![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/western-meadowlark-6023b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-6023b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA “twofer”.<\/p>\n
Like yesterday’s post this\u00a0is another of the photos that I rediscovered two days ago after they weren’t properly categorized by species\u00a0when\u00a0I originally\u00a0took them\u00a0so they were “lost” for a decade or more. This one was taken on Antelope Island on June 29, 2009 so it’s a relative\u00a0youngster compared to the 11-year-old Barn Owl photo I posted yesterday.<\/p>\n
This is the last of those lost photos I’ll post but birds have been slow and the weather and light crappy for photography\u00a0so I figured this was a good time to do it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/1250, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4\u00a0Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Readers know that I try very hard to catch birds at takeoff and I always enjoy photos of them when they have prey, thus the “twofer” designation in my\u00a0introduction. This bird had a beak-full of young grasshoppers, probably destined for a gaggle of hungry chicks in the nest since it was nesting season.<\/p>\n I don’t think it’s a particularly attractive\u00a0photo – the bird looks just\u00a0a little rough around the edges (possibly due to molt or the rigors of raising a family, or both) and the\u00a0scraggly perch may or may not appeal to some viewers. But I don’t need “pretty” in my images. A bird in an interesting pose behaving as birds do naturally is generally more than\u00a0enough for me.<\/p>\n Besides, it was fun finding these lost photos\u00a0so I decided to share.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: I may or may not be a little sporadic in responding to any comments on this post. I had “stuff” on my mind\u00a0during the night\u00a0and didn’t sleep well so I’ve been awake since 2:15 and up since 2:45. That’s just a bit early, even for me, so\u00a0if the clouds don’t cooperate for photography I’m hoping to catch some much-needed Z’s sometime later this morning.<\/em><\/p>\n Bad timing the night before New Year’s Eve fireworks. If I were king I’d ban fireworks altogether except for public displays at a reasonable hour. I despise them in neighborhoods at anytime but especially in the middle of the night.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A “twofer”.<\/p>\n