Henslow's Sparrow Singing

[Isaac Grant]

We have a locally very rare Henslow's Sparrow that has returned to a native grassland that is about 2 hours north of New York City. It is the first time they have returned to this spot in over 30 years. For now there is only a single male that is spending all day singing and trying to find a mate. Surely a very encouraging sign. Hopefully he returns next year with some friends. Because of the sensitivity of the grasslands and the bird I did not even consider trying to get closer to this bird. I stayed on the path and kept a respectful distance. Just enjoyed it from a distance and waited until it went to the right perch to do some shooting. I did consider cloning out the out of focus stem in the background but I think it and the other stems balance out the frame nicely. From last weekend with complete cloud cover.

Canon 1DX and Canon 500 f4 + 1.4xiii. ISO 2000, F5.6, SS 1/1250. Tripod Mounted.

Processed with DPP 4.6 and PS.

[Bill Dix]

Congratulations on finding this rarity. The small-in-frame comp suits him well. Great singing pose, very much like a Grasshopper Sparrow, and beautiful grassland BG. I could take it with or without the oof stem.

[gail bisson]

I like this! Love your thoughtful fieldcraft and because of it you got a beautiful environment image.
I like your version but can see why you considered cloning out the OOF grass. I think I would personally clone it out.
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Good one, Isaac. Very interesting image, nice singing pose. I would remove the out of focus stem. Thank you for sharing.

[Alex Becker]

Nice composition and I really like the smaller in frame pose. I don't really mind the OOF stem but if I really had to pick a side I think I would try to clone it out. Congrats on getting a very nice frame of a rare bird.

[Juan Tolentino]

Nicely done Isaac, I'm with you on the oof stem, I think it balances the image, but I think is a matter of taste and is a great image with or without it. TFS.


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[Michael Thompson]

Nice job finding this bird and getting a superb image. I like the stems and the vertical composition, nice background too

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Image. I like the vertical composition and the way you captured the moment he started singing...
Congratulations on the capture.

Thanks for sharing