2025—Count the Feathers

It seems as if every trip I go on, one species, whether it is feathered or furred, seems to dominate my focus for an entire trip. This past December, at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ, the Vermilion Flycatcher was the star of the trip for me. There were just a few individuals but their patterns were so predictable that we could count on where they’d be and when. That made it possible for us to photograph them both perched and in flight. The flight shots were especially fun to get. A very fast shutter speed to astop the action, in this case 1/8000 of a second, made it possible to freeze the feathers in position so you can count the feathers on the wings and tail.