Shimmy and shake

I've not posted an image here for a long while due to being very busy and in between bird seasons. This male House Sparrow was photographed in the centre of Brussels, Belgium this week. Someone had placed a feeder in a small bush by the side of a busy walkway and males and females of the species were taking advantage of the food. House Sparrows are quite uncommon here in eastern Canada these days so I was pleased to have a chance to photograph the species in another place. This male was caught just at the end of a feather ruffle.

The big problem with the image was a busy BG so I have done some major Ps work to tone it down and remove branches. Other than that just a Linear contrast preset in Curves, crop and sharpen. I also toned down the breast feathers by burning-in. Hope you like it. Comments of course very welcome.

Canon EOS 5D, 70-200mm f4 IS, 1.4 tcII @ 280mm
capture date: Tuesday, 31 March, 2009 12:22 PM
exposure program: Aperture Priority
ISO speed: 640
shutter speed: 1/1600
aperture: f7.1
exposure bias: +0.3
metering: Pattern
flash: OFF
Handheld

John:

Nice job on the post work. I can just see the branches, but I had to look twice.

The breast feathers look good, the eye contact is good, and I like the cropping and framing.

Thanks for sharing.

What is effecting the house sparrow population in Canada?

Randy

Great fluffed-up pose, eye contact and head angle. I would only give it a bit more room at the bottom.

Thanks Randy. House Sparrows have declined in North America and Europe and so far I do not think biologists have figured out why. It is ironic that this species is considered "invasive" where it's been introduced, and reminds us (as if we didn't need reminding) that common species can become less common, and even extinct in the famous case of the Passenger Pigeon.

Lovely image of a sparrow, John. I'm quite fond of these common birds - amazingly adaptable and full of character. Still quite plentiful in NZ. Really like the inquisisitve head angle and fluffed feathers.

Nice photos John, nice background work......glad to see you made it back ok....I know what you mean, used to be House Sparrows everywhere....there's still lots but I do notice they're just a bit harder to find in last few years....Paul