Common UK bird: the Magpie


Posted by Paula G on Fri Aug 22, 2003 5:11 am

All times are UTC-05:00

Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 11 posts | 
Herewith my first post with you at NatureScapes. The much maligned Magpie, at first glance, looks black and white but with the right light he is anything but...... He is a heavily persecuted bird, (he is supposed to systematically go along the hedges and pick out eggs and nestlings), by anyone who has a shotgun licence and therefore very shy. I tolerate them on my patch because I am sure they do less damage to the songbird population than the millions of cats that are allowed to roam free.
Image
D60 300mm x1.4 ISO 400 1/200 F/7.1 -2/3
Raw, Capt 1, slightly cropped
Paula Graham
http://www.wildlifeforever.net

Posted by:
Paula G
Forum Contributor
Location: Devon, UK
Posts: 112
Joined: 21 Aug 2003

   

by tcgoetz on Fri Aug 22, 2003 7:42 am
User avatar
tcgoetz
Forum Contributor
Posts: 302
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Hopkinton, MA, USA
I like the smooth background and the sharpness of the bird. It is an interesting looking bird.
[url=http://photography.tom-goetz.org]Tom Goetz[/url]
 

by AlexC on Fri Aug 22, 2003 8:16 am
User avatar
AlexC
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5948
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Member #:00024
Very nice bird and capture in spite of the contorted pose, nice colors, interesting perch, and very good detail!!!, Congrats!! 8)
[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
[b]NSN-0024[/b]
"At the feast of ego everyone leaves hungry." - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, AZ
 

by E.J. Peiker on Fri Aug 22, 2003 8:46 am
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
They aren't quite as common as they are in your neck of the woods but you can find large numbers of these guys in Canada too. I really like the rendering of the bird here and you captured his colors well. The background is good too! The perch looks just a bit too man arranged to me.
 

by Sandy Mossberg on Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:18 am
User avatar
Sandy Mossberg
Lifetime Member
Posts: 5802
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Boynton Beach, FL USA
Here's Heckle. Where's Jeckle?

Good to see you here, Paula, and a fine shot to begin with. I might like a slight bit more contrast.
Sandy Mossberg
Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
[url=http://www.sandymossberg.com][b]SandyMossberg.com[/b][/url]
NSN 0015
 

by Heather Forcier on Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:56 am
User avatar
Heather Forcier
Site Co-Founder
Posts: 8188
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Vermont
Member #:00003
Hi Paula, welcome! A great first post it is! I like the colors in this bird and how the angle you photographed it at shows the colors off. And I think the pine cones are a nice bonus here. :)
[b]NatureScapes.Net Site Co-Founder
[url=http://www.hforcier.com/][u]Website[/u][/url] | [url=http://www.500px.com/heatherforcier/photos][u]500px Gallery[/u][/url] | [url=https://plus.google.com/117191412635501853092/][u]Google+[/u][/url][/b]
 

by Tobias Bäckström on Fri Aug 22, 2003 4:50 pm
Tobias Bäckström
Forum Contributor
Posts: 455
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Great shot of a persecuted bird Paula! I agree that these birds probably do less harm than all the cats and dogs running around wildly in our nature. And they definetely do less harm than man does!
I know how hard it is to capture on of these on film/CF but I like the way you have captured the nice colours in the feathers here. I agree with Sandy that some more contrast would have been nice.
[b][i]Tobias Bäckström, Stockholm, Sweden[/i][/b]
[url=http://www.nordicbirds.com][b][i]www.nordicbirds.com[/i][/b][/url]
[url=http://tobiasbäckström.naturescapes.net][b][i]NSN Portfolio[/i][/b][/url]
 

by Chris Fagyal on Fri Aug 22, 2003 4:55 pm
Chris Fagyal
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2381
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Lenexa, KS, USA
Magpies are absolutely beautiful birds. I am priveleged to have Black-billed Magpies here in Minnesota, though they are somewhat hard to find as this is the far eastern end of their range. I have also seen White-throated Magpie-Jay's in Costa Rica which have about the same build, but different colors. Personally I think all birds have a role on this earth whether they are Magpies stealing nestlings for their own young, or what not, and none should be persecuted just because of human emotion (which is the sole reason magpies are disliked).

Wonderful capture of a really beautiful bird.
Chris Fagyal
[b]NSN0066[/b]
[url=http://chrisfagyal.naturescapes.net/portfolios/portfolio.php?cat=10049]Naturescapes Portfolio[/url]
 

by Bill Whala on Fri Aug 22, 2003 6:16 pm
User avatar
Bill Whala
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5979
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Paula,

These birds aren't easy to get as good a shot of as you have here. The black and white cause havoc and getting the blue to show this well is difficult at best. I agree with E.J. regarding the perch but you gotta take 'em where you can. :)
Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"
 

by Juli Wilcox on Sat Aug 23, 2003 9:30 pm
User avatar
Juli Wilcox
Editor in Chief
Posts: 3373
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Upper Great Plains
Member #:00010
Love this photo! I have photographed Black-billed magpies and know how tricky it can be to get the right exposure. This is great and I love the pine cones.
[b]Juli Wilcox[/b]
[b]Former Editor in Chief, NSN[/b]
 

by Jeremy on Mon Sep 08, 2003 8:24 pm
Jeremy
Forum Contributor
Posts: 577
Joined: 5 Sep 2003
Location: Wales, U.K.
Hi Paula!
Well done for capturing the irridescence in the plumage! Afraid, unlike the others, I don`t like the pine cones much, as they look a bit unnatural, almost as if they have been glued (or nailed) onto the trunk! Also, IMHO, the tree trunk is rather too dominant, competing with the bird for the viewer`s attention. The background is nice, though!
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
11 posts | 

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group