# Maybe the most photographed bird in Oregon history **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** birds\ **Created:** [September 21, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323 "2026-09-21T02:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Allen\_Brooks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_brooks/32/390_2.png) [@Allen\_Brooks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Brooks)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/1 "2026-09-21T02:58:16Z")
![Original - Blue Rock Thrush-NPN2.jpg](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/e/1/e13b0130d3a51aef2a0431f09a7a2b5fcbc8c9d3.jpeg) **Critique Style:** Standard The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below. **Feedback Focus:** Artistic + Technical ### About This Image I generally don’t chase rare birds, but by coincidence, I was traveling to Washington state and this Blue Rock Thrush had been spotted on the Columbia River just east of Interstate 5, which made for a very short detour. Apparently this is only the third or fourth record of this bird being seen in North America. It is found in Europe and east Asia (where this bird most likely came from). It is the national bird of Malta. Amazingly, it was just sitting on this dead branch, posing for a great many people. Is it the most photographed bird in Oregon history? Debatable, but with today’s cameras shooting between 20-50 frames a second, I’m sure it’s the most imaged bird. The bird was also very considerate in choosing its location, as it is a short distance from the Portland airport and people were flying in to see the bird. According to one report, someone flew in from Florida. Wonder if they were doing a big year. There was quite the party atmosphere as people had their cameras, scopes, and binoculars all trained on this bird. ### Feedback Requested Any thoughts appreciated. ### Technical Details Camera: Canon R5 Lens: 100-500 Focal length: 500 mm Shutter speed: 1/400 Aperture: 7.1 ISO: 1250 ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/2 "2026-09-21T15:44:56Z")
Must have been some distance off, Allen. It looks remarkably similar to our Bluebirds aside from the crisp white feather edges. A nice documentary shot. He picked a nice perch and that’s an awesome background. ---
**Author:** ![Lon\_Overacker](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/lon_overacker/32/10929_2.png) [@Lon\_Overacker](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Lon_Overacker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/3 "2026-09-21T18:24:21Z")
Allen, First of all, congratulations on adding to your “Life list” - I’m guessing you have one? 🙂 Mine’s quite small you know. LOL Love the setup and muted colors here. As Dennis eludes, it must have been a bit away and this is a good sized crop? It’s a bit soft, but in this case, it’s an image and capture you won’t soon forget I’m sure. thanks for sharing! ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Sparks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_sparks/32/63507_2.png) [@Allen\_Sparks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Sparks)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/4 "2026-09-21T19:07:35Z")
Congrats Allen! What a cool looking bird – must have been great to see in person. Love the look with the complimentary background and charred perch. I see the bit of fuzziness in the feather detail. A wonderful encounter well documented. ---
**Author:** ![xavier1](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/xavier1/32/70972_2.png) [@xavier1](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/xavier1)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/5 "2026-09-22T21:18:10Z")
People are people. I once stumbled upon a phalarope in Belgium, with quite a number of people showing up to watch and look and talk. And surely that was not as rare a bird as your catch. You were lucky it had experience with our crowd and knew how to pose. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Zablotny](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/jim_zablotny/32/3919_2.png) [@Jim\_Zablotny](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Jim_Zablotny)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/maybe-the-most-photographed-bird-in-oregon-history/52323/6 "2026-09-24T15:26:42Z")
Birding shots fall under different rules than our well planned artistic bird photos. Quite a crop with softness, but it documents the essential field marks nicely. I read about this one in my Instagram feed and it is tempting to go after it. Congrats on a once in a lifetime bird…Jim