Very up close: Canyon Towhee

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Yesterday I was in Pueblo,CO for non-birding purposes. I drove out to the Pueblo Reservoir to walk my dogs, and get a little birding fix--and it turned out to be very little birding. Though it was mid-afternoon-3 pm when I got there-the light was already starting to fade a little (this is a very big deal with super zoom camera lens as they need a lot of light) which made looking at distant gulls too frustrating. But I did find several cooperative Canyon Towhees that were more interested in feeding than noticing the click of my camera (I stayed inside my car so I didn't disturb them).
I have kept the 1.4 extender on my Canon Xti with my 400 mm,f5.6 lens--with 1.6 multiplier from my camera (it's not a "full frame" camera), I have an effective focal length of over 800 mm.
This, and cropping pics to enlarge them, provides these super close-up views. I like the top pic here for it's very detailed view of the bird's bill including the nares and the eye.I also really liked the view of the bird's legs and feet (accentuated by some fortuitous light on them) in the middle pic which I enlarged for even super close-up viewing in the last pic. It's interesting that this bird's legs are pretty much flesh colored or pinkish. Double-click on this pic for an amazing view of it's legs and feet. More pics in next post. SeEtta

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