Aggressive Little Pine Warbler.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I just spent an enjoyable couple of days at my folks' cottage with my younger son (age 11) and of course I had to bring my gear, you know, just in case. Well, not 10 minutes after arriving and still loading the fridge we could hear frantic tapping on the windows. We saw that a Pine Warbler was attacking its own reflection...and it did this non-stop. I covered the windows best I could and it still managed to find small gaps and go there. It even attacked its reflection along the stainless-steel chimney. It was so busy concentrating on warding off the "intruder" that on a few occasions I was able to pick it up bare-handed and release it into the woods...but it kept coming back.

I did use audio to lure it even farther away when it was out of reach on the chimney, and to get it on a natural perch such as here. It then flew away...and hopefully out of sight of the windows and chimney!! I never thought I'd be using audio to help a subject away from itself!!

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/125s., f/4, ISO 800, just about FF (a bit cropped off left and bottom), a couple of small holes cloned out on the perch. The background is the bare ground and faint patches of vegetation.

[Robert Kimbrell]

Hey Daniel, another beautiful image. The moss is very attractive on the perch. I like the way the colors blend on the background. Nice story to go with it all. Interesting to see you bring a 500mm lens on a short trip, like that. As i am new to the big glass, this shot may prompt me to lug mine around next time I leave town.

[Girish Prahalad]

Very unique experience with the warbler!
The image is well composed with the bird having great details. The BG ,DOF & pose are excellent.

[Mike Milicia]

Great field work getting this guy where you wanted him and "rescuing" him from the intruder at the same time!

Nice perch and BG with excellent pose and details!

Looks a tad overall dark as posted. Maybe lighten the mid-tones a bit?

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Very fun story, and glad you 'rescued' him from himself. We all need a hand along those lines at times.

I do agree with Mike, a bit dark.

Cheers

Randy

[shane shacaluga]

Great IQ, wonderful pose and super background. To top it all off a great story to go with the shot!

Thumbs up from me!!

TFS

[Marina Scarr]

Super details and setting. Love the color palate.

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent shot with very nice soft background.

[gail bisson]

Love that story! And you even got to hold the bird in your hand!
I really like the mossy perch and the perfect HA. Great to see the little feet as well.
BG is lovely as well.
I might reduce the magenta by 1 point in color balance.
I am OK with the brightness if that is how it was in real life.
I never leave home without my 600!!
Gail

[vishaljadhav]

Great looking bird, superb HA and sweet colours
i love the BG. Nice image

[Shawn Zierman]

Awesome subject and perch combination. Pleasing eye level, perfect head and body angle image of this species. The bird's right foot is posed so nicely on the perch....love details like that. Image looks just fine as is, as I can envision the canopy being thick here....though I can also see the image being presented brighter as well.....

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great perch and detail Daniel. Nice clean bg too.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent pose and super BG.Great perch and detail Daniel.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Daniel! I like the low angle, soft light, pose, HA, IQ, perch and composition.