Northern Flicker and Egg removal

[gail bisson]

I have found 2 flicker nests and have been following them for the past 3 weeks.
Pretty excited to get this frame. I did not realize this was an egg until I reviewed the frame. I just thought it was a fecal sac as I fired away in "LIVE VIEW".
It was my first time using live view. I wanted to use the silent shutter to minimize any disturbance the shutter noise might have on the birds.
It is really hard to use live view but I was on my tripod and could view the LCD screen from 6 inches away as I depressed the shutter. At 20 frames a second though, it means an awful lot of culling frames!
This is 75% FF. I had to compress the file a bit to fit image size guidelines.
I cloned out one small branch at top of frame and a splotch of green foliage above the head.
Canon 1DX3 600mm and 1.4x
ISO 1600 SS 1/3200 F 6.3
Had to lift shadows under tail and far wing. Used Topaz Denoise AI to deal with resulting noise under tail and far wing.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
PS The local ornithologist says the flicker was likely removing a failed egg. There are now 3 chicks in the nest. He was pretty excited to see this frame.

[Volkan Akgul]

Wow.. perfect comp. beatiful technic. applause

[David Roach]

Very cool story and great story telling canvas. Perfect timing and you handled the challenging light well. Your noise removal worked well. Cool canvas overall. TFS Looking forward to more...

[Bill Dix]

Amazing frame. Yes, it does indeed look like an egg rather than a fecal sac. I'd be stoked to get this one. You even got a good head turn, and the light angle certainly could have been worse. I might consider removing the oof branch at the top of the frame above the bird. Congratulations! I've only tried Live View a few times, when using the tilt screen to avoid lying on my stomach (or rather to avoid having to get back up). I haven't really gotten the hang of it.

[Jack Backs]

Really nice behavior image. Well done.

[William Dickson]

Very well captured Gail...that wouldn't have been easy. This is soooo different. Lovely colours throughout and a great flight pose...you even managed a good wee head turn. I would deffo remove the small OOF twig at the top... other than that I wouldn't change a thing...Very well planned....Very well done.

Will

[Brian Sump]

Gail, another sweet frame! Would have been very nice anyway but the egg kicks it up another notch.

Only comment would mirror Will to take a crack at evicting the twig coming down from top.

TFS!

[John Mack]

A neat frame for sure. Don't think i have ever seen one like it. Crazy how perfectly round the hole in the tree is. Sounds like live view made this frame possible.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the behavior captured here, bird could a bit sharper and the BG could be better but I take this shot any time. the camera in LV is giving you a glimpse of the sony is like. I have seen some folks use a loupe-like accessory with the 1DX3 to shoot in LV, it is awkward and tough hand holding the 600 this way but maybe works for tripod shooting

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...IaAgB-EALw_wcB

[Aditya Sridhar]

Very cool shot Gail! The egg is the show-stopper here. I agree with the comments re the twig removal. I think the bird is slightly soft due to motion blur and I wish the tail didn't merge with the tree, but this is such a killer shot regardless. TFS!

[Robert Kimbrell]

Great behavior you have captured there Gail, I love the slight head angle in your direction. How great that you were able to capture the hole in the tree as well. Not the best background, but i sure like the image.