As I wandered along the boardwalk yesterday at my local marsh, birds would periodically pop in and out of the eye-level cattails. Most of them were little sparrows that would bury themselves back down in the underbrush. At one point, though, a male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) emerged and perched near the top of the cattails.
He was so close that I didn’t dare move from where I was standing and I tried to find a visual path through the vegetation to get a clear shot. I cropped this image slightly and made a few minor post-processing, but this is pretty much what I was seeing through the viewfinder as I tried out my new Tamron 150-600mm lens.
The photos were shot handheld at f/6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO 320, and 600mm. Recognizing that the image quality would increase a little if I closed down the aperture, backed off from the maximum focal length, and used a tripod, I am nonetheless pretty happy with the result and it’s definitely cool to more than fill the frame with a bird.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful photos. I’ve not seen one of these blackbirds yet. I will need to keep an eye out, assuming they are also found in Pennsylvania.
Thanks. I’m pretty sure you can find them in Pennsylvania. The males like to perch high on vegetation and are loud and kind of obnoxious when it’s mating season. The female Red-winged Blackbird is not black and does not have any red color–she looks a lot like a big sparrow.
Thanks for those tips. I am gradually learning to identify North American birds and am very much enjoying doing so.
I love them in spring when they display. The red is so vibrant. Lucky you can use a tripod, I never really do when shooting birds, but then I don’t have a heavy 600mm either. I need a new tripod head that can swivel to follow birds in flight. Mine is too old and needs replacing.
I carry a tripod, but don’t use it too much for birds. Most of the time there is simply not enough time to go through the trouble of setting it up. As for birds in flight, my ballhead is not suitable for tracking them. The guys with the mega lenses seem to have the most success with gimbal heads, which let them manipulate their heavy lenses with ease.
love the red band. Nice shots.
Nice detailed close-ups. I love these birds! Our marshes are full of RWBB’s most of the year, it seems. Their songs always remind me of good things!
Thanks. We tend to have them periodically much of the year. At times we have a flock of them that travels together and at other times they show up in ones and twos. I like the fact that they perch high on the vegetation, which gives me a decent chance of getting a shot. 🙂
They left here a few weeks ago I think. I haven’t heard them lately. That new lens is doing a great job and I expect that it will be a lot of fun for a while.
Your going to have a lot of fun with this lens. Excellent shots! Amelia
Your blackbirds are so much more colourful than ours.