As I mentioned, I am in North Texas for a few days (headed home today), helping with a training for ZEISS Sports Optics, which was held at Wildcater Ranch near Graham. Yesterday afternoon, after most folks packed up and headed back to Dallas and home, I had some time to do a little birding on the high bluff where the ranch restaurant and conference center is located. It is early winter here (they had snow on the ground when we arrived) but I found an interesting mix of birds…Cardinals, Cedar Waxwings, Juncos, Eastern Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Goldfinches prominent among them.

The meadowlarks were alternating between feeding on the ground and perching high, in trees and on the power line that crossed by path. I could not catch them on the ground, but I managed a few shots when they went up high.

And I can’t resist putting in this chance shot…the last in a sequence. This is a crop for composition.

Canon SX40HS at 840mm optical zoom plus 2x digital tel-converter for 1680mm equivalent. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.

Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness. (Some additional local sharpening on the last shot.)