Golden-headed Cisticola { pronounced...Sis tick o lar }

Went out late yesterday morning to photograph the local White-fronted Chats in a field of stubby Samphire bushes, got some nice pix of the Chats but was surprised to see a pair of these Cisticolas as well out in the open area. Absolutely no place to conceal oneself in the Samphire areas, and gave up trying to get close using the tripod and camo netting. Spent the best part of 3 hours persuing them with just the camera over the rough terrain to get some shots, closest I managed to get was around 20 feet/6 metres....and today, every bone in my body is aching terribly = I'm getting too old for this :e3


Canon 7D + 500 f4 + 1.4 x TC....700mm, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 320, no flash, manual exposure, hand held, bright skies....basic edit with crop, selective sharpen and slight noise reduction to backdrop.

Note ...had trouble with ISO noise yesterday ?...other pictures at ISO 500 to 800 showed a great deal of noise ?

Endeavor to persevere, even if it hurts! Your persistence paid off with a fine image of this cisticola. The light is great and the bird is well exposed and sharp, the BG is very good. I like the old worn out perch.

Phil:

clean image with complimentary colors, sharp, well exposed, nice angle of body/head in frame.

Your efforts paid off with a very nice image.

Cheers

Randy

Very nice colors in this shot Phil, I like the detail in the eye. and the head tilted just a little to the camera.

Phil:
Excellent image with great IQ. Love the pose with nice HA,colors,nice details,BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

Lovely perch & pose. Great composition & IQ. TFS

It's a wonderful image -- sharp, great pose and HA, perfect exposure. I'd be inclined to crop a little from the right, but that's purely a matter of personal taste. Thanks for sharing. I doubt that I'll ever see one of these guys.

- Ron

great pose and perch.perfect exposure.

Beautiful Phil. Gorgeous light , great angled perch and a glorious bg

What a lovely, simple portrait, Phil. Just love the layered BG

Lovely image here, the bird is looking great and a fantastic perch with a perfect BG, all things are very nicely balanced

Cheers folks...gotta love those birds eh ?

Striking image, Phil Love the pose, background and IQ.