On the third full day of our trip, Monday, May 26th, we traveled to a beautiful hiking and outdoor park (kind of like a State Park here) to see one bird in particular. Of course, we saw more than just one bird, but the focus was on finding Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus). Of course, we saw it.
The trails were a little muddy and slick secondary to a running event that had taken place the day before. Any running event on such trails clearly demanded sure-footedness.
These photos are tightly cropped. We saw this bird well in the spotting scope and he was cooperative on a couple of high perches like this. I included three similar photos because the bird's eye is visible in each.
This is how the Red-flanked Bluetail appeared through my camera viewfinder at maximum zoom.
Later while standing around in the parking lot, I met up with a French birder/photographer, Bernard Raynaud, who was touring Finland and Norway and sleeping in his small van. He had set up really nice digs. His bed was even made. He showed me his photos of the Red-flanked Bluetail and was generous enough to share via email. Wait for it!
It pays to talk with birders in parking lots. A true beauty!
Bernard had found the bird in good light and on a low perch. I emailed Bernard and received his permission to use his photos here and sent him the link to this post I put the © on each photo and signed it as he did on another photo which I'll use elsewhere. My rule of thumb: never allow good photos to go unseen and unappreciated. The deal was that I would send him a couple of my "good" photos. I will, of course, but I don't have anything to match his.
This whole exchange reminds me of another topic which I have already written about and may take another stab at it at the very end of all this.
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