Royalty visits – Golden-crowned Kinglet comes to Point Loma

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I had just stepped out of my car early yesterday morning when I heard the unmistakeable high-pitched call of a Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa. Funny thing was that it was coming from a small Lemonadeberry Bush right in front of me! Sure enough, as I approached a bit closer, out popped this tiny and delightful looking royal visitor! I know the call of this species well because it sounds very similar to its congener the Goldcrest from Europe which I had grown up listening to from a very young age. Some pishing soon attracted the inquisitive Kinglet over to my side of the fence. At 7:00 am in the morning there is not much light so I used the “breathhold” tactic. Put the camera shutter speed down as low as it takes to get a correctly exposed image and then hold your breath and the camera as tight as you can while running shots! Usually a few good images can be obtained this way, and as you will see below, even the blurry ones can be pretty artistic looking! The final image below, cropped to the head shot, was the best quality taken at ISO 3200 and 1/60th second, lens wide open at f 5.6 aperture.

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

Golden-crowned Kinglet – Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, San Diego 25 Oct 2013

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