Hawaii Amakihi

Gallery: AvianPosted July 22, 2017172 views7 comments

Hi everyone, apologies for my lack of participation lately, I have been mostly offline the last month. First leading our annual eagle workshop in Washington state and then on vacation with my family in Hawaii and then visiting my mom in Oregon. I didn't do a lot of bird photography in Hawaii (it was meant to be a family beach vacation mostly) but couldn't resist going out a few times. This was one of the few native birds that I was able to photograph while we were on the Big Island. As probably most of you know the native Hawaiian birds have been decimated by avian malaria carried by introduced birds, introduced mammalian predators and as always, habitat loss. Anyway, I was happy to get this native Hawaiian honeycreeper on a flower.

Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1.4x 1/160 F6.3, iso 1250, fill flash at -1.3, handheld

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on July 22, 2017 at 4:32 PM

Great stuff ! As an ex pro horticulturalist I love the flower and the bird!
Background is a cracker too. Well done all around. Worrying to hear about the avian problems over there
JohnR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 22, 2017 at 4:45 PM

Nice going, Nate. A beautiful image with just the right dof.

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on July 22, 2017 at 7:53 PM

Perfect depth of field, beautiful colors, and the bird and flower are so pretty.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Peter J. Morrissey on July 23, 2017 at 6:32 PM

Hi Nate
I agree with everyone, nice work.
Peter

Registered on July 3, 2011, 188 Posts, 969 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on July 24, 2017 at 2:37 PM

Beautiful. It almost looks as if the bird is part of the plant. I'm guessing this was taken on the wet side of the island near Hilo or volcanoes. Nicely composed with good soft pastel color.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 24, 2017 at 3:35 PM

Thanks for your comments everyone. Actually David this was taken in the hills above Kona, there is still some wet forest there.

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

Comment posted by Shirley Freeman on July 24, 2017 at 8:11 PM

Beautiful shot, Nate. I just love it that the bird and the flower look like they are both hanging upside down! I am sure that is not the case with the flower, but it has that appearance to those of us that aren't familiar with it. Lovely colors and great background.

Registered on May 27, 2017, 77 Posts, 844 Comments