Azure winged Magpie

[Richard Unsworth]

Captured here in Almancil on Portugals Algave Coast.

Travelling in small, fast and alert groups it took me several days to get a shot of one in the open.

This one taken in the strong early morning light as it hunts for larvae on the tree stump.
I like to tree!

I thinK larvae is visible in the shot

lowered contrast , Topaz NR on bg, smart sharp, cropped about 50
from tripod mounted 100-400 7D 1/2500 F5.6 iso 800 Ev +.66, also smoothed out some geometric shapes from lower BG.

a hard bird IMO
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[Aziz Ahmed]

beautiful bird, TFS

[Ivan Ellison]

agree with you about being a hard bird to get- very flighty at times, you have done a nice job with this, The shadows across its flanks and side spoil it for me but knowing their favoured habitat it is not easy to get them in the open.A little seperation between the bill and trunk would look better I think.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Very nice capture! The tree seems to draw my attention a bit more than the magpie. Can you crop some from the left and add a bit to the right? That may (or may not) help a bit. The shadow across the breast is a bit bothersome :(Otherwise I think you got the exposure dead on.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi all
thanks for the comments
Happy to try another crop Miguel and it does imoriove focus on the bird.:S3: <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Some times one does not realize how difficult it can be to photograph a bird and when they pick the wrong perch nothing can be done on our behalf, here, even though the perch is too prominent I understand your joy of having this pretty jay posing for you. I like the repost, your clean BG and light on main subject.

[Shawn Zierman]

Cool looking bird and I like the forgaging pose, though at this (distance to subject), I think it made the composition difficult, particularly in regards to background control, which is most noticeable in the lower part of the frame, most easily seen in the OP. The light is very nice, the shadow play less so. I liked the use of space and subject placement better in the OP than the repost, but again the background control is an issue, and the cut branch on the left hand side is an issue too. I can see the grub, and that's pretty cool! The pose of the bird and the way that it is using it's tail to prop, very much reminds me of woodpecker.

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Shaun, yhx

yes the pose here is quite different and as you say woodpeckerish (new word lol).
It was the only time I saw this behaviour but he's clearly after those larvae.
I had previously spent a long period of time i Portugal and could never get anywhere near these birds. They are very wiley indeed.
I do have some closer shots that Im looking at now, never processed so I may post another. What struck me was the small size for a magpie, much smaller than
the black and white variety.
In 2 weeks I will be living in a place where these are resident and throughout the coming year I hope to get top shots of these.
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[Stu Bowie]

Hi Richard, your repost has turned out much better, especially lightening the image. Having said that, I would try and lighten the head and eye a touch more.

[Satish Ranadive]

Richard,
Magnificent image.Beautiful composition in repost (In fact I like both).Personally I like light and shadows in image.Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Love the repost! Nice job :)

[dankearl]

The repost is very nice, I too, like the shadows a lot.