Redwinged Blackbird - female

[wfooshee]

Being new at this, only recently starting to show an interest in bird photography, I went round and round with this one in the guides. A couple of sparrows are similar in color and pattern, but not bill. That beak kept confusing me.

I gave up, and came back to it when I saw Redwinged Blackbirds while searching for something else, and was reminded of how not-redwinged and not-black the female is. Quick compare, and Eureka!

Go ahead, laugh. Nobody else ever did this when they started, right???

Anyway, this was deep in brush growing in a freshwater marsh, very very shaded (even though it was a sunny day,) and no time to try to get the flash mounted. (I gots to learn to carry with the flash attached! Turning it on takes a lot less time than digging it out and attaching it....)

Nikon D5000, 70-300 VR, ISO 200, 1/500, f:5.6, adjusted for levels in PS to bring out shadow detail and to correct for a greenish cast in the light. Image data shows 6.3 meters on the first two, 9.4 meters on the third, and 11.9 meters on the fourth.



Perfect illustrator's pose!


Back and tail


A juvenile? I swear they flew into this bush together, and the open-mouthed bird is at least as large as the other.