Originally Posted by
Isaac Grant
As much as I love a good and intimate close up I equally love shots like this that show the bird in its habitat so nicely. Bird could not have picked a nicer spot to sit on that bush. I like the soft tones from the overcast sky as well. I do see some noise on the bird. Looks like maybe there are some signs of cloning to the right of the opening and right of the bird. Also I am pretty sure that this is an Eastern Meadowlark. Although there is variation between the birds, Eastern has far more gray on the feathers at the base of the bottom of the lower bill. Western is typically much more yellow there and appears to have a larger yellow throat because of this. Any shots of the birds tail? Eastern has much darker base of the retrices (tail feathers) as compared to the much lighter and less densely patterned central tail feathers of western.