Mallee Emu-wren

[PhilCook]

Just got back from 3 weeks in the arid interior of Victoria Oz, lots of great images to sort through......this one is admittedly not high on good techs, but brilliant on getting any kind of capture of one our rarest and most elusive birds here. Highly endangered and rarely seen, existing in only a relatively small section of the arid Mallee regions, one bushfire in the region and they would be extinct.

As I say quality is not great and I spent 4 painful days searching the tall and wickedly spiny Spinifex grass in hope to at least get a glimpse of this species, only seen them briefly on one of those days. As luck and perseverance would have it I was rewarded for my efforts by getting some images of both sexes....this is one of the male. Impossible to get a clean shot in the environment they live in, and camera settings were not ideal for the fleeting moments I had a chance for them.

So, all in all...not great on techs...but brilliant on subject matter :bg3: I was actually not expecting to get any images and at the time they briefly showed up I was experimenting with " auto ISO " setting...hence the low ISO figure and dragging a tripod through the terrain was a no go.

Canon 7D + 500 f4....f4.5, 1/640, ISO 125....hand held...cloned out one strand of grass across his rump,


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[laurie golden]

He is a beautiful and unusual looking bird. So glad you got him. He is sharp and in the open. His habitat looks fine to me but I might try toning down the white spot above his back.

[Jon Rista]

Well, first off, congratulations on capturing such a photo at all of such a rare bird! For what it's worth, given the difficulties and effort, I think the photo is pretty good! He is indeed a curious looking bird...love his coloring though, and his rounded crest. Only thing I would try to fix is to sharpen up (or otherwise improve the detail of) the feathers where you cloned out the blade of grass. It appears visibly softer than the rest of his feathers. I know that kind of work is the most difficult of all, and I commend your talent. Either that, or simply don't mention that you cleaned it up at all, and people will probably never notice. ;P

[John Cooper]

You certainly were fortunate Phil to be able to photograph this elusive wren let alone actually see one..!! The field-guide is the closest I've come to seeing this beauty. Lovely sharp image and and nice pose. Well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Phil, congrats on finding this rare species and adding it to your files. The little guy is sharp, and love the purple face and long tail. As the BG is what it is, Im fine with it, but comp wise, I would take a bit off the top.

[Satish Ranadive]

Phil:
Congratulation on getting such beautiful image of rare bird.Seeing for the first time.
Beautiful bird with long tail and nice colors. TFS.

Regards,
Satish.

[PhilCook]

Thanks all for your kind comments and advice......I am pleased to get this bird on camera

[Karl Egressy]

Congratulations on being able to find one and take such nice picture of it, Phil. The background is a bit bust\y but very natural given the elusive nature of this cute little bird.