Excitement for me, my first sighting of a Spotted Towhee (female, Pipilo maculatus)! Naturally, it was pouring down rain and quite dark, so I had to shoot at high ISO, and finally resorted to flash for the last two photos. Still, it’s always so grand to make a first sighting. Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
Oh wow! That is so exciting! Good shots too -- nice how she obligingly shows all her field marks. :-)
The ones inside the foliage have a wonderful fairytale atmosphere.
This one has a funny Finnish name (undoubtedly they’ve had fun in the nomenclature committee): Lännenloistopipilo, which means shining (or luxury) pipilo of the West (lännen = of west).
Ice Swimmer:
Makes her sound likes she’s out of The Wizard of OZ -- “Glinda, good witch of the West!” :D
Oh, that’s wonderful, first sightings are always so special and even more so when we can get decent shots of the moment. The second to last is wonderful, that was the shot that made me go “WOW what a gorgeous bird!”