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In my travels through remote areas of several western states it isn’t terribly unusual for me to see Rock Wrens high up on the bluffs or cliffs and I hear them more often than I see them (although some I think I see are probably Canyon Wrens).\u00a0 But they’re always far away in inaccessible areas for this bird photographer with a bad back.<\/p>\n
As a result I’ve only had two half-way decent photos of Rock Wrens in my files for years.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rock-wren-4483-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rock-wren-4483-ron-dudley.\\"")
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1\/6400, 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 But day before yesterday, about three minutes after the Peregrine Falcon I posted photos of yesterday took off, I almost miraculously had this Rock Wren in my viewfinder. I was quite surprised to find him on top of a juniper tree instead of on the ground or nearby rocks.<\/p>\n At first he was very quiet up there, probably because he was just a little nervous about my pickup being so close to him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, 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 But soon he broke out into almost continuous song, which is why I’m referring to him as a male because only male Rock Wrens are known to sing.<\/p>\n I was struck by the color change that always occurred on his throat whenever he was singing. Normally his throat was dull white with streaks of gray but while he was singing his throat was flashing black as the erected feathers there revealed their much darker interior color.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 was both delighted and highly frustrated when he eventually flew down to the ground and hopped among the rocks and vegetation down there, often singing as he went.<\/p>\n He was moving forward close to the edge of the dirt road so I had to slowly follow him in my pickup. But he had a very specific distance from my pickup that he considered threatening so he kept moving forward at an angle that I couldn’t photograph him out my window. So I missed getting most of the potentially best photos while he was on the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n My pickup mirror was the main reason I missed getting all of those shots. This cell phone photo (taken yesterday at a local pond) shows why my very large, trailer-towing mirror gets in the way of my huge lens when a bird is on the ground at a sharp angle in front of me. It just can’t be done, even with the mirror folded forward and supposedly out of the way like it is here.<\/p>\n I love photographing birds from my pickup for the many reasons I’ve covered in other blog posts but it isn’t foolproof and that damn mirror is one of the reasons why.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, 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 Eventually the Rock Wren flew to the top of another juniper and began singing away again, flashing some of the black in his throat as he did so. Both times he took off from junipers I got the takeoff shot but neither of them was any good.<\/p>\n So, cursed mirror or not, I was happy to get the photos I did.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In eleven years of blogging about birds I’ve only posted photos of a Rock Wren a single time and for very good reason – in their typically rugged habitat they simply refuse to allow a close approach. But two days ago I got one of the aggravating little rascals in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/rock-wren-4530-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rock-wren-4530-ron-dudley.\\"")
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