![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/says-phoebe-6680-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"says-phoebe-6680-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nYesterday morning we found a family of at least four Say’s Phoebes in the Wasatch Mountains. The adults were feeding their hungry fledglings.<\/p>\n
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1\/800, 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 I was never sure how many of them there actually were. The adults were hopscotching the fence posts along the road as they hunted for insects for their fledglings who were following them. I was in my pickup and trying to pop off a few shots when I had an opportunity. I never did see all the birds at one time because as the driver I had to stay on the road and there were vehicles and\u00a0walkers with dogs coming at me\u00a0from both directions. I was a busy boy.<\/p>\n This was the first shot I got just after the adult on the left had provided a large\u00a0grasshopper for one of the fledglings.\u00a0For some reason both this shot and the next one were soft (especially this one)\u00a0so I applied some extra sharpening during processing. It didn’t help much with this photo which I think is soft because\u00a0my shutter speed was relatively low and I had to rush the shot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, 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 is one of the fledglings on a metal\u00a0fence post. For me the youngsters are best distinguished from the adults by their prominent gape and rusty wing bars.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, 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 fledgling was perched on a natural perch which I much prefer over metal fence posts (besides, I have a ‘thing’ for sagebrush). I do wish the bird had been a little closer though.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, 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 shot of one of the adults might have been my favorite of the morning if not for that vertical shadow on the bird. I guess it’s no biggie but if I had my druthers…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, 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 I was really primed for a takeoff shot with this adult. But even with a slightly larger songbird like a phoebe you’re really pushing your luck if you expect to\u00a0catch them at takeoff or in flight if you wait for takeoff to begin before you push the shutter\u00a0– they’re just too fast for mortal human reflexes. If they’re on a really springy, bouncy perch that can slow them down a little and in that situation\u00a0you do have a chance. I actually looked for that but I expected this\u00a0perch to have little spring in it and I was right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, 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 So I reverted to my old tactics of firing some almost random bursts and hoping my timing would work out. At 10 frames per second that can mean a LOT of extra images to cull when I get home\u00a0(and you know how I feel about that<\/em>\u00a0miserable process) but this time it paid off. I say that now, but just wait until I have to cull the damn things.<\/p>\n I quite like this shot with the swept forward wing position that still allows a good look at its dorsal surface, the raised tail and\u00a0head and the legs\u00a0trailing behind as they push off from the perch. Notice how little give\u00a0there was in the\u00a0twigs the bird was perched on. That\u00a0small amount of flex\u00a0would have slowed the takeoff down very little.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, 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 And I even got a bonus flight shot out of the deal. I wish the bird was turned my way a little more but I’ll take it. The wing softness is due to depth of field and not insufficient shutter speed. This photo illustrates just how shallow my depth of field is when I’m shooting at an effective 1120 mm with my gear and\u00a0with these camera settings.<\/p>\n These adult phoebes look just a little ragged to me but they have a good excuse. They’re just now completing the entire nesting process that includes establishing territories on their return from migration, finding and competing for mates, nest-building, incubation and feeding youngsters from the time of hatching until their independence.<\/p>\n After all that who\u00a0wouldn’t be a little ragged around the edges?<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday morning we found a family of at least four Say’s Phoebes in the Wasatch Mountains. The adults were feeding their hungry fledglings.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/says-phoebbe-6700-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"says-phoebbe-6700-ron-dudley\\"")
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