Mortality
Monday, 29. June 2009, 23:50:52
Most days watching nature is a wonderful affirmation of life, but today brought out the other side of the coin. These first two shots were taken a few minutes apart, early this morning.
The first is a juvenile green woodpecker. It was beneath a building and I suspect a window collision as the cause, though there were no visible signs on the building above.
Just a hundred yards away I came across a second fatality, possibly the result of a fall (it was beneath a tree).
Lunchtime I went in search of more pleasant things, and thought I 'd succeeded with this thrush.
The thrush was quietly feeding along a country lane, but a few seconds after this shot it hopped over the hedgerow into a sunlit field. I stepped across to take a better shot, but before I could even raise the camera a sparrowhawk had dropped from an overhanging tree and with the merest flurry of feather and two muted squeals, it was gone (and so was the thush). It lasted less than 2 seconds from start to finish.
Finally, I'm still working on stereoscopic images. They will improve as I get more practice, and I will almost certainly go cross-eyed in the process. But today's effort is I think an improvement on the butterfly (at least I intended to take this). As before, focus in front of the image (click to enlarge it) and the hedge should pop out into 3 dimensions. It can take a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of seeing them it's quite easy.
click to enlarge
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
The first is a juvenile green woodpecker. It was beneath a building and I suspect a window collision as the cause, though there were no visible signs on the building above.
Just a hundred yards away I came across a second fatality, possibly the result of a fall (it was beneath a tree).
Lunchtime I went in search of more pleasant things, and thought I 'd succeeded with this thrush.
The thrush was quietly feeding along a country lane, but a few seconds after this shot it hopped over the hedgerow into a sunlit field. I stepped across to take a better shot, but before I could even raise the camera a sparrowhawk had dropped from an overhanging tree and with the merest flurry of feather and two muted squeals, it was gone (and so was the thush). It lasted less than 2 seconds from start to finish.
Finally, I'm still working on stereoscopic images. They will improve as I get more practice, and I will almost certainly go cross-eyed in the process. But today's effort is I think an improvement on the butterfly (at least I intended to take this). As before, focus in front of the image (click to enlarge it) and the hedge should pop out into 3 dimensions. It can take a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of seeing them it's quite easy.
click to enlargeCamera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
WIDGETIZE