Gray Catbird in a willow thicketGray Catbird in a willow thicket – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 320, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I was delighted to be able to photograph a Gray Catbird in a willow thicket yesterday up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains. I could hear Gray Catbirds calling along the creek that runs through the canyon but they are pretty skulky and I’d only gotten short glimpses of them heading south through the canyon.

It wasn’t until later in the morning while stopped near the creek that a Gray Catbird popped up into open view in nice light and hung around long enough for me to take a little over a hundred photos of it, that is a lot for a catbird! Some times all I get is a blurry photo of one taking off they can be so skittish, some times no photos at all.

At first I wasn’t so excited about the busy willowy setting that I photographed the catbird in but the more I look at this photo the more I like it.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Gray Catbird photos plus facts and information about this species.