Green-tailed Towhee perched in a Golden Currant – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I truly wish that I had been able to photograph this adult Green-tailed Towhee in this Golden Currant bush while is was in full bloom because that would have been gorgeous with all the tiny yellow flowers. The blooming season happens so quickly in the high mountain canyons and by the time I photographed this towhee the currant flowers were pretty much spent and tiny fruits had already begun to form.
For some wildflowers and flowering trees and shrubs the blooming period is very short and so are the opportunities to photograph birds amongst the blooms. I don’t feel like I took full advantage of the opportunities with birds in among the blooming currants, chokecherry and serviceberry blooms this season and plan on doing better next spring even if that means spending less time in the valley and more time in the mountains to get the photos I desire.
Still, I like this Green-tailed Towhee photo a lot because of the inclusion of habitat, how the towhee is framed by the bush, the great view of the bird’s eye and the lovely details throughout the frame.
Blooming Golden Currant – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I thought I would also include a close up photo of a Golden Currant’s waxy, yellow blooms because they are very pretty to look at and dainty too.
The Golden Currant in bloom photo was taken on May 25th, the Green-tailed Towhee photo was taken on June 3rd and by that time the Golden Currants were already setting fruit.
Golden Currants are native shrubs that are also called Buffalo and Clove Currants and apparently the blooms have a slight clove scent so next year I am going to have to get closer to their blossoms and see if that is true. I have photographed Song Sparrows eating their fruit in previous years and I hope to do so again this season along with any other birds that comes in to eat the currants.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Green-tailed Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.
My husband Tobert Draper was a avid admirer of your photos and blog or webpage. He po assed away on October 11. 3018 after a short and complicated, and several attempts by pathologists to hzve s name for the canccer cells in his pelvis. Tentatively they came up with Spindle Cell Sarcoma. Bob loved bird watching and he got me hooked too. I will comtinue to watch your site and admire, as he did your photos and writings. He also had a blog on WordPress. He called the blog flightlessnomads.com
Arlyne Draper
Arlyne70@gmail.com
Funny! They say great minds work in unison…I had the same initial reaction that Ellie Baby had…at first glance, I wondered why youphotoed the bird near a “Hurricane Fence”, but quickly tealized that it was a network of slim, gray branches and twigs…the soft, yellow of the almost spent blossoms in the background set the bird of very nicely. The close up of the waxy, golden blossoms are beautiful…
What a beauty.
Is it just me? The framing of the golden currant branches looked like a (much more beautiful) wire fence.
Thanks EC… and it is not just you, I had similar thoughts about the currant branches.
Dainty is the perfect descriptor for those lovely blossoms. And that is one handsome towhee. I really like the composition of that shot — it makes me wonder what the bird is looking at off in the distance. I love shots that invite me to think about the story behind them. 🙂
Marty, I also wondered what the towhee was looking at while I photographed it but didn’t dare take my eyes off of the bird in the viewfinder. Thank you.