First fledgling of the year

Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) - Essex, UK

Canon 1Ds Mk3, 600/f4 + 1.4extender + 12mm extension tube, WH2 + Gitzo 3530LSV, Speedlite 580EXII.
Manual exposure mode f11, 1/250, iso 200.
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS4, full frame.


This is the culmination of 3 years work with these Stonechats. I photographed the male as a first year bird in the autumn of 2008. Last spring he had attracted a mate but the nest must have been predated as no young were produced. The male moved away during the winter, but the female stayed on territory throughout. Four chicks fledged on 4th May and this is the first shot I’ve been able to get of the chick and adult together. The chick isn't as sharp as I would like probably due to some movement in eliciting food from the adult and the narrow depth of field when working at close to minimum focusing distance. One thing I noticed in photographing these birds is that the female appears to take no part at all in feeding the chicks.

The interaction between birds is superb. The flowering gorse makes a most attractive perch and the two-toned background works well here.
Such a shame the depth of field didn't extend to the juvenile bird but the interaction more than makes up for it.

Good interaction Phil, but not sure about the processing?

Nice mention in the beeb Wildlife mag.

Lovely action captured, I feel the frames you put around your images are to much and take your eye away a bit from the image,neither the less a wonderful moment captured

Excellent! Dad looks pretty fed up. Processing looks good to me but I agree the frame is too dominant.

Hi Phil

lovely image


Frames a bit too much

Superb Phil, DoF not a major prob, neither is the frame IMO. I remember seeing these super little birds last time I came down to see you, good to see you are getting some nice shots of them.

Regards

Rob

for me thef frame to much looks a tad over sharpened.

On my laptop it looks top notch-even the frame Great when it all comes together and must look great in print

Dave

Interesting shot- nits covered.
Good stuff. No rings either !!
I found just the opposite with these at times with the female feeding more than the male. When I did these many years back at the nest, the female was the most nervous which explained the dominant shots of the male
JohnR

Not too sure why so many comments re the framing, its a personal thing at the end of the day and Phil has always used this style for many years without comment before


Regards feeding by males only, I'm not sure if this is correct in all situations, the following link from my local birders website indicates a female feeding spiders and ticks to chicks as well as the male. Maybe you just have a female Stonechat not prepared to do any housework

Sorry just re-read John's post above on same lines

Technically extremely well executed utilising a combination of attachments that would give me a plethora of worries .
I lke the two tone BG and the interaction captured .For me a touch off the top putting the pair more dominant at the top of the frame .

I admire your dedication Phil, it takes a lot of work to photograph an individual subject over such a long period of time, so hats off to you.

The shot is a very well executed piece of work, as well as a very good natural history record.

Andy...

I like the interaction between the two birds and the look of almost disdain on the face of the adult. Certainly works for me.

Cracker Phil - like Mark says I might be tempted to shave a bit off the top - otherwise no nits here

Hello Phil.

Well seen and captured agree with alittle of the top.

Hi Phil.
Phil you really deserve this lovely shot for the work and time you have put in,very nice indeed.

Keith.

A fabulous image!
Regards,
Paul.