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<\/p>\nAn unusual emissary of Christmas cheer perhaps but it works for me.<\/p>\n
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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 Yesterday afternoon one of my local ponds was once again slow for birds but this European Starling showed me some mercy when ‘he’ came in close and posed in nice light with the pond in the background. Normally I’m not much of a starling fan but this time of year in particular you’d have to be blind not to admire or at least appreciate their truly spectacular iridescence and plumage patterns.<\/p>\n I was struck by this bird’s bicolored bill. During the breeding season European Starlings have yellow bills but by early winter the bill of most (though not all) starlings darkens to gray-brown or black. The bill of this bird is somewhere in-between.<\/p>\n Starlings have ‘attitude’ soaked to their core. As can be seen here that aggressive demeanor is often apparent even in their manner of walking.<\/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 Here he’s expressing his assertiveness once again. Notice the orange blob at the right edge of the frame. Any guesses as to what it is?<\/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 It was the very tip of the bill of a female Mallard hybrid about to swim by within inches of him. I believe he took exception to her coming in so close.<\/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 I quite like this shot of him against the blues of the pond ripples even though the photo would have been better if he’d turned his head a bit more toward me. I got one shot like that but his head was slightly soft.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So what’s the logic, if any, of my choice to post photos of a starling on Christmas morning? I no longer have family at home or even nearby so I stopped putting up a Christmas tree about 15 years ago. But to my eye this starling is as spangly and bright as any well-decorated Christmas tree so for this year he’ll serve as my substitute for today’s Christmas post. Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch but I’m often willing to allow birds a little extra leeway, even starlings. Besides, that splash of yellow on his bill sure looks like an angel atop the tree to me…<\/p>\n As is our tradition we’ll spend part of this Christmas morning out photographing birds where we’ll likely have the place mostly to ourselves (although this year that could be different.) For us that kind of solitude while photographing birds is at least as gratifying as opening presents beneath a Christmas tree. Hopefully our Christmas presents this year will be some special photos. For us it doesn’t get much better than that.<\/p>\n Even though this holiday season has extraordinary challenges I hope all of my readers get to celebrate the occasion in a manner that is special to you. My blog followers mean a lot to me and many of you have become what I consider to be dear friends.<\/p>\n So I wish for all of you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An unusual emissary of Christmas cheer perhaps but it works for me.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/european-starling-4645-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"european-starling-4645-ron-dudley.\\"")
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