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Thread: Henslow's Sparrow Singing

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    Default Henslow's Sparrow Singing

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    If you aren't a serious birder you'll probably find the Henslow's Sparrow boring. It's small, drab and it usually hangs out in low clumps of dried grass. Cornell's website calls them "uncommon and famously inconspicuous."
    The fact that it is uncommon makes it appealing to birders who want to add it to their life list. Last weekend we had a couple that drove up from Texas just to see this bird. The guy said he'd been looking for this bird for 30-years.

    Henslow's Sparrow are steadily declining in number because their grassland habitat is being converted to crop land. The only reason we are lucky enough to have them is that we've restored 200-acres of prairie in my backyard here at the Prairie Garden Trust. This bird was singing on a stalk of dry grass as the sun came up. The song is short and sounds like a hiccup. I think we have 4 or 5 nesting pairs of Henslow's Sparrow on the Prairie Garden Trust property right now.

    Canon 5DsR
    1/640th of a second, f/11, ISO 1,000, Aperture Priority
    Canon 600/4 II with 2X teleconverter
    Tripod used
    The picture if full width but I cropped it to be square.
    Processed in Lightroom and Photoshop

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Great singing pose of this rarity -- at least for me. Good detail, background; nice light. Kudos for preserving some habitat for this threatened little guy. Thanks to people like you I might still have a chance to see one some day.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Hey Henry, I'm a fan of sparrows so this has my attention! I love the singing pose, and the bit of dry grass it is perched on. Good BG, great light. Compositionally I could see a more vertical presentation with some more room above. For my eye a bit better overall body angle would have been better, but I still like the image overall. I also appreciate the work you've done on your land for nature and wildlife (I've seen the updates on FB - sounds like a great place).

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Yes this yanks my chain! Great behavioral shot - well done!

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    Excellent shot of a very special sparrow. Wonderful active pose in fine light, technically just about perfect.

    I'd have been tempted to sacrifice the interesting perch to move the bird down and give it a bit more room.

    Lucky you, you'll probably get a chance to see it again. On second thought, not entirely lucky given your role in restoring the prairie.

    Good for you!

    Russ Norwood

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