A group of Mourning Doves was huddled in a White Birch tree in a snow storm today. Perhaps as a result of climate warming, Mourning Doves now overwinter commonly in our part of the world, but they are not really cut out for cold weather.
I took this image of the closest subject through a window at my office (Sackville, New Brunswick) because I was worried about scaring the birds.
I missed the end of the tail in the image so I cropped further in this one. Not sure what people think about doing this. Mourning Doves have a long tail in relation to the body size so if you include all of it, the head and body take up a smaller part of the image. I know the BG will be too much for many of you but the bird was sitting in a tree; what can I say, birds sit in trees!
Processing involved pruning of some small branches, auto levels in PS and modest sharpening.
Canon 40D, 100-400 mm F4.5-5.6 IS USM @400 mm. 1/500, F8, ISO 400. RAW, natural light, IS on, autofocus on.
PS Can I say how much I am enjoying this site and learning huge amounts along the way. Thanks for everyone's comments.
Hi John this is one cold looking morning dove Feel sorry for the bird !!!!!
As presented feels tight in frame for me Would like more space top particularly It will avoid the square crop Afterward would clone the stick on the left The tail does not bother me much since you cut it on purpose not clipped it
An alternative would be going tight btw would lighten and increase the contrast a bit Just to give it more punch !!!!
Hope you can find them again Image is very nice looks sharp and well exposed !!!
Ive been trying to get a good morning dove shot for quite some time... this beats mine easily... I love the falling snow, the fluffy feathers and the branches framing it... nice work...
Really nice dove image! She sure has her feathers fluffed up! I like the branch she's perched on. Don't think the bg is bad at all, and the incomplete tail does not bother me.
It's cold out there
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