Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm thinking Alfred Hitchcock: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056869/ Or maybe global warming - not really. It is so hot here, the hawk may have opted for our birdbath and a meal out of desperation. He didn't come back this evening (and no other birds either for the first time - maybe they do communicate). My photo was about 15% crop of a full-frame image, with a 200mm lens so it is not really high quality - they do not like human company, or probably any company that is not edible. Ken Carney On 8/12/2010 7:27 PM, Douglas Barry wrote: > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >