Burst Mode is My Friend

Here's a quicky from the Colorado Field Ornithologist's Convention in Craig, Colorado a couple of weekends ago. I co-led a trip to Dinosaur National Monument and we spent some time in Piñon-Juniper habitat working on the specialty birds found there. One such bird was this cooperative male Black-throated Gray Warbler. It was ascending a juniper, probing the needles for insects and singing as it climbed. When it got to the top I knew it would fly out, but timing such events can be very hard. I try to look for signs of impending takeoff, but often the bird is in the viewfinder one second and gone the next without any apparent warning. Anyway, when I think a bird might launch I often shoot lots of long bursts, hoping to get the initial flight captured. Getting something usable is tough, and often I'll miss the event entirely, but this time I got a nice frame of the bird launching itself to the next tree.