[Leica] a morning walk

[Douglas Herr]

I spent yesterday morning at a river floodplain re-purposed as a nature study area with plentiful walking trails and wildlife.  One of the first birds I found was a cooperative pair of California Towhees, munching on filaree seeds.  By waiting quietly I was able to test the minimum focus distance of the 600mm lens:

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/melozone/crissalis/melcri19.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/melozone/crissalis/melcri16.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/melozone/crissalis/melcri20.html

a side benefit of all this quiet waiting was a Hermit Thrush in a nearby bush who un-skulked long enough for a few quick exposures:

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/turdidae/catharus/guttatus/catgut02.html

I then walked through the floodplain to an area with dense brush, perfect habitat for a Spotted Towhee:

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/pipilo/maculatus/pipmac21.html

Towhees are basically a large sparrow and both the California Towhee and Spotted Towhee are often found in suburban yards; this two-for (on a Tuesday) in wilder habitat was a first for me.

Having adequately and delightfully spent the morning with these birds in glorious overcast light I felt that I had used the day well, and with an eye on the thickening cloud cover I packed the camera and started to head home, but wait!  What was that in those distant trees?  It looks like a woodpecker, near the area where last year both Acorn Woodpeckers and Nuttall's Woodpeckers had nest cavities.  I unpacked the camera and walked over to investigate the activity.

Turns out the woodpecker was neither Acorn nor Nuttall's: it was a Red-breasted Sapsucker visiting the lowlands for the winter.  The sapsucker drills little sap wells in the bark of trees, returning periodically to check for sweet sap and any insects that may have been attracted to it.

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/ruber/sphrub09.html

This bird spent most of its time in one tree and was quite cooperative allowing this onlooker to expose a few billion pixels.  The bird's M.O. was to start on the lower trunk, working its way up to the higher limbs, drilling new sap wells as it saw fit, and checking on the older sap wells

going up the trunk:

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/ruber/sphrub11.html

checking sap wells on the other side

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/ruber/sphrub08.html

new sap wells on a higher limb

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/ruber/sphrub12.html

oooh! nice sticky sap

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/ruber/sphrub10.html

equipment: "Leica" alpha 7rIII, "Leica" 600mm f/4 GM, big tripod.

With all of these birds, the camera's autofocus system struggled to lock onto the bird so I often used center point focus (not my fav) and ended up deleting a lot of images.  Demonstrations of the new alpha 1's Bird Eye AF look promising.  My wallet is quaking in fear.

As usual, all comments are welcome.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com