![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-3577b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-3577b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI love this takeoff pose from an adult White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n
Maybe the birding situation is finally starting to improve around here! After several months of few birds and\u00a0boatloads of frustration in the field I finally had a good day with a variety of birds in several dispersed locations\u00a0yesterday morning. The downside is that I now have more than 1600 new images to cull but I’ll gladly pay that steep\u00a0price (I loathe culling!)\u00a0after such an extended dry spell.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 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 One of yesterday’s subjects was this adult White-crowned Sparrow feeding on sunflower seeds. It was\u00a0interesting to watch because the breeze was\u00a0blowing the seed heads around so the sparrow clung to the\u00a0perch and simply waited for the seed head to be blown\u00a0its way again and then plucked out a seed when it happened.<\/p>\n The behavior was interesting but the setting was cluttered and I didn’t expect to get\u00a0many images I liked very much but I was pleasantly surprised by one of them. I’m presenting these first two photos mostly to set up the third one for the viewer – that takeoff shot is the one I like best.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 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 image was taken a split second before the sparrow launched. With time to study the photo it becomes apparent that takeoff from this perch presents the bird with a minor problem.\u00a0The sparrow is\u00a0so close to the stem of the sunflower that when it opens its wings for that first wing-beat the right wing would likely\u00a0hit the stem.<\/p>\n There’s several possible solutions – the bird could move away from the stem before launch, it could jump off the stem and open its wings in the air after the stem has been cleared or it could rotate its body at the moment of launch so that the right wing wouldn’t hit the stem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 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 Thankfully it chose the latter because that gave me a takeoff posture that I like very much. I got a great look at the entire\u00a0dorsal surface,\u00a0the bird\u00a0kept\u00a0its head level (as birds almost always do in flight) which gave me nice light on the face and a catch light in the\u00a0eye, the tail is partially spread, the entire bird is well-lit\u00a0and we even see the feet pushing off the perch.<\/p>\n Yes, the background is a little cluttered directly behind the sparrow but with this\u00a0takeoff pose I can live with that.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love this takeoff pose from an adult White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-3600b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"white-crowned-sparrow-3600b-ron-dudley\\"")
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