![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-5578-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-5578-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nShrikes have been an elusive subject for me for some time now so getting this mated pair in the frame together was a real treat.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed them one year ago tomorrow on Antelope Island. The two of them were establishing their pair bond and just prior to this photo the male on the left had delivered an insect snack to the female which she had gobbled it down as part of the process known as “courtship feeding”. While she was swallowing it I didn’t have a good angle on her head or a catch light in her eye but immediately afterward they both gave me nice poses. Getting two birds in the frame is always a treat but in my view it’s a bonus when they’re shrikes.<\/p>\n Viewers will likely notice that the female isn’t as sharp as the male. That’s a depth of field issue because I was quite close to them and shooting at f\/6.3. I have other shots where the female is sharper but in those she didn’t give me a great head angle.<\/p>\n Guess what! It looks like we’ll have good light this morning and the forecast calls for more of the same until Friday. It will be nice to get out into the field again with the birds and that should give my body time enough to fully recover from all that garden tilling.<\/p>\n I’m still sore but I feel better than I did yesterday. I don’t recover as quickly as I used to…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shrikes have been an elusive subject for me for some time now so getting this mated pair in the frame together was a real treat.<\/p>\n