Snow Buntings

Gallery: AvianPosted November 18, 2010113 views8 comments

Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)

Snow Buntings travel farther north than any other songbird in the world. A single (apparently lost) bird was found near the North Pole in 1987 ("Birds of Ontario", A. Bezener). In summer they are in the Arctic Tundra. They've come here ( "South" ) for the Winter!

This pair was busily pecking around in the grass near some picnic tables in a local park. They were very friendly to each other: staying close together and occasionally one appeared to feed the other.

I captured many images of these birds. This one is likely not the best in quality (it is a very large crop and the aperture really should have been smaller than f/8. It's really pushing the capabilities of my new camera). However' it's my favorite image because, to me, it shows the delightful personality of this couple. I actually lay down on my belly to obtain a better angle. The grey background is a gravel walkway. You can see from this shot that they seem to be really wondering what I was up to. It took me awhile to get up too….

1D Mark IV, 400 mm f/5.6: ISO 320, 1/1000 s, f/8, only 1.4 MP after cropping, No noise reduction but some exposure adjustment and sharpening.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on November 18, 2010 at 9:34 PM

really interesting behavior, Steve, I wouldn't expect them to be exhibiting pair behavior on the wintering grounds. I'm not crazy about the gray gravel bg (perhaps a wider aperture would have been better like you say), but like the foreground setting and poses a lot.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on November 18, 2010 at 9:44 PM

Thank you for your comment, Brian. I just wanted to clarify that I really felt the need for more DOF here (smaller aperture, larger f value). In sharpening I found that I had to sharpen the head of the RHS bird a bit more than the bird on the LHS. I don't know if the walkway is really identifiable as a walkway in this image....let's pretend it's a big grey rock

I think it's interesting that the very low noise level in this camera permits this level of detail in such a large crop. I tried running the image through Blow Up 2. I bet that I could make a good large print of it I I wanted too.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 18, 2010 at 10:09 PM

I used to see Snow Buntings along the Jersey Shore each winter when I lived there and enjoyed the experience every time. I've only seen one in AZ (the only one I know of for the state) and I had to drive about 150 miles southeast of Phoenix to see it at a distance.

I'm amazed at the detail you held in this massive crop. But I'm not so sure stopping down would have improved image quality - Bob Atkins has a complicated discussion about resolution, aperture, and sensor size on his web site that addresses the topic.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 19, 2010 at 8:58 AM

Nice detail for such a large crop Steve. I like the closeness of the buntings it adds a touch of intimacy to the photo, great low angle and eye contact. I like the pano crop you used here, I think it minimizes the background nicely. I also don't mind the gravel walkway it is out of focus enough that without you stating what it was I may thought is was some rocks.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on November 19, 2010 at 7:30 PM

I love the way the birds are interacting and their apparent interest in the photographer. I think the image handled the large crop quite well. I am not bothered by the gravel trail in the background.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 19, 2010 at 9:21 PM

Oops, I missed this somehow, first time through Steve. It's the comfort the buntings seem to find in being so close to each other that is endearing to me here, even though I suspect that it's only that they found the same food source. Pretty amazing to get the detail you did with that huge crop. I also enjoyed your little natural history lesson on the species very much.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 19, 2010 at 9:27 PM

Very cute image Steve, I like the low angle. I'm not thrilled with the parking lot background but nothing you could have done about that.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on November 21, 2010 at 12:18 AM

Thank you all. Very interesting comments. Special thanks to Richard Ditch for the Bob Atkins reference. It's an excellent source of information.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments