Song Sparrow in Marion County by Miguel Tejada-Flores

Song Sparrow in Marion County by Miguel Tejada-Flores

My particular entry is a photograph of a rather humble and commonplace passerine – a Song Sparrow – which I saw on a trip to the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge – but what struck me about this particular small bird the day I photographed it was what I can only call its fearlessness – in landing on a branch covered with what I can only describe as insanely spiky and sharp thorns! I would have been afraid to touch the branch but the little sparrow blithely positioned its small feet literally millimeters away from two enormous thorns without hesitation. I’ve taken more ‘dramatic’ photos of more apparently photogenic birds – but this small feathered being impressed me more than many larger and seemingly more ferocious ones.

I took it with a small Olympus mirrorless micro-four-thirds camera (an Olympus E-M5 mark III), and a relatively modest and quite small ‘consumer grade’ lens (the Olympus Zuiko 75-300mm). The results surprised me.