Female RWBB

[Steve Canuel]

20D, 500/4 + 1.4xTC, f7.1, 1/160s, ISO 800, Eval Mtr, Tripod Mount.
Steve

[Doug Brown]

I like this image a lot Steve. Good sharpness for the most part (head looks a little soft), great pose and perch, and nice BG. I particularly like the fanned out tail at the bottom.

[Steve Canuel]

I like this image a lot Steve. Good sharpness for the most part (head looks a little soft), great pose and perch, and nice BG. I particularly like the fanned out tail at the bottom.

Thanks Doug. I used One-Shot AF for this but wonder if I'd be better off using AI or AI-Servo. For a bird that moves forward during its display, would it make that much of a difference at a distance of 20-30ft?

[Doug Brown]

I think you're more likely to benefit from a smaller aperture or faster shutter speed than you are changing your focus type. At 25 feet with your camera settings, DOF is a whopping 1.08"! At f/10 it increases to 1.56". Of course f/10 wasn't in the cards with the amount of available light you had. You did a great job with capturing the action in a relatively low light situation, as the softness in the head is really a minor nit.

[Dave Phillips]

what a super image Steve. I am having coffee before heading out this morning and I can hear "screeeeeeee".
This is one I feel is enhanced by the large perch....smooth and flowing, like the song

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great bg,timing and composition,nice work Steve!

[John Chardine]

Hi Steve- I'll confirm but I think this is simply a young male rather than a female. However, males should be a lot darker than this in first year plumage. Females so not develop the bright red epaulets like this one has- just dull ones. Some species take more than a year to develop adult plumage- Purple Finch is an example- and in these cases the males look like females likely so that they can set up shop without being completely harassed by competing males. I'll check if Red-wings do the same.

Lovely image by the way. The composition and the flow of the perch is very nice, as is the soft lighting.

[Freddy Franzella]

Everything comes together in this image! love the puffed chest and that fantail too!

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Steve,

Very nice composition and timing. I find the perch a little overwhelming for your subject but nothing you can do about it. If this is a crop, I would rather see a little more room at the bottom.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Steve- I'll confirm but I think this is simply a young male rather than a female. However, males should be a lot darker than this in first year plumage. Females so not develop the bright red epaulets like this one has- just dull ones. Some species take more than a year to develop adult plumage- Purple Finch is an example- and in these cases the males look like females likely so that they can set up shop without being completely harassed by competing males. I'll check if Red-wings do the same.

Lovely image by the way. The composition and the flow of the perch is very nice, as is the soft lighting.

Thanks for taking a look John. These brown ones started showing up around here about 2 months after the black ones. The black ones tend to chase these around and the brown ones disappear into the cattails more often than the balck ones. I assumed it was female because its too early for chicks to be this big and I didn't think it would take a year for a male's plumage to turn black. I look forward to your answer.

[Steve Maxson]

A very nice image for the reasons noted above, Steve. I just wanted to add to John's comments. This is a first-year male. There is a lot of plumage variation in these first-year birds - some are like this one while others are much darker. The behavior you describe : a late return and being chased around (i.e., off his breeding territory) by adult males is entirely typical of what one would expect from immature males.

[Steve Canuel]

A very nice image for the reasons noted above, Steve. I just wanted to add to John's comments. This is a first-year male. There is a lot of plumage variation in these first-year birds - some are like this one while others are much darker. The behavior you describe : a late return and being chased around (i.e., off his breeding territory) by adult males is entirely typical of what one would expect from immature males.

Thanks for the additional info Steve. Have to admire his tenacity. This perch is one of the primary ones used by the adults but this one popped up on it whenever the others weren't around.

[Bonnie Block]

Love this one, Steve. The perch, colors and pose are really super. Hope you get some more chances at him!