Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

While out birding for Sandhill Cranes and other birds that are migrating to Central California for winter I got a quick glimpse of this little Flycatcher. I got three rapid bursts off before a Black Phoebe came flying in to chase this bird off the post.

This is a first sighting of this bird for me. I think it’s a Willow Flycatcher. Please correct me if I’m wrong. If it is a Willow Flycatcher it too is wintering here from the Northeast, Mountain, and Northwest states.

I saw him at 3L30pm when the shadows were getting long, and the light was getting more golden by minute. I was shooting at f8 to get as much in focus as I could which resulted in this photo being a bit under-exposed, noisy, and a bit soft. I have to say I like the painterly effect it’s given the image.

I did boost the contrast,open up the exposure value, sharpen, and do a little noise clean up when I developed this image.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 300mm f/4 @ f/8| 1/1250s| ISO 500| Manual Priority| Matrix Metering| Hand-held -shot through an open window of the car.