Whinchat

[Rich Steel]

Hi

Spring migrants are currently passing through locally along the coastal scrub areas. I had Whinchat on my list of birds to try and get this year, a bird I have not managed to photograph and only seen rarely at distance. They are tricky to photograph, very mobile birds that don't usually let you get in closer than 50 yards before moving off. Normally you only see single or pairs of birds that briefly stop before moving northward. Yesterday a group of six arrived and they seemed to gain confidence by their numbers and allowed a reasonable approach distance. Beautiful little birds in their spring plumage.



Taken with 1Dmk3 and 500mm lens with 1.4x TC. Camera handheld due to highly mobile nature of birds. Taken at ISO400 F7.1 0.33 EV 1/400s with Evaluative metering.

Cheers

Rich

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This is very nice! I like the soft light, details and composition. If you clone, I might get rid of the little piece right of the bird's right wing but I like it as is.

[Alfred Forns]

Elegant image Rich !!!! If anything might slide the bird up and right just a bit !!! Great going with the little guys They are frustrating !!!!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Simply a beautiful capture and the detail and pose are excellent. Killer BG too. Good suggestions from above. Thanks for sharing.

[John Chardine]

You did exceptionally well to hand hold with the 1.4x tc at 1/400s. Beautifully sharp, nice BG, crop and head angle.

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a magnificent little bird!! It really pops against that BG...good job on the techs and post-processing.

[Peregrine Craig Nash]

Very Nice Rich I have the same problem as you except I probably see one every two to three years and usually in the autumn on their way back and nowhere near enough to photograph. A real Keeper.

[David Fletcher]

Sweet shot Rich. Like Alfred's suggestion, but really well done. Love to see one myself. Dave

[Rich Steel]

Many thanks for your replies and comments.

Cheers

Rich