{"id":3524,"date":"2011-12-20T10:06:17","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T17:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=3524"},"modified":"2011-12-20T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T17:23:02","slug":"lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazuli Buntings of the San Rafael Swell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For me Lazuli Buntings have long been an elusive subject.\u00a0 Though they’re common in the\u00a0western U.S.\u00a0I rarely see them near my home and when I’ve found\u00a0 them in my travels they either won’t let\u00a0me get close or they’re buried in thickets where I can’t get clean shots of them.\u00a0\u00a0 All that changed on an early June photo\/camping trip to Utah’s remote and visually stunning San Rafael Swell.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3527\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3547-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,661\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3547\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471-300x220.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3527\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3547\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3547\" width=\"900\" height=\"661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471-150x110.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35471-400x293.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0I found the males singing on territory and more cooperative than usual since their preferred singing perch was at the top of low shrubs and they were often so involved with their melodious territorial declarations that they sometimes let me approach them quite closely.\u00a0 This one is perched on greasewood which provided some nice green colors in this arid habitat that they prefer.\u00a0 I like this good look at the bi-colored bill of the species.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3528\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3508\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"841,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3508\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508-280x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3528\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3508\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3508\" width=\"841\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508.jpg 841w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508-280x300.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508-140x150.jpg 140w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3508-400x428.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 841px) 100vw, 841px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>At times one of these males would\u00a0give me a clean perch and background for a typical “bird on a\u00a0stick” image.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3530\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3394\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"745,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3394\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394-248x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3530\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3394\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3394\" width=\"745\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394.jpg 745w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394-248x300.jpg 248w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394-124x150.jpg 124w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3394-400x483.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But more often than not\u00a0the perch would be more cluttered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here I’m less than happy with the out of focus twigs in the foreground but I liked the cottonwood “cotton” stuck to the bill.\u00a0 The unusual background color is from the Entrada Sandstone so common in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3538\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3500-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"771,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3500\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003-257x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3538\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3500\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3500\" width=\"771\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003-257x300.jpg 257w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003-128x150.jpg 128w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-35003-400x466.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/8, ISO 200, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I’ve seldom seen birds get so thoroughly wrapped up in their singing as these buntings did.\u00a0\u00a0 Each one apparently had several “singing stations” within his territory and they would spend approximately the same amount of time at each post before moving on to the next one.\u00a0 If I could approach the bird within that time frame it would usually stay “on duty” there, even with me close, \u00a0until it was time to move on to the next station,<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3540\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3580\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3580\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580-240x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3540\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3580\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3580\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3580-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Occasionally they would take a short break from their tuneful efforts to rearrange themselves on their perch.\u00a0 This one is turning to\u00a0 face a different direction before continuing his song which gave a pose that\u00a0I thought was interesting.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3542\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-2974\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-2974\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974-300x240.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3542\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-2974\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-2974\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-2974-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/800, f\/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is one of the few shots I got of a bird on a green perch with some of the Entrada Sandstone color in the background.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3545\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3273-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3273\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731-240x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3545\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3273\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3273\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32731-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This male frustrated me.\u00a0 He gave me a variety of interesting poses but he insisted on performing on a very cluttered perch.\u00a0 He went back and forth, from poses like this pretty wing stretch…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3547\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3239\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"643,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3239\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239-214x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3547\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3239\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3239\" width=\"643\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239.jpg 643w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239-107x150.jpg 107w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-3239-400x559.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>to singing again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3552\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/lazuli-bunting-3297-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"683,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"lazuli-bunting-3297\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972-227x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3552\" title=\"lazuli-bunting-3297\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972.jpg\" alt=\"lazuli-bunting-3297\" width=\"683\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/lazuli-bunting-32972-400x527.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/1000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<p>He was so intent on his singing that even when an irresistible itch sneaked up on him he continued to sing as he scratched.\u00a0 Made me laugh when\u00a0I saw it which caused a few blurry shots.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3557\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/san-rafael-swell-7227-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,632\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"san-rafael-swell-7227\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271-300x210.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3557\" title=\"san-rafael-swell-7227\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271.jpg\" alt=\"san-rafael-swell-7227\" width=\"900\" height=\"632\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271-150x105.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-72271-400x280.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I thought there might be a few viewers unfamiliar with the San Rafael Swell who might be curious about what it’s like.\u00a0 This shot should give you an idea why I love it so much.\u00a0 It’s remote and has relatively few visitors (a huge appeal for me) and it is simply spectacular.\u00a0\u00a0 What you see in the image is just a tiny portion of the swell – it’s 75 miles long and 40 miles wide.\u00a0 \u00a0Here we’re looking down on the San Rafael River far below- typical habitat for Lazuli Buntings who prefer arid habitats with water nearby.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3559\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/san-rafael-swell-7180-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,532\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"san-rafael-swell-7180\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801-300x177.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3559\" title=\"san-rafael-swell-7180\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801.jpg\" alt=\"san-rafael-swell-7180\" width=\"900\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/san-rafael-swell-71801-400x236.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0This\u00a0was our camp site in\u00a0“The Swell”.\u00a0 We\u00a0were within walking distance from the river and\u00a0had a blast with\u00a0the buntings and Mountain Bluebirds in the area.\u00a0 Here you can see\u00a0my good friend Mia scanning the nearby trees for more\u00a0avian subjects.<\/p>\n<p>Can’t wait to go back!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ron\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For me Lazuli Buntings have long been an elusive subject.\u00a0 Though they’re common in the\u00a0western U.S.\u00a0I rarely see them near my home and when I’ve found\u00a0 them in my travels they either won’t let\u00a0me get close or they’re buried in thickets where I can’t get clean shots of them.\u00a0\u00a0 All that changed on an early June photo\/camping trip to Utah’s remote and visually stunning San Rafael Swell.\u00a0 \u00a01\/1600, f\/8, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc \u00a0I found the males singing on territory and more cooperative than usual since their preferred singing perch was at the top of low shrubs and they were often so involved with their melodious territorial declarations that they sometimes let me approach them quite closely.\u00a0 This one is perched on greasewood which provided some nice green colors in this arid habitat that they prefer.\u00a0 I like this good look at the bi-colored bill of the species.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc At times one of these males would\u00a0give me a clean perch and background for a typical “bird on a\u00a0stick” image. \u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc But more often than not\u00a0the perch would be more cluttered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here I’m less than happy with the out of focus twigs in the foreground but I liked the cottonwood “cotton” stuck to the bill.\u00a0 The unusual background color is from the Entrada Sandstone so common in the area.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01\/1250, f\/8, ISO 200, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc I’ve seldom seen birds get so…<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/lazuli-buntings-of-the-san-rafael-swell\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[334,9,569,570],"tags":[575,576,574,571,211,572,573,284,311],"class_list":["post-3524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds","category-favorite-locations","category-lazuli-buntings","category-san-rafael-swell","tag-bi-colored-bill","tag-entrada-sandstone","tag-greasewood","tag-lazuli-bunting","tag-male","tag-passerina-amoena","tag-san-rafael-swell-2","tag-singing","tag-utah-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-UQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}