Mountain Bluebird

[Bonnie Block]

50D 300/2.8 IS + 1.4tc
1/1250s f/4.5 at 420.0mm iso640

I decided to go out and see if I could find this rare bird in the Seattle area, as I had seen that the local birders were remarking about it on the local birding list.
Like a needle in a haystack--600 acre park and one little bird. But, I managed to find it--and it was pretty obliging. A cloudy, almost raining day--the bird never got on a clear bg---but I'll take it!

[Steve Large]

Hi Bonnie,
Lovely feather detail and good exposure on this one. I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid up here on Vancouver Island. Some reports of Western Bluebirds in Victoria but that's about it.

Have a great day,

Steve

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely soft light and colours, Bonnie. BG looks fine to me. Critical focus seems to be just in front of the bird so a little selective sharpening may be an option.

[Bonnie Block]

Lovely soft light and colours, Bonnie. BG looks fine to me. Critical focus seems to be just in front of the bird so a little selective sharpening may be an option.

Thanks, Tony. Now that you mention the focus, I don't think I have calibrated this lens with the 50D and the 1.4. I have done it with the 2X--guess I should check that out!

[Art Kornienko]

Congrats on your find, I like the shot and the colours are lovely. I might have taken a little off the bottom, but that is very minor and subjective.

[Steve Canuel]

Congrats on a successful find. I find the colors of the BG and leaves of the perch to go nicely with the bird.

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely bird and light. Wonderful soft colors. What bugs me is that the BKGR plant is centered behind the perch plant. Moving a yard to either side would likely have helped with that. Head angle a tad less than ideal. All in all a nice image.