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Motif: Singing Grasshopper Sparrow


Posted by Wil Hershberger on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:06 am

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©Wil Hershberger 2003 All rights reserved
This was taken at an abandoned strip mine in WV this past summer.
It was odd to see them in the pine trees but, they were the tallest things in the area and the sparrows used them as singing perches a lot.
I really liked how the colors in this photo came out as they are very close to the actual colors of the bird.
EOS 1Ds, 500mm f/4 IS, 1.4xTC, at f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, ff with BB at -1.7. In PS, cropped, USM and levels.
Comments welcome,
[url=http://www.cricketman.blogspot.com][b]Wil Hershberger[/b][/url] | [b]NSN0025[/b]
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by AlexC on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:15 am
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8) 8) 8)
Sweet molasses!!!
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by Alexandre Vaz on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:18 am
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Terrific shot and lovely bird.
 

by Jim Zipp on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:34 am
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Beautiful shot Wil!
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by E.J. Peiker on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:36 am
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Outstanding in every way!
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by Linda on Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:54 am
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Lovely bird, great perch and I love the open beak!
 

by Mike Wilson on Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:30 pm
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Gorgeous image Wil! Love the detail and the smooth bg.
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by Michael Brown on Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:45 pm
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A all-around fabulous image!!

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by Cliff Beittel on Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:21 pm
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Wonderful image, for the reasons already noted. I think you took a chance, though, at 1/200. The bills of singing sparrows can blur badly even at 1/250 or more.
 

by Fero on Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:25 pm
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Unbelievable, I have heard that these sparrows never come out from grass to open.

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by Bill Whala on Wed Nov 26, 2003 2:28 pm
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Awesome Wil. I love everything about this. :)
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by Jim Urbach on Wed Nov 26, 2003 2:43 pm
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Wil,

Real sweet.

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Enjoy viewing

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by Wil Hershberger on Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:13 pm
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Cliff Beittel wrote:Wonderful image, for the reasons already noted. I think you took a chance, though, at 1/200. The bills of singing sparrows can blur badly even at 1/250 or more.

Cliff,
You are right, it was 1/800 sec. I need new glasses :oops:
[url=http://www.cricketman.blogspot.com][b]Wil Hershberger[/b][/url] | [b]NSN0025[/b]
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by Cliff Beittel on Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:34 pm
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Wil Hershberger wrote: . . . I need new glasses :oops:
The photo says otherwise!
 

by Andrew Mc on Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:55 pm
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Stunning.
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by Ken Newcombe on Wed Nov 26, 2003 5:04 pm
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Will,

The open beak, nice perch and clean BG add up to an excellent image!
 

by Paul Fusco on Wed Nov 26, 2003 5:35 pm
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Nice shot, Wil.

The pine tree perch isn't typical for their habitat, but sometimes pines will colonize fields if there is a nearby seed source. The angle of the shot is good in that you are not shooting up at the bird, so the tree appears to be a young one.

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by Jill on Wed Nov 26, 2003 7:47 pm
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I love this one, Wil !!! Super image in all respects !!!
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by Wil Hershberger on Wed Nov 26, 2003 8:14 pm
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Paul Fusco wrote:The pine tree perch isn't typical for their habitat, but sometimes pines will colonize fields if there is a nearby seed source. The angle of the shot is good in that you are not shooting up at the bird, so the tree appears to be a young one.

Paul,
This is very atypical habitat. It is an abandoned strip mine that is covered with meter high grass that has never been mowed. This has provided a lot of dead grass and tufts so that there is an entire network of tunnels under this grass. Pretty cool area. The area is being invaded by pines and spruce from the area forests. The edge of this area has >20 trees per acre. Out in the area where this photo was taken it is more like 0.10 trees per acre. It seems that the white pines are more suited to this open area. There are also Henslow's sparrows in this area. I hope to post that photo on Friday.
I thought that I had a shot showing this area but I cannot locate it. I hope that this explanation gives you a sense of the area. It is certainly different from any of the Grasshopper sparrow breeding area closer to home.
Wil
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by Laura Stiefel on Thu Nov 27, 2003 9:24 am
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I really like the BG tones and open beak here. I think this is an excellent photo of a bird I have yet to see!
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