1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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>\nOnly moments before the previous photo was taken I photographed\u00a0this adult White-crowned Sparrow on\u00a0a fence near the rose bushes. The differences between adults and juveniles of this species are quite dramatic and many novices don’t even\u00a0recognize them as the same species. Here the deeply shaded black background provides a stark contrast to both bird and perch that likely will have limited appeal but it’s different enough that I actually like it, though I can’t really explain why (and no, the poop doesn’t bother me.)<\/p>\n
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Both of these birds were\u00a0photographed in the front yard of our dear friends Ron and Carol whose home and property borders the north boundary of\u00a0Farmington Bay WMA. For more than\u00a0a decade now photographing birds in their tree-filled yard as I leave the refuge on my way home has been an ending\u00a0ritual of the morning.\u00a0I’m still in my\u00a0vehicle without leaving the road and sometimes the back half of my pickup is still on refuge property when I do it. There’s often many more birds in Ron and Carol’s\u00a0yard than\u00a0I’ve seen all morning on the entire\u00a0refuge.<\/p>\n
Ron and Carol have been intimately associated with the refuge for as long as I remember. For many years it was Ron who opened the\u00a0gates to Farmington each morning and we could always\u00a0find out the latest bird and refuge news by visiting with them.\u00a0They’re a delight to talk to, they’re passionate advocates and defenders of\u00a0birds, wildlife and nature in general and Mia and I have become very good friends\u00a0with them over the years.<\/p>\n
But sadly all that has come to an end. These two White-crowned Sparrow photos were taken within days after Ron and Carol pulled up stakes and moved to New Mexico for their retirement\u00a0so their\u00a0normally\u00a0cheery\u00a0home sits lonely and empty. There’ll be no more delightful conversations or serendipitous encounters with them\u00a0on their regular morning walks and we’re missing them already. Our loss is New Mexico’s gain.<\/p>\n
The older I get the less flexible I am in adapting to change and this time is no exception.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
An important note for regular readers of Feathered Photography:<\/em><\/p>\nAll of us make typos when commenting on my blog but I have the advantage of being able to\u00a0fix mine. You don’t. Typos come with the territory in the digital world and often they’re innocuous and no big deal but some of us are more tolerant of\u00a0our own typos\u00a0than others and occasionally they can be downright embarrassing. I can’t tell you how many times someone has meant to type “shot” (meaning a photograph or the firing of a gun) and typed “shit” instead. That word is an often used component of my vocabulary but I try to be judicious about when and where I use it and I’m sure many of my readers feel and do\u00a0the same.\u00a0But once you click on “Post Comment” typos are out there for the world to see and you can’t\u00a0edit\u00a0them from your end.<\/em><\/p>\nRecently a long time blog follower made a one letter typo that\u00a0transformed an\u00a0innocent word into a racial\/ethnic slur. That person called it to my attention so I fixed it from my end but normally that’s something I’m hesitant to do without being asked because I don’t want to inadvertently misinterpret what\u00a0was meant. That incident was the catalyst for this note.<\/em><\/p>\nSo if you’d like me to fix a typo just ask\u00a0and I’ll do it at the first opportunity but please be specific about what you want it to say. If you have my email address you can ask that way (I don’t provide that address\u00a0publicly for reasons related to spam and security), otherwise just ask in a second comment and I’ll edit the typo and delete the additional comment. If you don’t ask I’m unlikely to fix it.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Plus some heartfelt nostalgia and a method for dealing with comment typos on Feathered Photography.<\/p>\n
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