This Common Yellowthroat was teasing me all along the WildBirdsUnlimited trail at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge yesterday am. I made an executive decision to forego a sit-down breakfast, and get out for some birdwatching and photography in the few precious hours of daylight I had before the exhibit area opened and duty called at the Space Coast Birding Festival. I was on the refuge when the sun rose, and got in one loop around Black Point Wildlife Drive before I had to head for my booth. It was glorious and changed the nature of the whole day!

My primary purpose was to get more digiscoped shots with the new Sony camera and the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL, but when the Yellowthroat hopped up and hopped along the trail deep in the mangrove bushes, I resorted to the much quicker Canon SX50HS. With a bird this active, and one moving rapidly enough so that you have to follow down the dyke, there is little hope of catching it in the scope field and getting focused before it is gone. As it was, I only got a few good shots with the SX50. I really like this one. It catches the personality (aviality?) of the CYTh about as well as any photograph I have seen. It is not a field guide illustration, but it has the merit of being much more like what you actually see in the field than any “field marks” illustration I have ever seen. 🙂

Canon SX50HS in Program with iContrast and Auto Shadow Fill. –1/3EV Exposure Compensation. 1200mm equivalent field of view. f6.5 @ 1/320th @ ISO 800. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.