Brewer’s Sparrow and Blue Grosbeak, Inglewood Cemetery, CA
The Combo Shots
Many of us birders are also photographers, and we love our close-up, tack sharp pictures of birds. But good, close, sharp photos are hard to get. And they often don’t tell much of a story. We crop out all the context. So I’ve been making an effort recently to get pictures of birds that tell a story, and show the bird in its habitat.
Sometimes, when zoomed out, I end up catching more than one bird in a picture. Most of the time, it’s accidental for me. As I try to get a shot of a particular bird, another one happens to wander into the frame. Less often, it’s an intentional attempt to get two birds in one photo. This happened to me the other day when I had two uncommon birds for my 5MR in the frame at the same time: a Brewer’s Sparrow, and a Blue Grosbeak.
Inspired by the combo shot, I did a quick look through some photos and pulled out a few more shots where I captured more than one species.
Black-crowned Tityra and Tropical Kingbird, Selva Escondida, Costa Rica
European Starling and Cedar Waxwing, L.A., CA
Western Gull and American Oystercatcher, Royal Palms Beach, CA
Snowy, Reddish, Snowy, and Great Egret, Devereux Slough, Santa Barbara, CA
Hawaiian Duck and Red-crested Cardinal, Kauai, Hawaii