American Goldfinch

[Mike Page]

American Goldfinch about to be deposed from the feeder by another. I'd have liked the foreground bird to have been more in focus.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm not sure where you are located, but this looks more like a Lesser Goldfinch to me. The extensiveness of the black cap, the colour of the bill, and the "olive" wash from side of face to shoulder all point to "Lesser".

On to the image. I like the action you got...interesting to see the OOF oncmimg bird. I can see from the embedded exif that you had ISO 100 (P.S. please post the techs for those who don't have an exif viewer). Capturing small nervous birds will require lots of shutter speed...bumping the ISO up will help you get more speed...thus more chance of freezing the action perfectly (as posted the front bird suffered from motion blur). Exposure looks good, and the in-focus parts look sharp (e.g. feeder in LRC)

It would also be more pleasing and rewarding to find yourself some beautiful natural perches to plant around (near) the feeder and wait for the inevitable moments the birds start perching on those while waiting for their turn to feed. This is what I like to do, and I don't remember the last time I pointed the lens on a feeder because of this :-) Keep them coming!!

[Rene' Villela]

Hi Mike! interesting shot! What is that bird behind it? It looks like if it was raptor going for the prey! I hope this cute guy is still alive! :)

[Mike Page]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm currently visiting California, but I'm from the UK.

I made a conscious effort to set the ISO at 100 to try to keep the noise low (I already had a bunch of Auto ISO shots, but even these were around ISO 200)

Thanks for the heads-up about birds around, rather than on, the feeder. The strange thing I noticed is that birds lose their shyness when on the feeder and I was able to get really close. Away from the feeder I couldn't get anywhere near them.

[Arthur Morris]

If you had erected a perch near the feeder the birds waiting to get some seed may have perched on it making for a lovely image. What camera are you using that you are reluctant to use ISOs up to 400?