Indigo Bunting

Gallery: AvianPosted August 5, 20183,614 views8 comments

Most indigo buntings sing and survey their territories from lofty perches. This one setup its nesting territory among the old teasel stalks along the top of a dike near the shore of Lake Erie. Very skittish birds that are tough to approach closely. D500 600mm f4 +1.4x TC (1/1600 sec at f7.1, Iso 800 + -1.7ev fill) Levels, Topaz Detail, DeNoise, Crop to 8x10, Hue saturation with reduction of Yellows in BG.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 5, 2018 at 8:42 AM

Wow, you're really getting some incredible shots with that new 600!
This is gorgeous - great teasels, sweet BG and lovely pose from the bird.
Is he really that thin, or just stretched out? I've only seen "rounder" ones.
devil

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Peter J. Morrissey on August 5, 2018 at 8:58 AM

Hi Jim
Great color, detail and framing. nice work.
Peter

Registered on July 3, 2011, 188 Posts, 969 Comments

Comment posted by Skip Layman on August 5, 2018 at 1:26 PM

I believe he looks streched out because he is stressed out. The upright posture and raised head feathers are typical of a bird who is upset about something, That comment aside, I really like this picture, the natural setting and alert, colorful bird are pure eye candy. Very nice Jim
Skip

Registered on November 1, 2003, 558 Posts, 1704 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 5, 2018 at 1:41 PM

Excellent, Jim. I really like the way the sun brought out the blues. I don't think I've ever seen one stretched up like this-it gives it a unique appearance. The teasel heads give a nice sense of scale to the image.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on August 5, 2018 at 2:09 PM

I was watching this guy for a while and he was directing this behavior at me. For other photographers that were present, he did not seem to care about them. They were wearing light colored clothing and me in blue jeans and a blue t-shirt. My best guess is that I appeared as a large male indigo bunting and he was trying to make himself look bigger to drive me from the edge of the territory. Next time I visit this site, I will have to wear non-blue clothing and see if I get the same reaction. There was about 4 pairs along the dike and they were scrapping with each other as well......................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on August 6, 2018 at 12:42 PM

Very nice scene as presented, Jim. The bunting really stands out against the background and the dried teasel stalks make a fine perch. He's definitely looking aggressive.