Blue Grosbeak

[Krijn Trimbos]

One of the species I was after personally in Texas was the Blue Grosbeak. I spend 5 weeks looking for them, but only saw one up till my 3rd week there. When Jasper started concentrating on other subjects I started doing my own set-ups. I had been in a hide for about 3 days, waiting for green jay and the occasional cardinal. However, there were some problems.....Peccaries would come every night to ravish the set-up and I would have to rebuild it ever day again, which made it difficult for the birds to get used to the set-up. Also due to heavy rainfall the birds weren't as interested in the feeders I had set up, more than enough food around. Finally, due to some cold weather a lot of the migrants had not returned to Texas yet. This made the hide sitting pretty uneventful. One morning I was sitting in the hide and was kind of dosing off when suddenly a 'flash of blue', to my foreign eye it looked like an indogo bunting but when looking through the viewer I almost jumped out of the hide from excitement. The male grossbeak sat there for 2-3 minutes and never returned after that leaving me in awe from the experience.

C & C are welcome,

Canon EOS 7D 1/800 f9
ISO 400
Canon 300mm L USM F2.8 + 2x Converter
Beanbag

[douglasgraham]

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[Daniel Cadieux]

It sat there for 2-3 minutes...that's an eternity in most songbird photography!!

Good patience on your part, and you were justly rewarded. Nice comp, BG, perch, and perfect glance-back pose. I also find the perch and parts of the grosbeak a bit on the light side of things. Toning those down a bit would be a good idea IMO.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

You got the perfect head turn here. Real nice eye contact. Liked the composition a lot. and wnderfully sharp. As above, I'll also suggest toning it down. Blue sat also seems to be a bit on the higher side. that...and a round of NR on the BG will make it much better IMO.

thx for sharing the story. gives very good perspective.

[Steve Deam]

Great capture! I love the comp and the beautiful colors. I agree with toning the light shades down just a bit. Glad to see that your efforts paid off!

[Colin Knight]

Very nice, agree with the comments but like it very much as is too. Thanks for sharing!

[Jeff Parker]

Good job Krijn! I have yet to get a good photo of one of these. Was he coming to food or did you have a water drip? It was so wet I didn't have much luck with water until the afternoon of the last day.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

All has been said but I wanted to congratulate you on a beautiful image Krijn of the grosbeak. fine work !!!

[Fabs Forns]

It sounds like a difficult year for the ICF, but I'm sure you guys did OK. Beautiful bird and discrete set-up, I would also tone down the highlights.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I am glad I am not the only one thinking NR on BG. Agree about toning it down a touch, but a stunning bird on a perfect stick. :) Well done Krijn.

[Kiran Poonacha]

All said above.. I really loved the bird and setting here..