Dark-eyed Junco, Little Maquoketa Valley, eastern Iowa
A couple inches of wet snow fell last night and with that white reflector on the ground I tried to capture some pictures of the birds who visited our bird feeders during the late afternoon. With an overcast in the sky the light faded away quickly after 4pm. First I considered to use a flash but the reflection of the snow was enough to throw some light from underneath. The car was parked in our driveway and I used it as a blind. We have lots of Northern Cardinals here at the moment and with their bright red they are always photogenic. Today they didn’t come close enough but it was fun to work with the Dark-eyed Juncos instead. This medium-sized sparrow is here only during winter time. They have a considerable geographic color variation but in our region the slate-colored is mostly seen. They forage primarily on the ground but perch sometimes briefly on low hanging branches when they move around.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/250 s, f/6.3, ISO 1600