Mousebird

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Friends,

Thought I'd share something different tonight, I guess this species is not often seen here in the Avian Forum. Image captured last Sunday in my garden here in Kwazulu Natal (South Africa). Subject tempted by a juicy ripe pawpaw:)

Nikon D5 ( just came out of the box, still busy testing and adjusting settings)
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 2000
F9
1/3200s

Processed in LR and PSCC, 50% crop, curves, levels, dodge and burn, sharpening for web.
Not my best but somehow worth sharing I think, it was quite a challenge to compose when shooting because of the subject's long tail feathers:)
Thank you so much for viewing, I appreciate it, all comments welcome:w3

[William Dickson]

Very well captured Gabriela. Lovely details on the bird, HA is nice and I like how the tail shows along the top of the perch. I think you got the comp spot on. Never seen this bird before so thanks for sharing.

Good work

Will

[Isaac Grant]

Image quality looks very good to me. ISO 2000 would be a mess on my camera. I am very envious. Bird is nice and sharp and I really like how the angle of the tail almost matches the angle of the branch. Exposure is pretty good considering a less than ideal sun angle. I wish you had more room on the left for the bird to be looking in to.

[Michael Thompson]

WOW what an amazing bird! I thought that was a stick coming out the back, but no, that is the TAIL!! cool! Great image! I would love if the whole tail was sharp, but I can understand how that would be hard to do. Nice shot!

[dankearl]

Unique bird and the comp really suits it. I might take a sliver off the top..
Very nice...

[Derek Willcox]

Gabriela nice work like the placement to show off tail sharp were it has to be nice to see one in the wild see pics where people has them as pets

[Lorant Voros]

Unusual composition and it works for me due to the tail going parallel with the trunk. I am glad you posted this and went out of the box with the creativity.

[keith mitchell]

Gabriela give yourself a big pat on the back for the way you have composed this,bird and that long tail all fits the frame beautifully,lovely soft and natural feather detail,very fine image.

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you all so much for your kind comments!

I will try and grab some more frames of those cute Mousebirds. The pawpaw setup was meant for the Crested and Collared Barbet but I see I have other visitors at my feeder, LOL. It was interesting to observe how they "crawl" up the branches (just like mice) instead of flying or hopping around. Acrobatic as they are, they seem not to perch very well and look as if they need extra support for that long tail, which seems to put them off balance:)

Let me see what I can do to get that tail pin sharp and some more space in front of my subject next time, although I cannot promise to line up the mousebird's tail with the perch:)

You guys are fantastic here in Avian, thank you again for feedback and constructive criticism, appreciate it:5

Kind regards,