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Thread: Shrike vs. Snake

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Shrike vs. Snake

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    I know it's not a great shot, definitely more of a record shot of what we saw but given all the recent snake photos posted, I thought I'd share this. Shortly after dawn on a morning game drive in the Sabi Sands we came upon a venomous Vine Snake in the middle of the road. The Ranger stopped and the next thing we knew a Gray Headed Bush Shrike entered the scene. We backed off a distance and watched as the shrike and snake squared off. The snake clearly wanted to get away but the shrike pecked first at the eyes to blind the snake and eventually at the entire head. By the time we left the snake was dead and the shrike was having breakfast. Hope this counts as a snake shot.

    This is heavily sharpened, noise reduction applied and then the image was cropped.

    Canon 50D
    100-400 at 400mm
    Tv 1/200
    Av 5.6
    ISO 400
    Handheld in a safari vehicle.

    Thanks for looking,

    Rachel

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    Wow, what a sighting. I never thought the snake would lose out to a shrike though looking at its' powerful beak I shouldn't be surprised.

  3. #3
    Ken Watkins
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    A very interesting shot, but as you have said not the best technically. I am not familiar with the 50D but I think you probably pushed both it and the lens to their limits.

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    Doesn't get any better than this here at BPN!
    A bird killing a snake!!
    Tom
    :)

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    wow , amazing image , generally I overlook techs when we have moment , Mighty fine
    TFS

  6. #6
    Robert Amoruso
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    Rachel,

    Nice action image. I know the 50D is not the best with noise but it would be preferrable to use ISO 800 here and gotten your shutter to 1/400 sec. It appears that the fast motion was the reason for softness of the bird and snake.

    Also when using noise correction, mask out the bird and snake so as not to reduce their detail any more.

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    I agree that increasing the ISO would have been better here. Though you would have got lot of noise, but a higher shutter speed would have been better. Is it a big crop?

    This is a fine natural history moment. Thanks for sharing.

    Cheers,
    Sabyasachi

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone. I knew at the time I was taking the shots that the conditions and our distance meant that the shots would be record shots. We were too far away and the light was poor. This was an encounter I mostly watched not through the camera and just fired off a few shots. Similarly, I just did a quick PP of the RAW image in DPP. It's a heavy crop.

    Thanks again,

    Rachel

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    Wonderful sighting and story.

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    What a phenomenal sighting...that is a highly venomous snake all though not known to bite many people as it is a back fanged snake and arboreal and I was under the impression that they ate birds like Shrikes, not the other way round...TFS:eek:

  11. #11
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Danny and Dumay - thanks. I know that the Rangers, Trackers and Managers were all very excited about the sighting and wanted to see the evidence. None of them had ever seen anything like it before either. There was some speculation that the battle may have started in a nearby tree or bush and that the Shrike dropped the snake in the road. Although when we first approached the snake was in the road alone but it was in a defensive posture with its head widened in a hood-like fashion. So much so that the Ranger's first impulse was "cobra" though he quickly corrected himself as we came to a stop.

    Rachel

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    IMHO, photographic documentation of a previously unobserved animal behavior can be more exciting than a beautiful image. Obviously, as photographers, we all wish we had both together, but that won't always happen. With 20/20 hindsight, we can all think of ways the image could have been more artistically sound. I find this image and story wonderful as it stands.

    Ian

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks very much Ian. After seeing all the recent snake posts I thought people might appreciate seeing this interaction. Definitely not the type of "kill" people think of when they think safari in Africa.

    Rachel

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    As was said before, this is a time to forget the techs and get the image of the action. Higher ISO would have helped. However making this change under fast changing conditions is not easy to remember. I really like your narrative and the behavior you show is just super.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks very much Ed. Btw I spent 7 years in Central New York for college and law school.

    Rachel

  16. #16
    Alfred Forns
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    Hi Rachel

    First of all love the image, must have been one fine experience !!

    Tech wise I only wonder about the Tv setting? Would suggest Av ISO wise on this one agree on keeping at 400, the 50D is not the best performing and any under exposure will lead to heavy noise, perfectly exposed can raise but best to have a safety margin !!

    My main concern here is making sure you were on center point AI and centering the sensor on the bird, don't think the slight blur on the bird is from movement? .. in any case do think is a fine image and would be proud to keep !!!

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Al - Thanks for the comments. Truth is it was all happening so fast I was enjoying the interaction and the photos were totally secondary and we stumbled upon it on our way to a wild dog den. I just wasn't prepared and didn't make any adjustments in the field. To the extent I was focused on anything it was probably the snake which stayed in the road. The Shrike would dart in and strike a few times and then dart away. There was some wrestling, for lack of a better term, where the shrike would flip the snake. I think this image is one of those moments.

    I learned a valuable lesson to always be ready.

    Thanks,

    Rachel

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    Rachel, I think we have all learned to "be ready" and I would like to think I would get to see something out of the ordinary like this. BTW, it is a very pretty patterned snake.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Hilary

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    Wow, this is an amazing capture of real life. I'm with you, worth saving and definitely was worth sharing. I'm so glad you looked at my profile page so I could go peak at your attachments/images!

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