![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/townsends-solitaire-7822c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"townsends-solitaire-7822c-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/8000, f\/5.6, 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 Three days ago while I was photographing kinglets and sparrows in extreme northern Utah this Townsend’s Solitaire unexpectedly showed up looking for a meal. First “he” surveyed the area for potential threats but I must have looked harmless enough because he fairly quickly ignored me and went after some of the nearby berries.<\/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’m not sure what kind of berries they were but they must have had very tough stems because he sure had a devil of a time pulling them off the tree – significantly more trouble than I’ve seen in the past with other birds and different berries.\u00a0He eventually got the one he’s about to grasp in his bill off the tree but it took some serious tugging to get it done.<\/p>\n Notice the second berry directly in front of the one in his bill. That was the one he tried to get next but from this perch he couldn’t get the leverage he needed to pull it off the tree so…<\/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 he moved to a slightly different spot to see if that worked. Notice that the berry is still there directly in front of his bill.<\/p>\n But during the process of moving he struggled to regain his balance.<\/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 When he eventually found a stable perch again he still couldn’t get a firm enough grasp on the berry to pull it off the tree so he gave up on that berry and…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, 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 moved to a higher spot using the same twig that the coveted berry was attached to…<\/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 as his new perch. From here he used his new vantage point to look around for another source of berries (here he’s still trying to become stable on his new perch). If you look carefully you’ll see that the berry he was after is still there beneath his lower belly.<\/p>\n At this point I thought he’d just pluck some of the berries directly in front of him but instead he looked around and eventually…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, 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 flew to a different treetop perch and began harvesting berries there. In this photo he has just landed.<\/p>\n In the end it’s no big deal I guess, just another small frustration in the daily life of a bird. But it amuses me to document these kinds of seemingly meaningless behaviors, though they’re obviously serious business for birds.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n