Merlin Plucking Robin

[Nate Chappell]

Hi everyone, I had the fortune to find this female Merlin with a fresh Robin kill recently in a local park. I backed up my car to where I could shoot out the window and to my surprise the Merlin stayed there and ate almost the whole robin over the course of about 15 minutes before flying off with the last bit of her catch. This is about 80% of FF

50D 500F4 1.4X 1/500 F9, iso 320, evaluative -0.3, lens rested on my car window opening.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Smokin' a victory cigar is what I envisage here. :) Lovely capture of great raptor behavior Nate. Do you feel that maybe you could saturate a little more and increase contrast a touch too? Love it!

[Nate Chappell]

Thanks Akos, I already added about 15pts of saturation, I'll take a look at the contrast.

[Desmond Chan]

I like that feather in its bill, too. Yeah, perhaps some adjustment in contrast could help a bit.

[Dave Barnes]

Very interesting capture, thanks for sharing. I like the colour and the detail captured here. pity that his head was not turned a bit more towards you. Did you get a shot of him taking off?

[Stu Bowie]

I think the feather in the beak takes this over the top for me. Super low angle, and lovely light overall. Great capture Nate.

[Ken Watkins]

Just goes to prove that you should always have your camera with you. I have no problem with the contrast on my monitor, nor any problem with the head angle. A great drive bye!

[Marina Scarr]

What an amazing capture you have here! Just to witness this must have been moving. I love the action and all the details and textures. You have captured an amazing moment in nature...both violent/cruel and beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

[Nate Chappell]

Thanks for the comments, I just missed the take off shot.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent shot, love the pose