![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/bushtit-4788b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bushtit-4788b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAnd to think I used to think kinglets were hard.<\/p>\n
I’ve never been able to get decent photos of Bushtits. I’ve seen them a few times but no photographic cigar. Early yesterday morning when it was still cold in remote Box Elder County I found a small bush with a few Bushtits scurrying around in the interior but they all flew off before I was able to get any photos.<\/p>\n
So later in the morning after it warmed up I returned to the same bush on the theory that the tiny insects they feed on would be more active in the higher temperatures and the Bushtits would have returned to the bush to take advantage of the opportunity.<\/p>\n
This time one of my ‘theories’ panned out.<\/p>\n
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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 The small bush seemed to be dripping with Bushtits.<\/p>\n There must of been 20-30 of them flitting around in the interior of the bush and performing their chickadee-like acrobatics in their quest for tiny insects. They rarely, very rarely, came out in the open and when they did they typically stayed there for about a heartbeat before returning to the interior of the bush. I must have raised my lens on one of them over a hundred times only to have it dive back into the bush before I could get it in my viewfinder, much less in focus.<\/p>\n This male (dark eye versus light eye of the female) was one of my few successes and he even gave me a mostly clean background.<\/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 turned on his\u00a0 perch for a moment which gave me better light on most of his body and then he was gone.<\/p>\n Until yesterday I thought Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the flittiest, smallest and most difficult birds I ever (attempt to) photograph but that dubious distinction now belongs to Bushtits. By weight Bushtits are 19% smaller than Ruby-crowned Kinglets (5.3 grams vs 6.5 grams) and based on my experience with them yesterday they’re even more frenetic in their movements than kinglets. Even their species name “minimus<\/em>” reflects their small size.<\/p>\n While I was attempting to photograph them I kept thinking “Wow, these guys are even more hyperactive than kinglets” and I even said it out loud at least once.<\/p>\n That’s something I thought I’d never say about any bird.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On an unrelated note:<\/em><\/p>\n On my way home yesterday I witnessed what was apparently an unannounced rocket test at Morton Thiokol’s Orbital ATK facility in remote Box Elder County.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is what it looked like from what I’d estimate to be at least 7-8 miles away. Just before this photo was taken the fireball at the end of the rocket was so bright it was irritating to my eyes, even in full daylight.<\/em><\/p>\n It was indeed impressive.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/bushtit-4803b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bushtit-4803b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/atk-rocket-test-2078-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"atk-rocket-test-2078-ron-dudley.\\"")
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