Puff Daddy

Puff Daddy - Sonoran Desert, Arizona

Puff Daddy – Sonoran Desert, Arizona

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Birds puff up for a multitude of reasons. It could be cold, or ill, or getting ready to sleep, or cracking a bird joke (he did make me smile), but I think this bird flat out didn’t like me and immediately sent a fusillade of woodnote my way. It considered me a possible predator and was puffing to look larger and more intimidating than he actually is.

Copyright 2016, O. Bisogno Scotti, All Rights Reserved

Nikon N90S SLR, AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200 mm f/2.8D ED, film: Kodak Kodachrome 64 color transparency, exposure not recorded, filter: Nikon L37C, program mode: Aperture Priority, handheld, Plustek OpticFilm 7600i Ai, 35 mm film scanner, LaserSoft Imaging SilverFast 8 scanner software.

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30 thoughts on “Puff Daddy”

  6. What an outstanding border!
    It draws your eye right to the chest of this most formidable warrior. Who is making it known that you are not welcome in his territory.
    I see the steel glint in his eye as he keeps you at bay with his noisy chatter, his feathers are bristling with the intent of driving you away.
    He has the bold yellow of his chest mixed with the soft blue/black of the ruffled under feathers, as well as the unique markings of the brown and white upper feathers. He is a small, compact, powerhouse of a bird.
    I am pleased you were able to capture this small but mighty creature.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thank you Nature’s Child. You are right. The border color was cloned from the breast color of the bird. I also added noise to the border to give a rough, sandy desert look since the image was captured in the Sonoran Desert.

      I am hoping the resident birding expert on Blog-Bisogno.com, Shannon chimes in to clarify the name of the bird. This little ruffian is hard to identify being all puffed up like that.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓

    • I don’t know about ‘expert’ but it looks to me to be a Western Meadowlark. Perhaps it was injured and couldn’t flee and resorted to squawking instead, in a final effort to scare you off. They are quite vocal as it is but will not (normally) let a predator get so close. It’s the very reason I invested in a 600mm lens — aids filling the frame with a small subject, all the while keeping a respectful distance.

      Nice shot, Bisogno! Really captured his spunky personality. ‘Puff Daddy’ it is.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply ↓

      • Thanks so much Shannon! Compared to me, you are a bonafide expert. When it comes to birds, I love them, truly enjoy watching them, and know next to nothing about them. I understand how important it is to keep the respectful distance you mention and am thinking of getting a Nikon 2X teleconverter for my 80-200 zoom which would make it 400mm. Until then, I will let birds come to me as I always have.

        …so there you have it folks. Puff Daddy is a Western Meadowlark.

        Liked by 3 people

  7. This is obviously a very dangerous creature. He looks like he could tear you limb from limb! I hope you survived this encounter unscathed.

    Liked by 2 people

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