John Grusd PhotographyThe Never Ending Song
When I was a kid I’d awaken in the early morning hours and listen to the Mockingbirds. I still do. They are renown for changing their calls every few seconds and going on like that for hours. I’m not sure they ever repeat themselves and it’s incredible to hear! You’d never associate this plain looking grey bird with the baroque litany of songs he sings while he is attempting to attract a mate. They’re plain grey, that is, while they are perched and going through their playlist of songs. As if they are aware of their drab looks, they have a second trick up their sleeve (or wing). Every couple of minutes and for one or two seconds, they flutter up into the air revealing striking white markings on their wings and tail feathers. Then it’s back to their perch and looking all grey again. It must work because if all of that singing and displaying didn’t attract mates, I wouldn’t still be enjoying their songs today!
For the photographers out there: This particular bachelor was about 250 yards away at the top of a big eucalyptus tree. The image was captured with a crop-frame camera attached to a 600mm lens with a 1.4 tele-converter. For the mathematically challenged photographers out there, that is 840mm. If you figure in the false math of the crop-frame sensor, it comes to 1344mm. (“false”, because it’s cropped, not because it’s a bigger image)
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John Grusd Photography 