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<\/p>\nGray Catbirds are an elusive subject for me so I chalk up every decent shot I get of one\u00a0into the victory column. All three of these photos were taken in the Wasatch Mountains in the same general area.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, 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>\n Many bird photographers\u00a0categorize their photos as either “bird in habitat” or “bird on a stick” – BIH or BOS.\u00a0This one is definitely the former.\u00a0In fact there might be too much habitat here for some, especially because some of it is in front of the\u00a0body of the bird. But I still like the calling, perky pose of the catbird.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/8000, 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 this is definitely a bird on a stick. I believe most folks prefer BIH over BIS but the latter has its place. Photos meant to best demonstrate the field marks of a species\u00a0are often BIS because those types of shots tend to give us a better look at the physical features of a bird and there’s very little else to distract from the bird. For that reason field guides often use BIS photos or paintings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/640, 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 suppose it could be claimed that this photo is a combination of both but I’d call it BIH. The catbird had recently taken a bath and was still trying to dry off, thus the fluffed up feathers.<\/p>\n This has been a good summer for me for both Gray Catbirds and Yellow Warblers. I didn’t have squat for decent images of either of them until fairly recently so setting goals and doggedly\u00a0pursuing them can eventually pay off.<\/p>\n Maybe next summer I should work on\u00a0Carolina Parakeets and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (said tongue in cheek of course).<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: I found it fascinating to learn that Carolina Parakeets were probably poisonous. This from Wikipedia (several other sources say the same thing): “Carolina parakeets were probably poisonous\u2014American naturalist and painter John J. Audubon noted that cats apparently died from eating them, and they are known to have eaten the toxic seeds of cockleburs.<\/em><\/p>\n Correction: I realized after I published this post that the first image above isn’t “recent” after all – it was taken almost exactly a year ago. Sorry about that…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gray Catbirds are an elusive subject for me so I chalk up every decent shot I get of one into the victory column. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gray-catbird-3702-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"gray-catbird-3702-ron-dudley\\"")
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