Of the “Little Chirpy Birds” (as I call them) its a toss up over which I like better, the Mountain Bluebird (pictured here) or the Tree Swallows like the one pictured here. Both birds are very eye-catching with their blue feathers, but both very different blues. which really makes them stand out in the Alberta prairies where you can often find them perched along farm land.

This image is like a victory image for me, because I find it very tricky to get Mountain Bluebirds to stay still long enough to get a reasonably close image of them in the first place, and it’s even nicer that this guy stuck around while perched on something that wasn’t man-made (like a fence post). Therefore the branching out title is not only a play on where this guy was perched, but also on my image portfolio which is now branching out with this latest image addition.

If you are interested in purchasing this image, or any other images on my site, contact Terri Shaddick at [email protected].

Taken: April 19, 2014
Location: Southern Alberta

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x Extender
Focal Length: 700mm
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 320
Exposure: 1/1600