![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/cassins-finch-6032-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"cassins-finch-6032-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nMaybe I should have waited until Christmas to post these photos.<\/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’d only photographed this species once in a wild setting when I\u00a0encountered this male on June 1, 2016 near the continental divide between Montana and Idaho. I love the reds against the light\u00a0greens of the conifer perch and the dark green background, although I’m hesitant to start anyone thinking about Christmas so soon because it already “starts”\u00a0way too early for my tastes.<\/p>\n I only got two poses from this bird and this one\u00a0isn’t my favorite\u00a0even though it allows the best look at the\u00a0forked tail of the species.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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 This one is, when cropped vertically. The reds seem just a\u00a0bit more intense with his head at this angle to the light and I think we have a little better eye contact with this pose.<\/p>\n There are many similarities between Cassin’s\u00a0Finches, Purple Finches and\u00a0House Finches but I really like the peaked crown that sets this species apart from the House Finch with its rounded crown. Cassin’s Finches have the most restricted range of the three, especially during the breeding season when these photos were taken when they’re found only in the conifer belts of North America’s western interior mountains.<\/p>\n I liked this photo enough that I…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n played with the composition a little and cropped this one differently. I still can’t decide which version I prefer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s funny. I was so very\u00a0excited to get this\u00a0Cassin’s Finch\u00a0in my viewfinder, I’ve never even seen a Purple Finch so knowing me I’d go gaga over one\u00a0and rightly or wrongly I\u00a0largely ignore House Finches. But the three species are so similar that lots of folks can’t tell them apart.<\/p>\n It doesn’t really make much sense when I think about it\u00a0because a\u00a0House Finch in this setting would look just as attractive as this handsome Cassin’s Finch. Go figure…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I hope you were better at remembering to set your clocks back than I was. Even though I knew it was coming I forgot about it last night\u00a0so I\u00a0was momentarily\u00a0shocked when I looked at the time on my computer at 3:50 AM this morning. I thought I’d slept in!<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/cassins-finch-6051-version-1-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"cassins-finch-6051-version-1-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/cassins-finch-6051-version-2-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"cassins-finch-6051-version-2-ron-dudley\\"")
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