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Lesser Goldfinch
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Lesser Goldfinch

by Richard Ditch

Gallery: AvianPosted May 1, 2016101 views4 comments
Lesser Goldfinch Carduelis psaltria)

Place: Back yard, Phoenix, AZ
Date/Time: April 23, 2016, 4:04 pm
Equipment: Nikon D7200, Nikkor AF-S 300/4, hand held
Exposure: Aperture priority spot metered, ISO 800, 1/400th, f/5.6
Raw, PS CC 2015 on Mac, 65% of frame

We recently put out an inverted thistle feeder on our patio, and within a couple days were hosting Lesser Goldfinches at it. Without the thistle seed these fun and colorful birds skip our place entirely. But they must be close by to have found the new feeder so quickly.

A treat for us was when an adult male came along with a juvie bird in tow and began feeding it on a nearby hanging potted plant. I grabbed the ever-ready D7200 with 300/4 and started shooting through the glass patio door, using the spot meter to deal with the very bright sky background.

As always: honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. Larger version provided.
 

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 1, 2016 at 3:20 PM
Excellent composition and wonderful behavior, Richard.  In this case, the bright bg with the larger oof leaves works very well.  A sweet image.

devil
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Cordes on May 1, 2016 at 7:58 PM
Outstanding behavior capture. Detail is wonderful.  I wish the birds were a bit brighter, but the image is excellent as is.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 451 Posts, 3366 Comments
Comment posted by Raoul Breaux Jr on May 1, 2016 at 10:25 PM
Excellent image!  It has a similar feel to your wonderful post of April 17th--light, airy, and crisp.
Registered on April 27, 2016, 20 Posts, 142 Comments
Comment posted by David Schoen on May 2, 2016 at 11:34 AM
Very nicely done especially through a patio door. But if you opened it the birds would be gone.  My feeders are also outside my kitchen window and I've often thought about putting optical glass in a section of it (however now that I am retired there is no way I could afford it).  I agree with Dennis that in this case the bright background works. The only thing I might do differently here would be to crop a small percentage of the left side of the image which I don't think you need.
Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments