Turdus Merula

Gallery: AvianPosted May 13, 2010114 views18 comments

Hello All,
this black bird (in italian Merlo) is one of most familiar birds in Italy. His song is a superb full-throated twittering with many variations and phrases. This male was captured 12 miles from my home during a cloudy day, as always lately. (Will it be the volcano cloud?)

40D 300 f2,8 + 2TC
f6,3 1/500
ISO 400
HH

Thanks for viewing.
C&C are very welcome.

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 13, 2010 at 12:39 PM

Beautiful job, Monica. I love the pose and the blacks are very well exposed for my taste.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 13, 2010 at 12:51 PM

Awesome pose and well exposed Monica, maybe just a touch more room on top if you have it. Neat shot!

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on May 13, 2010 at 3:49 PM

Moment caught well.
István

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on May 13, 2010 at 6:24 PM

Great pose.
Great exposure.
Great shot.
Two thumbs up!

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on May 13, 2010 at 8:30 PM

Great action singing pose. Nice details in the blacks. Good job.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on May 13, 2010 at 9:11 PM

Lovely exposure of the blacks here, Monica. Interesting pose too. Amazing how this bird is completely vertical to sing.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on May 13, 2010 at 10:58 PM

The body shape does resemble our American Robin, but I have never seen a Robin contort his neck vertically like this in song, very nice. The bright background makes for a tricky exposure, you captured the dark feathers very well and the catchlight in the eye is perfect.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on May 13, 2010 at 11:15 PM

Monica,
I'll echo what everyone else is saying about the exposure. Right on in difficult lighting. Looks like spring is on the way with the tree budding. Very sharp considering the use of a 2X converter. Nicely done!

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on May 14, 2010 at 6:22 AM

Hi Monie, bello, bellissimo ! Very great pose

Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 14, 2010 at 8:30 AM

Nicely exposed and a dynamic pose Monica, great details too.
I use my 2x regularly with the 300 f/2.8, one can't over-state its inherent sharpness..
Well done

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on May 14, 2010 at 12:13 PM

A fun image; a pose I've never seen. I like this as posted.

The body shape does resemble our American Robin..

That's because they are closely related - the turdus tells that.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on May 14, 2010 at 1:16 PM

Thanks everybody for the kind words.
As Richard said, American Robin and Merlo belong to the same Family (Turdidae).

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on May 14, 2010 at 3:31 PM

Very nice pose, Monica. A really nice image.

Congrats

D&L

Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on May 14, 2010 at 6:49 PM

Great calling pose Monica, a shame about the white sky from the clouds

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on May 14, 2010 at 6:59 PM

Monica:
A full-throated singing pose, for sure!! Very nice exposure of the blacks. Neat capture.