The Beautiful Little Sneaks

Today marks the completion of my shares of the images from my large water set up in my backyard. What better species to conclude it with than Hutton's Vireo. These sneaky little birds were both hard to photograph and to identify. They would literally dive into the water sometimes and then spring back into the air without pausing. Sometimes they would just hover above the water and then fly off again. I felt quite privileged to photograph them when they would settle down and bathe in the water for more than three seconds. After getting a sew images of them I then had to ID them. I narrowed it down to the Vireo family and then I really wasn't quite willing to commit to my ID. I put the question to the California Birders cgroup and they confirmed it was a Hutton's Vireo. Huttons's are found in a band running from Vancouver island down the length of California into Northern Baja. In the interior there is a group that runs from Southern Arizona and New Mexico Boarder down into Central Mexico. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy and God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens on a Manfrotto tripod. Exposures varied. If you are interested in creating a water set up like this one please check out the book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography", where step by step directions are provided to show how to build a water set up. The book is available in both hardbound and as an ebook at Amazon and most anywhere fine books are sold.