Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Place: White Mountains, Springerville, AZ, USA
Date: September 2000
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), car window
Film: Fujichrome Provia F 100 rated normally
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 100% of frame

Commentary: As with most of my bird photos, this was an unplanned shot that came about at random while out birding. It was late in the day as we drove slowly along a dirt road in a little visited wildlife area in the White Mountains of northeastern Arizona. This meadowlark sat up unexpectedly in a tiny "shrub" just a few inches tall beside the road, and I was able to ease the car close enough for some photos. I took a series of frames, resting the lens on the car window edge. The bird eventually stretched its wings, and I got this shot at the end of the sequence. What pleases me most about it is that the spread tail is necessary to identify this as a Western Meadowlark and not the very similar Lillian's race of the Eastern Meadowlark that also occurs in Arizona. This is a plumage detail shown in good field guides but very seldom seen in the field, where ID is usually made by voice. I wasn't sure of this composition at first, wondering if the slanted grasses in the right of the frame were a distraction from the main subject, but I have come to really like them as they echo the out of focus grasses in the background and seem to provide balance in this environmental portrait.