What do you get when you cross a warbler with a bullfrog?
This...
The
Yellow-breasted Chat is a really cool bird. Recently, my new birding friend John Shortis from the UK (currently residing in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho) joined me for a short sit at Avimor while about five Yellow-breasted Chats flitted all around us. Their behavior and calls are fascinating with all the hoots, whistles and honking noises. Part of making those crazy sounds must be related to that puffed up air sac at the throat. Watching them fly is a real treat as they look like a marionette with a child pulling the strings! I wish I had some hi-def video to share with you all, but you're just gonna have to come out and watch them with me in person...in the meantime here are some still photos.
To read more about Yellow-breasted Chats and to see some really professional photography of them, check out the latest issue of
Birdwatcher's Digest - Now available digitally!
I'm still learning how to use my dSLR Olympus E-620. These photos were in-flight practice shots wherein I set the shutter speed to the fastest I had. I'm not sure how to get the in-flight focus just right yet, so if you have any tips...!
A shot from a few days earlier when it was overcast.
Good shots. I'm working on in-flight photog too - we'll grow together, ok?
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw this on Twitter...I thought a bird ate a frog, or vice versa. My neighbor's pond bullfrog snatched a bird (finch or house sparrow) getting a drink at the edge of the pond two weeks ago. She dug the parts out of the frog's mouth because they seemed stuck.
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