And the third reported for our state to the Purple Martin Conservation Association. He arrived on the 5th, though this image was taken this morning when I had some really nice light and had gotten a ladder set up to put me closer to its level. Two females showed up yesterday as well. At one point yesterday they were all lined up with him in the middle, but I didn’t have a camera at the time (darn yard work gets in the way).
Anything. This perch is attached to the top of the pole holding the gourd rack that the Martins use. The attachment point was at the far left of this perch and I cloned it out in processing.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Anything.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Sony A6500, Sony EF 200-600 @ 600 mm, hand held from ladder, f/8, 1/640, iso 640, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped from a horizontal original to 2824x3624. I used Topaz Detail 3 to enhance plumage structure a bit. Exposure of the bird raised a touch in processing as well.
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Well done on the photograph, hand held standing on a ladder. Nice and sharp with lots of detail and a dandy pose.My preference might have been the bird a tad left in the frame but …
It is a dandy documentary photograph and an interesting project. I see several large housing complexes set up is various places in our countryside. I am assuming they are also for Martins.
Hi David. The beautiful large apartment complexes they use in the east don’t work out here in Western Washington. For some reason, though they are the same species, their behavior is a bit different. They still like to nest colonially, but they don’t like to share a wall. Gourd arrays are the standard out here, though individual boxes in clusters also work well. I volunteer on several local prairies, and they use the multiple box system either on old power poles or trees that have been limbed up as wildlife trees (Douglas Firs are an “invasive” on the local prairies). We tried a couple of individual boxes, but the birds didn’t want them. My wife decided to get one of the six-gourd arrays and they filled them the first year.
You have your Martin’s well-trained perch on something natural. This is a superb image with excellent color and detail. Taking pictures from a ladder can be difficult. Good job!
@David_Schoen It’s a nice stable orchard ladder and I put my beanbag on top to rest my elbows. This is the 8 foot ladder. I have a 12 footer as well that i can use when I get really carried away, but I’m trying to get them used to it at this point. Once the full mob arrives (and with the nice weather forecast, I expect it to be soon) they’ll be crowded enough that they’ll be fairly easy targets. With just 2 or 3 of them, they’re tending to land on the opposite side of the pole from me. With your location, you should get a rack of gourds. They’d fill up quickly.
I like this as presented. It can be difficult to get good texture in this dark plumage while still keeping the martin looking natural, and you have done well here.
That’s some very interesting info on this species in the west. A few years before we left NJ for AZ we put up a multi compartment martin house in our front yard, and had birds move in the first year. We wish we had done it sooner as they are such a delight to listen to. Here in AZ they are hard to find - I’ve only had them on my year list a few times here. I’m told they nest in cavities in Saguaros in a few places but I’ve yet to see that for myself.
