Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Greenfinches - Feeder Fight








As you might understand I was very keen yesterday to use my new camera. I have not reported much on the bird situation in the garden of late, but there are plenty of them and it is getting to the busiest period of the year now. Many different species visit regularly and they all squabble a little and some bully others from time to time. But the most aggressive ones are definitely the greenfinches. They always fight each other, competing for space on the feeders. I have witnessed many acrobatic aerial confrontations, and now also managed to catch some of them with my camera. So today I give you an example of my first shot at it (no pun intended), and there may be more to follow. In the future I will also use my photo blog to display many more.

I took this picture yesterday in rather dull light and without a tripod, but with a surprisingly steady hand, in particular since I used a heavy 200 mm lens. If you enlarge the picture you will see much more detail.



(Click to enlarge.)


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your collage in your previous post - and I love the way you have captured the birds here.

What kind of birds are they? (I have no bird knowledge whatsoever...)

Zuzana said...

Beautiful photograph. It is indeed a very well captioned moment in time. It is amazing to ponder that just outside your windows, there are natural events unfolding every season.;)

Veronica said...

almost like a hummingbird ... very good!

swenglishexpat said...

LadyFi - Thank you, they are greenfinches. (as in the title ;-) )

Protege - Thank you, the moment in time is 1/500 of a second! Nature truly is amazing.

Veronica - Well, they cannot hover like a true hummingbird, but it is very close. They and other small birds are actually capable of standing still in the air for a split second. As far as I know, it is only the kestrel in these parts of the world that hovers.

oreneta said...

Not to detract from the skills of the photographer, but that seems to be a pretty impressive camera you have.

swenglishexpat said...

Oreneta - It's like learning how to ride a thoroughbred!

Eric Valentine said...

Very nice shots Swen, now you have me looking at my last year pics.. LOL great stuff my friend.. :)

swenglishexpat said...

Eric - Thank you, yes I remember you have plenty of birds at your place as well, and some of them look a little different from the European ones. Always a joy!

Diane said...

That is SO cool! I'm getting a camera lesson this weekend... so hopefully I'll be able to take better shots than my 9-year-old now ;)

swenglishexpat said...

Diane - It is so much fun, but a lot to learn. The young ones keep us on our toes when it comes to techie stuff, don't they!? ;-)