One More Bobolink

[Bill Dix]

Another from my outing last Sunday evening. This one, I believe, is an adult male in non-breeding plumage -- more boldly colored and patterned than the one in flight that I posted the other day. I've yet to capture the male in his breeding garb.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual. Audio.

[Brian E. Small]

Bill,

This is an adult female. On my monitor looks a bit too greenish in the plumage as processed here. They really are yellowish.

[Paul Kusmin]

I love the overall colours, really nice perch and subtle BG, feather detail, great pose, all adds up to a keeper.
can't comment on the plumage being too green, i've only seen males and have no experience with females of juvies.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Nicely done, Bill. Great detail, perch, and well handled harsh light.




Geoffrey

[William Dickson]

Nice one Bill, the BG and perch compliment the image. Well done

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, you seem to have these guys mastered. Excellent detail and sharpness, and like how the weight of the bird has created a 'curved perch'. I do like the clean BG that he is posed against.

[Shawn Zierman]

I love grassy scenes like this when there is some bg definition to the grasses...looks inviting and gives a nice little sense of depth...I see that wanting to include the whole perch head is leaving the subject close to centered, but managed well and the composition feels spacious without the bobolink being too centered....I think Brian has a point with the bird looking a little on the green side.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The comp works quite well as cropped. Excellent perch, and good BG. Techs are solid...I was going to mention a colour cast but I see a couple of the boys have pointed it out already.

[Bill Dix]

Bill,

This is an adult female. On my monitor looks a bit too greenish in the plumage as processed here. They really are yellowish.

Thanks Brian. The OP was the way Nikon's AutoWB interpreted the scene, but I did wonder if it was looking a bit green. When I made this RP adjustment, I realized it was more than just a little. Does this look better?

As to the gender, Sibley, Crossley and Cornell all seem to suggest that the male and female are pretty much alike in non-breeding plumage, and that the breeding phase female is rather more buffy than yellow. We saw four birds the other day; two were less yellow and less boldly patterned than this one, so I assumed they were the females and this one perhaps a male. I'm curious to know, for my edification, what the distinguishing characteristics are that make this an adult female. It's not a species that I've had much experience with. (Is it possible that what we saw were two females and two juvies, and that the males have already headed south, even though it seems a bit early?)

[Brian E. Small]

Bill,

Color looks improved but somehow (at least on my monitor) not quite right. I always think of these as a bit more yellowish than this..............but perhaps that's just my mind's interpretation of them.

As for the gender, it's as much about timing as it is the bird in the photo. Male Bobolinks would not have molted out of their breeding plumage in mid-July. They may look kind of scruffy by now but would still show a lot of the black and white of breeding plumage. Your bird is a classic breeding female. The ones that are really interesting are the fresh fall juvies..................now those birds are really buffy. Almost bordering on orange in the right light. They're really beautiful

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Brian. I'll go back and try to brighten up the yellow a bit more, but probably won't repost. Maybe the breeding males are just hiding from me, as they usually do.

[Bill Dix]

Problem resolved. Went back and found 8 female/juvenile Bobolinks, and then one handsome male in breeding plumage appeared. He stayed too distant and partially hidden, so no image, but at least I know he's there, and hasn't molted into non-breeding plumage. And the coloration of the females was very much like the repost above -- perhaps just slightly more yellow but not much.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

[Binu John]

Beautiful shot! Love the perch, BG, pose, details and composition. TFS

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image. Beautiful pose, very nicely composed with lovely perch.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks again.

[David Salem]

Great detail and beautiful complementing colors look great here Bill. The techs and the detail look right on the money and the BG with a hint of habitat looks very nice. The repost fixed the only nit. Well done.