Show your Bird Portraits

Valvebounce

CR Pro
Apr 3, 2013
4,549
448
57
Isle of Wight
Hi ISO64.
Excellent shot, nothing more certain in life than death, it is just how it gets you that changes, but boy I hope I'm never on the receiving end of the look that hawk is giving.

Cheers, Graham.

ISO64 said:
This is not what a portrait should be. Take it as a scene from the great circle of life...

Canon 7D2, 400/5.6L
f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 100, EV +1/3
 
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Valvebounce

CR Pro
Apr 3, 2013
4,549
448
57
Isle of Wight
Hi Alan.
Nice shot.
We have some friends that live near Chessington World of Adventures and sat in their back garden we were overflown by quite a flock of them, talk about a surprise.
Our friends said they thought they were offspring of some generations from some that were deliberately released by animal rights activists. I wonder how they have affected the ecology of the area? I suppose google probably knows! :)

Cheers, Graham.

AlanF said:
Went to London yesterday and saw, of all things, a pair of parakeets courting on Hampstead Heath. I couldn't see that they were green until after the shot as they were backlit (2x400mm/5DIV).
 
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DominoDude

Certified photon catcher
Feb 7, 2013
910
2
::1
Valvebounce said:
Hi Alan.
Nice shot.
We have some friends that live near Chessington World of Adventures and sat in their back garden we were overflown by quite a flock of them, talk about a surprise.
Our friends said they thought they were offspring of some generations from some that were deliberately released by animal rights activists. I wonder how they have affected the ecology of the area? I suppose google probably knows! :)

Cheers, Graham.

AlanF said:
Went to London yesterday and saw, of all things, a pair of parakeets courting on Hampstead Heath. I couldn't see that they were green until after the shot as they were backlit (2x400mm/5DIV).

I can chime in on Graham's comment here: There are quite a few stories/legends about how they came to be in those surroundings.
I have heard the one above - and it should have happened decades ago.
BBC have a write up -> http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161020-these-tiny-birds-are-common-in-london-but-nobody-knows-why
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,440
22,877
Thanks everyone, and thanks for the link Dd. These are aren't "tiny" birds, and they fly really fast. A guy with binoculars I met there had been watching firecrests display. Now they are tiny birds. He said that their crests opened up in the ritual. It was the first time I had seen (rose-ringed) parakeets in the UK.
 
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Jul 28, 2015
3,368
570
Jack Douglas said:
Thanks Quick Click, DPC isn't that just how it goes. We do the best with what's at hand.

For years I never saw them and then magically due to me feeding all the birds these guys appeared. When it's really cold the suet is a lifesaver for them. Like other woodpeckers they tend to become pretty tame. I actually walked to within 6 or 7 feet of one that was feeding two years ago.

For me, it doesn't matter how many times I see them I'm always impressed and this from 2015 was so exciting - daddy and both children caught me completely off guard up in my observatory but luckily I managed to get a small number of decent shots.

Jack


You've got some nice pictures coming, Jack.

Apparently one trick with many birds is to use chunky peanut butter - with nuts and seeds the smaller birds can pick one up an fly off but with peanut butter they tend to linger a little longer to get a decent quantity.
 
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