sitting on the twig. The combination of the fluffed belly feathers, the squatting posture and how deeply the twig is “imbedded” in the\u00a0feathers makes it appear to me\u00a0as if\u00a0the bird is an integral part of the perch. In fact I’ll go so far as to say that the\u00a0shrike reminds me of a large,\u00a0bird-shaped\u00a0gall on an oak branch or some other species of plant. And I like that.<\/p>\n What I didn’t like was my luck (or lack thereof) when the bird took off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When it did so it quickly hopped up from its squatting position, twisted to my right (opposite the direction it had been facing), and took off in\u00a0an unexpected\u00a0direction. And wouldn’t you know it, I clipped the tip of one\u00a0miserable primary feather.<\/p>\n I often clip body parts\u00a0in situations like this but when I catch a pose that I like a lot it hurts more than usual.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There were many interesting bird and large mammal photo subjects on Antelope Island yesterday morning but in my mind this Loggerhead Shrike stood out.<\/p>\n![\"loggerhead](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/loggerhead-shrike-1664-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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