Hanging on

[Stu Bowie]

Believe it or not, there are other birds than Kingfishers at my favourite location. This is a Southern Masked weaver building his nest. It was overcast, so hopefully the soft light helped with the striking yellows these guys have.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/500
F/6.3
ISO 640

Manual Exposure
Hand held

[Ofer Levy]

Lovely action and behaviour shot!

[Josh Clark]

What a great image Stuart! Very curious looking pose you captured here. Great behavioral shot. Like how you got him to look at you for the shot. The wings fully streatched out and frozen is great too and that kiss of catchlight in the eye. Do you have a little more room at the top? Just to show more of the branch that the nest is attached to. Just personal preference though. All around a great shot Stuart, congrats!

[Jamie Douglas]

Really nice behaviour and detail in the yellow feathers.

[Stu Bowie]

Do you have a little more room at the top? Just to show more of the branch that the nest is attached to.

Thanks Josh. Unfortunately not. I just ensured I had the whole nest in the frame, as the main focus was on the weaver. I have plenty other images of this guy busy with his nest, where I have only captured half the nest on purpose.

Thanks to Ofer and Jamie too.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent Stu! love it

[gail bisson]

One of your best Stu. I love the outstretched wings and the quizzical look he is giving you. Excellent IQ and light
Gail

[girisholeti]

Very beautiful shot.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love it. Perfect pose and that litle face :)

[Doug Brown]

Thumbs up Stuart! Love it!

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Stuart! I like the eye contact, details, sharpness and BG. I also like how you can see the new green grasses in the nest showing the latest work of the Weaver.

[Gary Hamilton]

Terrific behavioral image made even better by such a beautiful presentation. Congrats on such a great image Stuart.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!!! Superb shot. Lov the pose, excellent head angle, exposed very well, and I like the comp.
Very well done.

[Geir Jensen]

A killer images . Very well done

[Lorant Voros]

Very nice pose from this little acrobat:-). Well done.

Lorant

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for the kind words everyone.

[Nico Steenberg]

Super sharp and well exposed with great detail against a killer bg !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Absolutely gorgeous Stu, great timing, I like everything about this image especially those wings. For me there is a certain quality to this image - just love it!!
You may wish to check out the tail feathers near the vent - I suspect not blown but perhaps just a tad bright??

[denise ippolito]

Awesome image Stuart! I love the pose, the nest and the wings!

[dankearl]

Crazy good photo, Stuart.
I concur with everybody, one of your best.

[Craig Kerr]

Love that crazy upside down pose Stuart.... Colours are exquisite, wing detail adds to a wonderful image

[Grace Scalzo]

It's all been said, Stuart. Love this one.

[Manjeet & Yograj Jadeja]

Everything is perfect in this one, composition, timing, Pose....
stunning shot

[Blake Cook]

This is a really cool shot. Sharp and beautifully exposed. It might have been better to have shot it a it slower to put a slight motion blur in the wings. As it is, the bird looks a bit like it's just hanging there. Perhaps if I had ever seen one of these live it might not be needed.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for the kind words everyone. Much appreciated.