Tuesday 8 June 2010

Marsh acro...

I really struggled to get anything decent on the Druridge marsh warbler this afternoon - a combination of dull light and a very tricky and elusive bird, so a record shot it is... While I was there he mimicked chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch and an alarm calling blackbird!
First time I've seen one in reeds, although in fairness it was commuting between the reeds and the willows, often associating with a single reed warbler.

(Image updated on 11 June...)

5 comments:

Alan Tilmouth said...

Out of interest John what ISO/Shutter Speed etc is that shot at. I'd just like to compare with what I took this morning.

John Malloy said...

Images taken from 15.30 in the afternoon, so the position of the bird was against the light. As it was cloudy and I wanted to freeze the bill when it was singing I bumped the iso to 800. Exposure compensation was +1/3, though should have been +2/3 as the raw image still has the bird darker than I would have liked as the light meter was influenced by the background. This resulted in exposures between 1/1600 and 1/2000 sec

Ghost of Stringer said...

Eh ? Record shot ?! Thats a really nice pic, I'd be chuffed with that....

I've never seen one in reeds before... usually banks of dense herbage...

John Malloy said...

yes, was glad when it sang!

Alan Tilmouth said...

Thanks John, much appreciated.