Eastern Rosella - a pretty boy

[Ian Wilson]

This is one of four parrot species common in our garden. The shot was taken from our first-floor deck to a nest-hole tree about 10 m away.

Canon 5DIII + 600 mm f/4L II + 1.4x III extender, 600 EX-RT flash, RS-80N3 remote shutter release, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal, Kirkphoto flash bracket, Gitzo 3532LS tripod, deck-chair.

Manual, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO 800, fill flash (1/8 flash power).

Processed with DPP4 and PS Elements.

Thanks for looking, critical feedback welcome.

[David Salem]

Another shot of one of my long time pets. I hand fed a clutch of these beautifully colored little parrots and we kept one as a family pet. My kids named him "Skittles" for the colorful candy that they thought he looked like. What awesome colors you have captured and the techs and the reds look perfect. The pose and the perch look great and the BG makes for a beautiful backdrop. Very nice Ian

[arash_hazeghi]

nice and sharp with great pose and details. I like the BG but wish the perch was a bit more refined.

TFS

[William Dickson]

A pretty boy and a very pretty image Ian. The colours are awesome, well done

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very colorful image with great subject and details with a clean BG.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Beautiful colours pleasant pose super details. A very pleasing image.
I may be just tempted to clone that tiny white speck on the eye.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, a more colorful bird I have not seen. I envy your garden. Thank you for sharing. Smiles at deck chair... so you were sitting down hmmmmmmm.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ian, striking colours on this fellow, and what colour does he not have. Lovely angled pose, sharp, and the smooth BG works well to show up this fellow. I wouldnt mind a garden like yours.

[Daniel Cadieux]

OK, so the birds in your garden are more colourful than the flowers in mine!

Excellent comp, and of course the colours are such a blast. Was it attracted to the perch or do they land on it readily?

[Ian Wilson]

OK, so the birds in your garden are more colourful than the flowers in mine!

Excellent comp, and of course the colours are such a blast. Was it attracted to the perch or do they land on it readily?

Thanks Daniel. The birds land on this perch naturally without any attraction. It is about 2 m from a nest hole in an old eucalyptus tree that every arborist who comes to my place wants to cut down! The hole is used most years by either Eastern Rosellas or Crimson Rosellas. They use the perch as a staging post as they approach the nest hole. Both species check out the nest hole a few times a day from August until November when the dominant pair will lay eggs. That's not the end of the matter as there is usually continuing interest in the hole from possums and sugar gliders at night, other bird species by day, and we have even had a bee swarm cause nesting to fail. This year, it looks like we will be successful with a strong pair of Crimson Rosellas. The female has been entering the hole regularly and I have noticed the birds mating a couple of times, sans camera! Cheers, Ian

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks for the excellent additional info Ian, much appreciated!

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for your generous feedback and helpful advice. Regards, Ian