Canada warbler

[gail bisson]

My warbling adventures have come to an end. I did quite well and am (ironically) pleased that COVID-19 grounded me and forced me to bird close to home. I have found some great new spots that i never knew existed and have made a few new friends along the way.
The Canada Warbler is now listed as threatened. It is estimated they have declined by 75% in the past 10 years.
It is a lifer for me. I spent 4 mornings ( about an hour) trying to get this skulker out in the open. He obliged for 3 seconds by landing on this dead branch. I managed to get 3 frames before he returned to the woods.
Audio used very sparingly. I would play his song for about a minute and he would come and stay on the edges of the clearing for 10-15 minutes at a time, flitting from deep dark shade to deeper darker shade. I knew that eventually he would land on this dead snag and I just had to be ready and patient. On day 4, he finally obliged!
Shot from the car at 6:30 AM
Canon 1 dx 3, 600mm and 1.4x
ISO 1600 SS 1/500 f 6.3
Cropped to 65% FF. Nothing added or cloned.
PP: I desaturated the yellows by -6 in LR and greens by -2. The early morning sun made things quite yellow.
Comments and critiques are always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

What a tough bird to get. They love to stay in the bushes. Good singing pose and background. Congratulations on a lifer and on finding some new places.

[Randy Stout]

Congrats Gail:

You certainly put in the time and effort to capture this one. Like the pose, exposure, sharpness where it counts. I might consider taking a bit off the right side.

The end of the wing and tail has some interesting optical aberrations . Were they in the raw file as well? There is also some more along the far right side of the perch.

Great to get a lifer!

Cheers

Randy

[Brian Sump]

Gail, a really beautiful frame. Congrats on the patience payoff with this beauty!

The only nit I would have is the same thing Randy noticed; a little harder to swallow on the wing than just a branch or something. I had a bit of these aberrations on the white wing patches of a recent Killdeer and not positive why.

Regardless, celebrate the capture. You earned it!

[dankearl]

This photo seems way off your usual quality. You will figure it out.

[Aditya Sridhar]

I love the calling pose, Gail! Great colors and background too. I'd add some space to the RHS if you have it. Love those whiskers and feet.

I've experienced this sort of aberration in my images as well when I use my 1.4x TC. It's most noticeable at close distances, max aperture and shallow DOF. When the lens is stopped down and/or at longer ranges, I haven't been able to replicate the issue, so it might just be physics. It's interesting and I'm sure someone with a bit more knowledge on the subject will be able to elaborate. TFS

[gail bisson]

Thanks guys. Those optical aberrations by the tail and wing are in the RAW file. Perhaps a bit of motion caused this. The birds never sit still.
Gail

[William Dickson]

Love the colours throughout Gail...Nice calling pose, detail and lovely BG. I'm seeing a wee bit motion blur on the head. SS too slow..maybe if you had more frames, one would have been good at 1/500. Been there. Congrats on the lifer.

Will

[John Mack]

Nice view of this warbler. Really like that calling pose. Nice background and framing.

[David Roach]

I am late to this one and all has been said. Your perseverance paid off in spades. Can't wait for more from your new locations. TFS