Western Meadowlark

[David Salem]

Captured this guy about a year ago. Used to be flocks of hundreds of these birds in my area in the 80s and 90s. Tract homes, and severe habitat destruction has made these beautiful birds much more rare.

7D---100-400@400mm---f7.1---ss1/1250---ISO400---car as blind w/BLUBB @ 8:15am---35% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. Appreciated.

David


<iframe width="468" height="60" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://mer54715.datafeedfile.com/widget/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=10536&aff_net=1&widget_num=1708"><p>Sorry your browser does not support iFrame</p></iframe>

[PhilCook]

Very similar birds here too David, lovely patterning on the feathers, this one showing it extra well I think. The ones here dont tend to have a bright yellow throat region though. Well dont getting close to this species, especaily at only 400mm. They are very shy, not surprisingly so as they seem to be one of the favorite prey for raptors here.

Liking the over the shoulder head turn, and unusual but interesting and likeable perch he is on. The natural grassland habitat works nicely i feel, and a nice degree of blur to it so as not to detract from the main subject. Cropping has a lot to do with personal tastes, and I'm not so sure I quite get the right idea much of the time...but I wonder if a little more off the left would just look a little nicer. Good shot of a difficult subject, a shame about habitat destruction, something that happens here in Oz way too much and too quickly these days.

[Marina Scarr]

Nice head turn toward you on this one, and the meadowlark looks great with nice colors and details. Parts of the BG are really distracting to me.

[dankearl]

Sharp look to the bird (maybe too sharp?), and though the BG is a bit distracting, this is where they live.

[Karl Egressy]

Great looking back pose captured with nice pattern and details, David. I just finiched processing one image of this species a few minutes ago from, Bosque. Unfortunately it is perching on a barbed wire but I might post it one day.

[gail bisson]

Hi David,
I think this image screams for a vertical presentation. This would decrease the impact of the busy BG as well.
Gail

[PhilCook]

Great looking back pose captured with nice pattern and details, David. I just finiched processing one image of this species a few minutes ago from, Bosque. Unfortunately it is perching on a barbed wire but I might post it one day.


Barb Wire fences......lol....I actually go out of my way to try and photograph birds on Barb Wire Fences, I love that setting for rural bird shots lol

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the input. Gail, thanks for the crop suggestion. You are right, it works much better as a vertical. Reduces the impact of the busy BG as you noted. I removed some twigs and did a little blur to the BG. What do you think?

Phil, funny that you mention the barb wire fence that Karl mentioned his Meadowlark shot is on. Thats great that you look for those rustic, old west, or outback looking setups. I personally like the feel to some of them.

I live in the desert of the western U.S. and there are not allot of trees so the birds perch on fence posts and barbed wire fences.

I have many beautiful shots of varied birds on fences that I wanted to post but was going to put a disclaimer stating that I live in the west and these are the perches that the birds have to use. :S3:

[PhilCook]

Sorry, off topic here again......but hey it's Christmas so give me some leeway :t3

David, I also live in an semi-arid region, actually the driest state in Australia, and I have become rather fond of the arid interior desert lands, they offer a certain beauty. While the terrain doesn't offer much in the way of trees and lovely flowering plants etc, it is habitat for some of the most colorful birds in Australia, but sadly many are very hard to get near to as there is often no vegetation cover to conceal oneself. Barb Wire fences/posts, old stock years and telegraph poles form a large part of the habitat, many species that have come to accept these man made structures, and are seen as normal part of their environment now from which to hunt/roost and offer protection from terrestial predators.....long live the beautuul rusty barbwire fence for bird shots I say :bg3:

[gail bisson]

hi David,
the repost is stunning.For some reason the IQ looks even better on the repost.
one to be proud of,Gail