Golden-crowned Kinglet

One of the smaller and more active residents. The Kinglets, both Ruby-crowned and this Golden-crowned like to spend their day in brush and blackberry bushes looking for bugs n things. Known as little dynamos when spotted in the open they rarely spend more then a moment on a branch. Taken yesterday, Ridgefield NWR

canon 7D
canon 600mm f4.L + 1.4TC
F/5.6 @ 1/250 ISO 800

Craig, great positioning and pose of this little guy/gal. I am sure this was a challenging shot to get. Congratulations. Oh, by the way, I have no idea how you can get such sharpness at 1344mm with 1/250th second from a vehicle...I'm impressed! bean bag or window mount? Just curious...I'd have to be shooting at 1/800 minimum...

Very nice. Sharp, nice pose. I'm always amazed at photos of little birds, they are so challenging to photograph.

Thanks for looking and your comments. David, I use a bean bag rest on the power window, raising and lowering the window as needed to get the right angle on the long lens. The biggest problem was how active the kinglets are, you have to shoot fast before they move on, with as much speed and on a terribly overcast day that was a challenge.

I agree with the above comments. If you can get consistent shots of these little guys (kinglets obviously start their day with espresso), I think you've pretty much arrived.

This is another great one Craig! Amazing.

You really know how to find them! Nice shot!

The best shot I recall seeing of the "crown", Craig.

Wonderful capture, especially the way these little birds flitter about!

David M. Cobb

Now how did you spot this little beauty? And then to get the shot. As you can tell most of us think it's nearly impossible, and I join them in that belief. Kudos to you Craig for a most excellent shot. It's a real cute pose, too, on top of every other feat you pulled off here.