Sparrow??

Hi all,

Caught up a bit today after a busy couple of weeks. This one is from about a fortnight ago taken late afternoon at Mere Sands Wood on the way back from a workshop in Manchester. Not sure whether it is a sparrow or something else - they didn't stop for long in front of the hide and the harsh backlighting, whilst providing a nice halo, didn't help keep the detail in the dark bird. However despite that I liked the gorse setting and the pose, although am now wondering if its a bit oversharpened?

As usual Canon 350D, Sigma 80-400 @ 400mm, f8.0 for 1/250 @ ISO 400. Camera resting on hide window ledge

Comments welcome, thanks

Magnus it is a Dunnock. Nice shot shame that there is out of focus gorse behind the bird.

I think it might well be a Dunnock Magnus - nice capture, lovely backlighting

Not too keen on the vast empty space over the top of the bird to be honest but that's just me - plenty will like it

Nice shot

Love the lighting - but the OOF gorse is a little distracting - however i realise that this was probably out of your control! Certainly one I would be proud of



dennis

Great to get a bird on gorse, the out of focus spots are like symbolic musical notes .
Like it.

Tim

Yes, a Dunnock, also confusingly known as a Hedge Sparrow (but not a real sparrow). I see these singing on gorse like this on the Gower, but don`t think I`ve captured one in song quite this well. The backlighting is quite appealing, and the setting is lovely. Nice shot!

Hadn't seen this before I posted mine in a very similar setting. Nice! I was looking at linnets and sedge warblers and was surprised to see a dunnock. I'm seeing a few artefacts around the bird's back, but don't know if that might be oversharpening or compression.

Hi Magnus,

Lovely environmential image with a Dunnock!

Nice shot, they do have a very pretty song. I would clone out those oof yellow flowers, I think.