bird... THINK PEOPLE, THINK

[paulnj]

despite the OOF foreground branch... WHY IS THIS A GGGREAT IMAGE?

when i get an answer close to the real answer ..I will tell you why

taken in NJ yesterday

1D/100-400IS handheld iso 250 f8, +.7ev, fill at -.3ev 90% of frame

[adina]

Because this is the elusive yellow headed masked warbler, only 6 known birds left in existance?


adina

[paulnj]

no such bird

[Charles Hess]

I know why it's a great image ... YOU TOOK IT! :-) I don't have a clue.

[Sean Dempsey]

The great masked caps lock warbler then?

[Asylum Steve]

...that this is a rare female Thinly Veiled Black-Eyed Splinter-Beaked Miniature Cock-a-mamie Guffaw, also known as an Asbury Park Sparrow.

Yes, this is a great image for a couple of reasons. One, the full sized adult Guffaw is only 1/2 inch long, so it is EXTREMELY hard to spot in the wild.

But more importantly, one can only get close enough for a photo of the Guffaw if they are covered entirely in HORSE MANURE, a smell which, oddly enough, covers up our natural odor, yet does not seem to bother the bird.

Well done, Paul! Hope you took a bath afterwards...

[Lara]

I know, I know...It's that elusive, rare Golden Winged Warbler you were trying to take a photo of the other day

[paulnj]

BUT THAT'S only part of why it's GREAT

well.... actually this is the 9th goldenwinged warbler I shot this year and last week I shot a "abberant lawrences back cross" too.

http://birds.cornell.edu/Publication...01/hybrid.html

my bird was the offspring of a lawrence's / blue winged warbler cross..... so the experts believe...AND I KNEW IT THE SECOND I SEEN IT TOO

here's a link to a few Lawrence's warblers.... mine had no black throat, thin black eyeline, YELLOW wing bars.....

[Lara]

Well congrats on the shot Paul!

Where is the link?

[paulnj]

TO WHAT? my patheticly poor image?

well it's just a 10% of frame ..ID shot anyway..SHARP isn't needed to ID a bird

and here's one of the FIVE i shot last week the same day

[Lara]

You had said " here's a link to a few Lawrence's warblers.... mine had no black throat, thin black eyeline, YELLOW wing bars....." So I was expecting some photos

Hey, none of your images are pathetically poor to me! Thank you for sharing these! I'm a bird lover, so much appreciated. I see the id bands in the second shot!

[adina]

No wonder this shot is great! Anything that requires that kind of preperation is bound to be a great shot!

adina

[adina]

I was hoping it would be some kind of rare bird and I would be close

adina

[paulnj]

gene... if you are talking about the banded bird..... the dark area is a shadow from the far wind(which is raised) and the wing bar is the only abberant feature of the GOLDEN WINGED WARBLER( the chances of that being a hybrid are SLIM, but could be possible )

BTW.... NOBODY has said why my original image is GREAT yet......

HINT.....

we know it's a typical golden winged male, but what's special?

[paulnj]

I KNOW..

we all have a good sense of humor here.

I still want MY ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read my reply to Gene for a hint.

HINT #2

GOOGLE will give you the answer if you search correctly and think too ;)

by fall YOU ALL WILL BE WISER in the bird species catagory

[Sebastian]

Let me try...

It's not banded, meaning no one else has gotten their hands on it yet?

I have no clue dude...

[Lara]

Yeesh!

Is it the color of the bill?

Does the plumage indicate breeding season?

[paulnj]

DING DING DING............

THE POLISH GUY WINS!!!!!!

EVERY GOLDEN WINGED WARBLER ON BREEDING and WINTERING grounds is BANDED if they can catch them.

the east coasts population is the most threatened, so between 75 and 90 % of the birds are banded for AT LEAST 1 STUDY.

BANDS ARE A bird PHOTOG's NIGHTMARE ;)

[paulnj]

the time does

I do believe the plumage colors of these stays the same.... duller in winter as the feathers get worn

[Sebastian]

No way...

That was unexpected. I guess I have some sort of attention to detail after all.

[Speed]

gene... if you are talking about the banded bird..... the dark area is a shadow from the far wind(which is raised) and the wing bar is the only abberant feature of the GOLDEN WINGED WARBLER( the chances of that being a hybrid are SLIM, but could be possible )

BTW.... NOBODY has said why my original image is GREAT yet......

HINT.....

we know it's a typical golden winged male, but what's special?

You are on his level. I'm guessing you either took this standing up, or you were in the tree with him. 400mm shot offhand is always noteworthy.

What is special about him? I haven't a clue.

[Lara]

Congratulations on figuring out the answer Sebastian! Smarty pants
..walks away defeated. whaaaaaaaaa

[paulnj]

He's been listening to my banter fdor 5 years though

IO'm glad SOMEBODY was listening ;)

[Lara]

Okay, I concede to Sebastian's extensive Avian tutoring from professor Paul

[paulnj]

http://members.tripod.com/~phaedrus64/lawrences.html

at the bottom is 3 more links

http://www.alanmurphyphotography.com...eswarbler.html