I have a question not so much about the photographic quality of this image, but the fact that there are small "flecks" at the shoulders of this Downy. At first I thought it was noise, but I have around a dozen shots of this particular Downy in various poses and every one of them has the "flecks" at the exact same places, regardless of how the light was striking the bird, the composition of the shot or the exposure. I've concluded it's not noise. I captured a lot of Downys today and this is the only one that has these "flecks". Many of them in the exact same location with the exact same camera settings.
So my question is... what are these "flecks"? They appear on both his shoulders, some tail feathers and a few other spots too. As I mentioned, they are in the exact same location regardless of pose, light, composition, etc.
Is it noise? Is it an old bird? is it a disease of some sort? I know the pose I selected here is not the best for composition (i.e. no eye contact, etc), but it does really show the "flecks" which is the basis of my question.
Oh, and C&C is always appreciated on the photo aspects too.
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