Loggerhead Shrike juvie

Gallery: AvianPosted August 31, 2010305 views29 comments

Lanius ludovicianus

Taken this morning in northern Utah. This juvie was hawking for insects and popped up out of the grasses with this large spider. It landed on a wooden slat of a campsite shelter before flying to a sagebrush to attempt impaling it. The juvie did have trouble doing that so it appeared to just eat the spider then & there.

D200, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 400, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, 0 EV comp. 55% of original image. Larger image provided as always for evaluation of sharpness and detail.

I sincerely appreciate your comments and critiques, thank you for looking.

Comments

29 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on August 31, 2010 at 3:15 PM

Oh wow! Sweet shot Mia. Love everything about this image. The bird and the spider are super sharp due to a great choice of f-stop of 7.1. The spider just takes this over the top for me. The BG is superb, the light is great, and I even like the wood as it adds a nice anchore to the shot. One of my favorites of yours. Very well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on August 31, 2010 at 3:25 PM

Sweet catch! Excellent sharpness all around with an interesting perch and a clean non-distracting background. The creepy spider really makes this image. Very well done.

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 31, 2010 at 3:34 PM

This would have been excellent without the spider but the spider puts it over the top.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Rohn B. McKee on August 31, 2010 at 5:15 PM

Great Moment Caught. Great Techs. Thanks for your example

Registered on November 18, 2008, 109 Posts, 415 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on August 31, 2010 at 5:32 PM

Super! I love the spider.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on August 31, 2010 at 6:09 PM

Wow! This is just beautiful.

This is an extremely rare bird in my area, but I'm hoping some day...

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on August 31, 2010 at 7:24 PM

Lovely photo, Mia! The spider adds a lot to the image.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 31, 2010 at 7:26 PM

really fantastic, Mia. The spider is of course the totally wonderful touch here, but I also like the pose, DOF, and the juvenile greater coverts.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Buck Ward on August 31, 2010 at 8:36 PM

What a wonderful photograph. I see absolutely nothing to criticize - it's even better in the larger version.. Love that you caught it with prey.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 96 Posts, 1917 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 31, 2010 at 10:15 PM

Beautiful, Mia. Wonderful detail and I like the perch and bg. The head turn is perfect.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on August 31, 2010 at 10:28 PM

The spider makes a great catch for bird and photographer; nice head-turn and background colours too.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on August 31, 2010 at 10:38 PM

WOW Mia. No Nits from me at all. This is superb. Love the background Mia. Very sharp throughout. Great head turn and catchlight in the eye. Excellent.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Webster on August 31, 2010 at 10:46 PM

Greetings Mia...I love everything about this image. As far as I'm concerned, the shrike can eat as many spiders as he wants.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 73 Posts, 644 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on August 31, 2010 at 11:14 PM

Stunning shot, Mia. Wonderful BG and light. Everything is just perfect in this image.

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 31, 2010 at 11:36 PM

Great find Mia the spider being totally in focus adds a lot to this and the "unnatural" perch works well with the BG colors.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on September 1, 2010 at 3:09 AM

Very, very sweet shot, Mia. Perfect in every aspect. I try not to be distracted by the creepy spider and concentrate my attention on the bird, but it is very difficult...!
Cheers.
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on September 1, 2010 at 4:54 AM

This is insane Mia! Absolutely top-notch presentation and razor sharp. A winner IMHO.

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on September 1, 2010 at 8:37 AM

Lovely image quality and great spider Mia

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Hali Sowle on September 1, 2010 at 9:00 AM

Wonderful Mia, that spider really gives this image that extra specialness that puts it over the top. I've got nothing to say that hasn't been said, the sharpness and pose, composition, the background they are all just great.

Registered on January 9, 2008, 36 Posts, 582 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on September 1, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Excellent Loggerhead image Mia! I can't even find a static one and you post one with a nice breakfast catch! That takes this over the top for me.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Geoffrey Baker on September 1, 2010 at 1:35 PM

What a great capture

Brilliant!

Geoff.

Registered on August 20, 2010, 192 Posts, 980 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on September 1, 2010 at 2:54 PM

As always you provide great photos. This is very impressive. In reviewing the comments posted on various posting, they indicate to not center the subject in the frame. I know this is not a hard and fast rule (I like this post centered), is there any guidelines one framing the shots?

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on September 1, 2010 at 5:14 PM

My thanks for all of the comments on this image so far.

Harry, you asked about centered compositions. I do not think this image would be considered centered as the majority of the shrike's body is on the left side of the frame even though the head is fairly centered. Most often the images I prefer to center are ones where the bird is looking head on at the viewer with the body almost straight behind it or when a bird is looking straight up or down. But those are just my personal preferences.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on September 1, 2010 at 9:37 PM

Very nice image Mia. I especially like the warm tones of the wooden perch. The spider definetly kicks it up another notch.

Ronnie G.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 2, 2010 at 7:35 AM

This is great Mia - a wonderful look at both shrike and spider. I love the background and the warm colors in the perch. I like the pose, sharpness and excellent IQ. We've had a great time with shrikes this summer but this one, with the spider, was especially interesting. Very well done.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 2, 2010 at 10:14 PM

Beautiful work Mia, looks yummy!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Ross on September 2, 2010 at 10:14 PM

Very nice Mia, great pose and lighting is good and soft, the spider is a great bonus.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2729 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on September 3, 2010 at 8:43 PM

Great to get the shrike in sweet light with a big spider Mia, congrats

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on September 3, 2010 at 9:25 PM

Nice image with excellent sharpness throughout. The spider is great and has lots of detail too. The dappled background really brings out the rest of the image.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments