Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]After Ken's picture today, I was amazed to look out through my kitchen window this evening in twilight's gathering gloom and see this. We had a fire on Bray Head tonight which burned some of the dry gorse and I had put my head against the window when I spotted a movement in the near dark. At present, a thousand starlings nest each night in a tall tree in my garden. It's a wonderful sight as they wheel and whirl acrobatically around the tree before they settle down for the night. Tonight, it seems there was one less. Turning out the lights I called the family who were suitably blown away by the sight. My youngest said get a photo and I thought the light was so bad that it would be crap. But I grabbed the Nikon D200, flashgun, and sneaked out to watch the hawk - female sparrowhawk, I think - dine al fresco in the very dark twilight. I wormed my way along the house terrified I'd scare it away and when I got close enough started to shoot with the flash. Amazingly, it ignored the flash and clunk of the camera, before eventually getting spooked when I coughed. It flew off with its prey into a nearby tree and continued its meal. This was taken from about 15 feet away. My son speculated that the fire on Bray head tonight may have driven it to pastures new. Guess there won't be starlings on my tree no more... http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Bray+Town/hawk1.jpg.html Douglas _________ Douglas Barry Bray, Co. Wicklow Republic of Ireland