Say’s Phoebe
Sayornis saya
The Say’s Phoebe is a year-round resident in San Diego and most of the southwestern USA and central Mexico, but they breed in spring and summer throughout the western USA, even north to the Canadian Yukon and Alaska’s Bering Sea and Arctic shores in summer. No other members of the flycatcher clan breed as far north as the Say’s Phoebe. These birds are at home in desolate places and areas of low brush and grasslands.
Catching a photo of a small passerine in flight is a tricky proposition. In most cases it is unpredictable when they will launch, and what trajectory they will take. Flycatchers, such as the Say’s Phoebe, sometimes give clues I’ve been able to exploit and overcome this obstacle. Often these birds will find a favorite perch and make repeated flights to snag some unfortunate winged prey, then fly back to the same place from where they launched. Though still challenging, by knowing this behaviour, I can better predict a launch or a landing and capture an image of the airborne bird.
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:22 11:06 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: D3X2876-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Earning a living at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:22 11:09 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D3X2900-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Cibola NWR, South of Blyth, CA. In Arizona near the Colorado River. |
Date Taken: 2004:02:06 17:55 |
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Location:
Cibola |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD_5954SaysPhoebe |
| © 2004 Jack Daynes |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Cibola NWR, South of Blyth, CA. In Arizona near the Colorado River. |
Date Taken: 2004:02:06 17:55 |
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Location:
Goose Loop |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD_5955SaysPhoebe |
| © 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Vendel Road is also known as Unit #1 of the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. It occupies the agricultural and marsh lands at the southern tip of the Salton Sea near Westmorland in Imperial County. |
Date Taken: 2019:10:28 12:59 |
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Location:
Vendel Road |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/6400 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X6028-VendelRoad-SaltonSea |
| © 2019 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Suburban birds in Thatcher Arizona, in the Gila River Valley. |
Date Taken: 2019:10:20 11:01 |
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Location:
West 1st Street |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/5000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X1813-Thatcher-AZ |
| © 2019 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Birds *AND* mammals were the subject of the SDNHM study during this expedition. Though rodents occupied my primary focus, I did not neglect the common birds at this site. Pinyon Wells, Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2016:10:12 8:54 |
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Location:
Pinyon Wells |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D728105 |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Dos Picos Park in Ramona, California, San Diego County.. |
Date Taken: 2016:01:11 14:30 |
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Location:
Dos Picos Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 380 mm, f/5.0, 1/640 |
File Name: D723310-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Near Cottonwood Spring in southern Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2016:09:28 9:00 |
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Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D727422-Web |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Near Cottonwood Spring in southern Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2016:09:28 8:59 |
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Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D727400-Web |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Near Cottonwood Spring in southern Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2016:09:28 8:50 |
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Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 400 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D727375-Web |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Near Cottonwood Spring in southern Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2016:09:27 8:32 |
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Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D3X7642-Web |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Camped with the San Diego Natural History team near Campo California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2017:10:25 8:56 |
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Location:
Clover Flat |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/640 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X5520-CloverFlats |
| © 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: The "Bird and Butterfly Garden" in the Tijuana River Valley. Near San Ysidro, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2015:01:27 10:08 |
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Location:
Bird & Butterfly Garden |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: D3X5608-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:22 11:04 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: D3X2875-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:22 11:00 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D3X2854-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Seen on drive through Zion National Park near Springdale, Utah. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:06 16:05 |
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Location:
Zion National Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/640 |
File Name: D3X9532-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: It was a clear calm morning, but a windy afternoon on the day I spent at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:02:29 10:43 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X1990-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: It was a clear calm morning, but a windy afternoon on the day I spent at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:02:29 10:43 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X2013-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: It was a clear calm morning, but a windy afternoon on the day I spent at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:02:29 10:44 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X2040-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: It was a clear calm morning, but a windy afternoon on the day I spent at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:02:29 10:45 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X2051-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Camped with the San Diego Natural History team near Campo California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2017:10:25 7:30 |
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Location:
Clover Flat |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/400 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X5110-CloverFlats |
| © 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:22 10:53 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: D3X2830-SaysPhoebe |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Suburban birds in Thatcher Arizona, in the Gila River Valley. |
Date Taken: 2019:10:20 11:25 |
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Location:
West 1st Street |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X2092-Thatcher-AZ |
| © 2019 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: It was a clear calm morning, but a windy afternoon on the day I spent at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:02:29 10:42 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X1979-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: After driving from Roswell, New Mexico all day, I spent a couple of hours in the desert garden at Bosque del Apache, where birds, bugs and flowers captured my attention. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:12 16:59 |
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Location:
Bosque del Apache NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D506943-BosqueDelApache |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: Sunday, when my friend Jerry joined me in Las Cruces, there were high thin clouds, and the phoebes were most cooperative. Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, near Las Cruces New Mexico. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:01 10:08 |
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Location:
Mesilla Valley |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X2406-MesillaValley |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: I spent an early mid-November morning at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior Arizona, where I met several of the 'usual suspects', such as this bird. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:16 10:01 |
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Location:
Boyce-Thompson Arboretum |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X0550-BoyceThompson |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: I spent an early mid-November morning at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior Arizona, where I met several of the 'usual suspects', such as this bird. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:16 10:01 |
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Location:
Boyce-Thompson Arboretum |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X0549-BoyceThompson |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: I spent an early mid-November morning at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior Arizona, where I met several of the 'usual suspects', such as this bird. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:16 9:59 |
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Location:
Boyce-Thompson Arboretum |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X0519-BoyceThompson |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: At 6:15am I was the first guest at the preserve and I stayed until 12:30. Bird Viewing Preserve in Henderson, southern Nevada. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:09 10:46 |
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Location:
Bird Viewing Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X8377-Henderson-BVP |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: The roadside edges of the cornfield provided opportunities for this bird to hunt its insect prey, and for photographers to snap portraits. Precisely halfway between Albuquerque and Bosque del Apache is the state reserve at Ladd S. Gordon’s Bernardo Unit, where cranes and geese are now visiting more than at Bosque. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:18 15:18 |
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Location:
Bernardo |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X8930-Bernardo_Unit |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Say's Phoebe(Sayornis saya) |
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Description: I think I’ve met Say’s Phoebes on every visit I’ve made to Bosque. The world famous Bosque del Apache may not be the center of the geese and crane universe today that it once was, but it can still provide a few thrills. A tour on this Tuesday in December taught me this lesson. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:22 10:50 |
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Location:
Bosque del Apache NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: SaysPhoebe_D5X0035-BosqueDelApache |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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