Burchell's Coucal vs Chameleon (4)

[Morkel Erasmus]

This will be my last post in this series.

I wish it had happened in a more uncluttered environment but this is the type of bush that this bird frequents.

To those who inquired about the end of the struggle:
The coucal flew down to the ground to recompose himself as the chameleon just wouldn't let go. After a few moments he decided to try again, but lo and behold it looked like he really couldn't find the chameleon again (who by this time had repositioned himself and was standing still while blending in with the leaves). The coucal searched and went further into the bush, at which time we decided to push on to our camp for the night. We like to believe the chameleon came away bruised but alive :)

Techs:
Canon 1000D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 210mm
f8.0 @ 1/200 SS @ ISO 200
Pop-up flash used to fill in some shadow detail.
Once again applied slight Gaussian blur to the surroundings.

To see the other posts in this series - click here:
1: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43123
2: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43247
3: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43612

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks for sharing the images and story behind it, it really looks quite dramatic and makes you feel sorry for the chameleon.

[Aditya Shankar]

Hi Morkel , the chameleon lived happily ever after eh? :-) .. thanks for the series and the story.. Hope you get a similar drama again without the busy surroundings! TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Interesting story and behaviour and a decent job of framing but with the harsh light, dark shadows, and horrific background this does not work for me as a photograph. Just too many obstacles.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the comments Axel, Artie & Aditya!

Artie - as far as I know this behaviour has never been recorded before for this bird so I thought it apt to share. If you look at the other posts you will see some different framings - of which # 3 is my favourite - albeit all with the busy surroundings. :(