Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)
Place: Sandy Hook, NJ, USA
Date: October 1990
Equipment: Nikon 8008, Nikkor EDIF 400/5.6, & TC14 converter (= 560/8), tripod
Film: Kodachrome 200
Exposure: Aperture priority center-weighted meter, natural light, no flash fill
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 80% of frame

Commentary: Sparrows are an acquired taste, even for many birders. A Clay-colored Sparrow on the eastern seaboard is always a treat, and it is rare for one to pose for photos. This cooperative bird fed in poison ivy while over 20 people from one birding field trip watched it from the nearby trail.

I know this is a very busy image, but I have liked this one very much from the moment I took it. The bird is a rarity in NJ; the bird is secretive in migration; the colors of the setting really capture the feel of fall birding at Sandy Hook.