![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/marsh-wren-6348-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"marsh-wren-6348-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nMarsh Wrens\u00a0don’t often\u00a0sing on territory this time of year but they’re still fun to photograph on those rare occasions when they give you a relatively clear shot.<\/p>\n
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1\/640, f\/8, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I found a couple of fairly cooperative wrens three days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. This scruffy looking youngster only recently fledged and we can still see pin feathers on top of its head and on its flank.<\/p>\n This shot was taken only minutes after sunrise and the bird was deep within the reeds. As a result the light was very low and given the almost\u00a0head-on pose and my camera settings I knew I wouldn’t have enough depth of field to get the entire bird sharp so I didn’t even try. I’d much rather have only the head and front of the bird sharp than\u00a0adjust my settings to give me more DOF and then\u00a0have the entire bird\u00a0soft because of a ridiculously\u00a0slow shutter speed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This adult was in a little better light and gave me a side view so I didn’t need as much depth of field.<\/p>\n Overall I had a disappointing morning at Bear River\u00a0but these two wrens saved the day. That seems ironic because normally Marsh Wrens are one of my most difficult subjects.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – On\u00a0a mostly\u00a0unrelated note I want to mention the terrible fires occurring now throughout much of\u00a0my beloved home state.\u00a0Montana\u00a0is now\u00a0a literal firestorm of flame and smoke\u00a0with over a half\u00a0million acres burned so far and that number increases dramatically each day. Montana is under an official state of emergency and because of the thick smoke\u00a0planes can’t fly to fight or even monitor <\/em>the fires. Much of Glacier National Park is being evacuated and tragically Sperry Chalet has been destroyed by fire and historic Lake McDonald Lodge is seriously threatened. Smoke from Montana’s fires\u00a0is severely affecting air quality throughout\u00a0most of the state and into Wyoming and\u00a0northern Colorado. Some of that smoke is even reaching us here in northern Utah and it was quite noticeable while I was photographing these wrens. <\/em><\/p>\n Many of my friends and acquaintances (I grew up\u00a0very close to Glacier NP in Cut Bank, MT)\u00a0are being severely\u00a0affected by the fires and smoke\u00a0and some may lose their homes and\/or property. <\/em><\/p>\n A common theme I see\u00a0from\u00a0my Montana friends\u00a0and others on social media is that they feel abandoned and ignored by the rest of the nation – they presume that’s <\/em>because the population of Montana is relatively small, despite its huge size. They don’t understand why national media is virtually ignoring their ongoing tragedy (the only fire situation that seems to get much national attention is the one near Los Angeles).<\/em><\/p>\n Many of them are asking their social media friends across the country to share what’s happening in hopes it will get more national media attention and they’ll get the help they need from the feds and others so I thought I’d do my very small part. <\/em><\/p>\n Many of these fires are expected to burn until the first snowfall.<\/em><\/p>\n Note: Minutes before publishing this post I\u00a0managed to find\u00a0this national news story from CBS<\/a> on the dire fire situation in Montana and elsewhere in the west.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marsh Wrens don’t often sing on territory this time of year but they’re still fun to photograph on those rare occasions when they give you a relatively clear shot.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/marsh-wren-6558-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"marsh-wren-6558-ron-dudley\\"")
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